Sharp Shinned ?

[billy320]

[CaraRose]

I think its a red-tail.

[WesternGuy]

Looks like a juvenile red-tailed hawk. Tail appears to be too short to be a sharp-shinned and the sharp-shinned do not have the feathers down around the top of the legs like the red-tails do. I saw three of these yesterday while on a tour around the country-side and fringes of the city and they certainly looked like this one. Also, the "banding" on the breast and chest is more similar to that of a juvy red-tail than a sharp-shinned. My thoughts FWIW...

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Eric D]

I third that....nice capture too.

[billy320]

Here is another view

[WesternGuy]

More convinced than ever that it is a juvy red-tail...the "brownish" patch under the beak and the whitish patches over the eyes are the clinchers from what I know. HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[billy320]

OK thanks

The there ALOT of Juvi redtails around here

[buglinbilly]

Here's a juvenile Red tail for comparison.



Have a good one. BB

[WesternGuy]

OK thanks

The there ALOT of Juvi redtails around here

Is there any possibility that they are migratory and just passing through. I went out a couple of days ago and saw four red-tails in about the first two hours and in other years they can be quite rare. Two were a mated pair and will probably stay, but the other two looked like juveniles, so I assumed they might be migrants and would not stay around.

WesternGuy

[WesternGuy]

BB, interesting, because juveniles do not usually have red-tails. A red tail is usually the sign of a mature adult.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[paulnj]

definately migrating through in the last 2-3 weeks and it's first spring redtail for sure. seen a goshawk, osprey 5 miles from water, swallow tailed kite (oh hell yeah) , dozens of sharp shinned and 10X as many coopers in the last few weeks.