Unidentified Raptor

[WTP07]

Hey all,

Been a while again since I have posted...too many hobbies, started a new job, all of these get in the way.

It was a cold, but sunny day with some new snow today, so I went cruising the backroads this aft looking for harriers and red-tails.....and found this guy/gal.

Considerably smaller than a RT, just slightly larger than a crow. Pointed wings in flight. I am in SW Ontario.

Any Ideas?

Thanks,

Randy.

[rylan]

very nice looking bird, and also nice shot of it too.
im not sure what kind of bird it is though i have never seen one before

[Loupey]

Hi, Randy - nice to see you around.

Looks to me like you have yourself a female American kestrel.

[WesternGuy]

Randy, Great images :thumbsup: -- a bit difficult to say what it is without seeing it in flight. I agree, it could be a Kestrel, but it could also be a Sharp-shinned Hawk, at least from the bird book I have. Female Kestrels have a very pronounced line of dark feathers from underneath the eye to the top of the wing area, this one does not seem to have this which is why I favour the Sharp-shinned Hawk, but maybe there is someone out there with better knowledge of raptors than I have and they can settle this discussion.

Just to give you and idea of how hard it can be to identify raptors, I spotted one flying around a park in the north end of our city, hunting in the grasslands of the park. When I first saw it, I thought it was a Swainson's, but it wasn't until I got a couple of pictures of it in flight and could see the underside of the wings that I was able to say with a reasonable degree of certainty that it was Rough-legged Hawk.

Cheers,

WesternGuy


P.S. Have a look here...http://talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/index.php?s=63

Could be a Merlin too??

[Jaedon]

I would've guessed either Sharp Shinned or Coopers. From the size you are describing I would lean more towards a Sharpie. So many raptors seem to have this generic colouring that the only real differential is the size in the end. I agree that it is most likely not a Kestrel as the face does not have the tell tale stripes around/below the eyes. Kestrels are also a bit smaller than you describe.

[big baldo]

Its definitely NOT a merlin. Merlin have huge dark eyes and dark cere. It does look like some type of longwing. If you look at the second pic you can see how far down the tail the primary flight feathers extend.(more than halfway)

You said that it had pointed wings in flight so that leads me away from the accipiters. It could easily be confused with a juvenile coopers except for the eye color. Juvenile coopers have pale yellow eyes which turn to bright red as they get older.
The banding on the tail, the hint of a malar stripe(cheek), the dark eyes and the length of the primaries leads me to believe that its a Juvenile female kestrel.

[WTP07]

It was pretty big, condiderably larger than any of the other Kestrel's I see around here, roughly double the size actually...are the females that much bigger?

[Jaedon]

The female Kestrels are not that much bigger than the males. If you are saying the size is almost double a Kestrel that would be about right for a Sharpie but the wing shape has me at a loss.

[big baldo]

yeah females are bigger than the males by an inch or two but juvenile birds of prey are bigger than the adults.(or at least they appear bigger). Their feathers are longer. Kind of like practice feathers. Training wheels for birds!

[paulnj]

Nice Merlin