Rough Legged Hawk...I think

[David Hemmings]

I am pretty sure that this is a Rough Legged Hawk, first winter. Although it looks remarkably similar to a juvy Redtail, any opinions welcomed:)

Whichever it is, I was thrilled to get this shot the other day in a field around the corner from my home. The light was beautiful in the late afternoon when this beautiful hawk flew right in front of me.

Canon 1D MK 111 / Canon 500 f4 IS + 1.4 tc. / 1/2500th @ f8 ISO 400 / handheld / cropped from horizontal, f fvertical

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like this a lot! Great light, details and pose. The stare puts it over the top for me. I'm not sure about the ID and that is after consulting my raptor ID book by Wheeler. :)

[Terry Sohl]

Beautiful bird and a wonderful flight shot. Great eye contact, wonderful light, and very crisp.

I'm not sure on ID either, but it doesn't look like any of the scads of Rough-leggeds we get around here in winter. I don't think I've ever seen a light-morph Rough-legged around here that didn't show very obvious dark "wrist" spots, which I don't see on this bird, and primaries typically aren't marked on the underside, they're typically very white and clean. Wings on a Rough-legged also tend to look quite a bit longer.

If I had to guess I'd guess Red-tailed.

[Dan Brown]

Hi David, Great flight shot! Sharpness, exp and eye contact are very nice! IMO, this bird is a juv. Broad-winged Hawk. With it being a light phased bird, if it were either red-tail or rough-legged, it would have the classic dark underwing marks. If it were a red-tail, it would have a dark mark (patagial mark) on the leading edge of the wing between the bend and where the wing contacts the body. If it were a rough-legged, it would have a fairly large dark blotch on the leading half of the underwing just past the bend in the wing or the "wrist" (I believe this patch is called the "carpal patch". The other possibility would be Red-shouldered Hawk, but the tail doesn't have enough bands and what it is showing aren't bold enough. Of course, this is just my amateur opinion :D

[David Hemmings]

Hi David, Great flight shot! Sharpness, exp and eye contact are very nice! IMO, this bird is a juv. Broad-winged Hawk. With it being a light phased bird, if it were either red-tail or rough-legged, it would have the classic dark underwing marks. If it were a red-tail, it would have a dark mark (patagial mark) on the leading edge of the wing between the bend and where the wing contacts the body. If it were a rough-legged, it would have a fairly large dark blotch on the leading half of the underwing just past the bend in the wing or the "wrist" (I believe this patch is called the "carpal patch". The other possibility would be Red-shouldered Hawk, but the tail doesn't have enough bands and what it is showing aren't bold enough. Of course, this is just my amateur opinion :D

Hi Dan, Thanks for the comments. You might be correct on your id as a juvy Broad Winged. Thanks for your input:)

[James Prudente]

I would propose a Swainson's Hawk in Basic 1 plumage. Wide sub-terminal tail band and terminal band trailing edge of underwing. Nicely captured.

Jim

[Doug Brown]

Regardless of the ID, it's one nice photo! That eye really makes the image for me.

[DanWalters]

I really like the lighting and the detail in the hawk.

[Raymond Barlow]

sweet shot David., interesting debate., I am thinking juvi RT.

[Paul Fusco]

Nice shot, David!
Well lit. It looks like an immature red-shouldered to me.

- Paul

[Grace Scalzo]

whatever it is, it's one cracker jack image. Love the display, the sharpness and the blue sky bg.

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely image - fantastic light and feather details. The head posture and eye contact really does the job.

[Juan Aragonés]

David this is a terrific image. The eye contact couldn´t be better and the pose, light and details are to die for. Outstanding! Very well done

[Daniel Cadieux]

OK, five species guessed so far :-) I don't have my field guides with me now so I won't take a stab at it. In any event this is a wondeful image in all regards!

[Peter Knoot]

Beautiful flight shot, David! I would like to second the Broad-winged Hawk ID. It is very clearly not a Red-tailed or Red-shouldered Hawk, as the telltale underwing patterns are completely different. It is indeed missing the underwing pattern of a Rough-legged Hawk as well. The head coloration is definitely not Swainson's. Now all this is without knowing where you took the shot; that could certainly rule out certain hawks. Where was it?

[David Hemmings]

Beautiful flight shot, David! I would like to second the Broad-winged Hawk ID. It is very clearly not a Red-tailed or Red-shouldered Hawk, as the telltale underwing patterns are completely different. It is indeed missing the underwing pattern of a Rough-legged Hawk as well. The head coloration is definitely not Swainson's. Now all this is without knowing where you took the shot; that could certainly rule out certain hawks. Where was it?

Thanks Peter!
This was taken just east of Toronto, Canada right on Lake Ontario, which I guess is strange, because I understand that Broad Wings only breed in North America and head to south America for winter? Do the young stay longer?

[Jim Zipp]

Immature Red-shouldered Hawk. Nice shot too Dave.

[Peter Knoot]

Toronto, eh? In that case, I'll have to agree with Jim on the RSH....