This hawk was invisible, until he flew up and past us. I think he was on a low branch just off a trail. We walked to where we thought he had landed and found him.
Now to get a good ID.
The usual answer, with minimal thought, is Red-shouldered. Especially where we saw him. But the chest markings are all wrong. Stocky build is a little off too, as well as the top of beak ‘yellowing’ missing.
Merlin ID’s the bird as either a Broad-winged, Red-tailed, or Red-shouldered. All depending on the angle we submitted.
I lean towards Broad-winged based on the size and ‘tear drop’ chest feathering.
As Ellen and I finish with more images and compare notes I will post more.
Any thoughts out there ?
I am pretty useless when it comes to hawk identification. My initial instinct was to say Red-shouldered, but that is mostly because it is the hawk that I see most often.
That would have been my thoughts, and reasoning. The chest feathering just seems off. Merlin ID as not helpful except that after multiple different images Broad-winged was the most common answer.
Not great at the hawks, but at first I thought the barring would be heavier on the breast, but then noticed the juvenile light morph reference on Cornell and that was equally sparse. I do not think it is a red-shouldered. There is definitely some odd coloring on the middle section of the wings like it is just coming into the adult plumage. Sorry couldn’t be more help.
What a beauty-very unique markings. I would agree with you…..at least it doesn’t look like a red-shouldered to me.
Turns out, after other shots of the same bird, to be a Coopers Hawk…