Raptor Ecology -species ID

species identification

crooked wrist’ in flight; lacks supraorb ridge; broad black eye stripe

Osprey

flies/looks like TUVU; banded tail; dark head

Zone tailed hawk

rufous shoulders; black/white primaries, secondaries, rectrices

Red shouldered hawk

dihedral wings, white tail; black subterm band; grey dorsal; rufous shoulders

White tailed hawk

finely barred grey ventral; grey dorsal; pinched in tertials

Grey hawk

paddle wings; long, banded tail

Hook-billed kite

dihedral wings; grey male (black wing tips); brn female, white rump, long tai

Northern harrier

rufous wing panel; dark grey; banded tail

Roadside hawk

malar mark (like all Falco) Black ‘cummerbund’; rufous belly, long banded tail

Aplomado falcon

black patagial mark; mottled back; reddish upper tail (most subsp)

Red tailed hawk

small falcon; male rufous belly (w spots), and tail (blk subt band); fem brown

American kestrel

rufous thighs (lt morphs); big hawk; dark mottled underwing coverts

Ferrugious hawk

all bright white, dark wing tips; blood red eye

White tailed kite

squared off tail tip, smallish head (no crest)

Sharp shinned hawk

light base of primaries, long wings, long tail; long, thin curved upper bill

Snail Kite

hooded with cheek patches (malar marks), striped below, longish tail

Peregrine falcon

hooded, clear throat; similar to WTHA underneath but w dark, banded tail

Short-tailed hawk

rounded tail tip; larger head, often with raised nape feathers

Cooper’s hawk

large; heavily marked, white tail (blk subt band); black trailing wing edge

Rough-legged hawk

broad wings; collared neck; long, rounded tail

Collared forest falcon

large; white head (ad); white tail (ad); juveniles darker

Bald eagle

like GRHA but black trailing wing edge; tertials not pinched in

Broad winged hawk

long, flat wings w white tips; white neck; black crown; reddish face

Crested caracara

a bit larger than AMKE; sexes similar (streaked), male has bluer upperparts

Merlin

dihedral wings, two-toned underwing like WTHA, hooded plus across chest

Swainson's hawk

grey, dark wing tips; outer rectrices are splayed out

Mississippi kite

very broad secondaries; black/white tail bands; light base of prim/sec

Common black hawk

black ‘armpits’ (axillaries); streaked brown; longish lightly banded tail

Prairie falcon

large Accipiter; gray underneath; broad white eyebrow

American goshawk

long-forked black tail; white underneath with black primaries/secondaries

Swallow-tailed kite

rufous underneath, dark dorsal; long dark tail w white rump band

Harris’s hawk

huge; broad, flat wings, visible primary notches; whitish base to secondaries

Golden eagle

black overall, broad secondaries, silver wingtips; short, squared off tail

Black vulture

largest falcon; striped below; flight feathers lighter than coverts; long tail.

Gyrfalcon

“C” light panel at base of primaries; wings broad, rounded; tail long, banded

Crane hawk

dihedral wings; charcoal underneath; silver flight feathers; dark tail

turkey vulture

short, rounded wings; white throat; streaked breast; distinct tail bands

Double-toothed kite

similar but bigger than CBHA; narrower wings, leading/trailing edges parallel

Great black hawk

huge eagle; unmistakably large yellow bill; dark with white leading wing, tail

Steller’s sea eagle

smaller than APFA, broad black chest; rufous abdomen, b/w wings and tail

Bat falcon

distinct wing tip & white patch base of primaries; yellowish body; longish tail

Yellow-headed caracara