Expert: Julia Booth - 9/15/2008

Question
Good morning or afternoon. I am an Asutralian, living in Adelaide in the state of South Australia (a place that is well worth visiting if you ever travel this way).

I am a member of a lawn bowls club known as the Hawthorn Hawks. We have an ensignia that include the silhouette of a hawk in flight and we are considering updating or replacing it.

There is some confusion in the club about what a hawk looks like (given that there seem to be many) and some say that a hawk is the same as an eagle only smaller.
Can you tell me how to define a hawk, as opposed to an eagle? Are there any features that make a hawk a hawk, such as beak shape or body shape etc. that would identify the hawk (when we can only see its outline)?

By the way, I have used Allexperts in the past and I think it is an excellent faciltiy. I for one appreciate the time and effort you and the others put into it.

Gavin Oliver

Answer
This is an excellent question, but a complex one. So bear with me as I try to explain this as simply as possible.

I'm not sure if your familiar with taxonomy, so I'll explain that first. It's broken down like this: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. (There are sub genuses, sub families and sub species. Sufficiently confused?)

The order "Falconiformes" is composed of all birds of prey that are diurnal (awake during the daytime). This basically excludes the owls. Falconiformes have strong legs and feet with raptorial claws and an opposable hind claw. Almost all Falconiformes are carnivorous, hunting by sight during the day or at twilight. They are exceptionally long-lived, and most have low reproductive rates.

This order is broken down into 4 families:

Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, Vultures, Condors)-this makes up the bulk of raptors
Pandionidae (Osprey)
Falconidae (Falcons and Caracaras)
Sagittariidae (includes only the Secretary Bird)

The basic differences are found in wing shape, tail shape, body shape, size. It would take a long time to explain all of them to you, and there are also exceptions -enough to confused even experienced birders.

Ready to be confused?

Eagles generally have a diamond shaped tail and are considerably larger than Hawks and Falcons. Falcons tend to have either long, narrow wings or short, blunt ones. Falcons also attack other birds while in flight and eat them. Hawks tends to catch their prey on the ground in the form of rodents or reptiles. Harriers, Osprey and Eagles tend to fish. Most Hawks have wide, fan-shaped tails. Most Falcons have longer, squared off tails. Mind you there are exceptions to all of these. Falcon's eyes are typically dark. Hawks and Eagles are yellow, some red. Falcons have shorter, more narrow beaks, closer to the face with a smaller hook. Eagles have much longer beaks, with a longer hook. Hawks fall in the middle (with more exceptions)

If you are looking for an accurate depiction of specific species, there are numerous online resources.

The Australian Raptor Association has checklists of species as well as images you can use: http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/the-organisation/australasian-raptor-associatio...

I don't know if I've helped you or just confused you more.

I doubt I will ever venture off of my continent, but I can always dream.

Good luck,

Julia