Expert: Julia Booth - 11/21/2009

Question
QUESTION: Please help me ID this biid (image attached).  I live in Salisbury, Wicomico COunty, MD.  The bird was in my backyard one morning eating a squirrel.  I can't get my "local experts" to agree on what it might be.

ANSWER: I'm going to go with Broad-Winged Hawk on this one. The picture makes it hard to see any of the fieldmarks. The body fits Rough-Legged more. But the coloring is more Broad-Winged. My third guess would be Northern Goshawk. But Broad-Winged fits the best.


That's my best guess. Often birds of prey can very greatly in their plumage, by age and region. Sometimes the best experts are the local ones.

Curious to know what other people said,

Julia

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Everything from Juvenile Red Tail, Goshawk, Coopers Hawk and Harrier.  I'm sending another image, but I don't know if it will help.  I never got a photo of his/her front!  I think it looks like a Goshawk as well, but I'm told that would be a rare one for this area.

Answer
Looking at it from this angle, I'm going to have to change my answer to female Northern Goshawk.

The signature eyebrow and forward body stance are what I'm looking at here. That and they have a tendency to drag their prey to an open spot and eat it on the ground.

Here are some images that you might compare:

http://www.jackiefreemanphotography.com/goshawk.htm


Hope you get a positive ID


Julia