Expert: Roger Lederer - 4/3/2011

Question
I live in NW Pennsylvania where there thousands of acres of wilderness. I was driving down a dirt road and a large black bird took off and flew across the road in front of my truck. I've hundreds of crows, ravens and turkey vultures, but this bird has me puzzled. It was the size of a raven, possibily alittle larger and all black. But it's biil/ beak was shorter, orange colored and almost resembled a hawks. Even the head resembled a hawk's. I didn't get a good look at the feet. Any help will be greatly appreciated!  Thank You!  Jim

Answer
Well, you mentioned all the obvious choices. Some other ones are Black Vulture which is rare in your area but possible. Several hawks have very dark color phases such as the Red-tailed Hawk and Broad-Winged Hawk which can be almost black. Immature Turkey Vultures also have a black head. So it's almost certainly a Raven Vulture or Hawk, but I can't be more specific with the information you gave me. In certain light though, because of the way feathers reflect light, even gray or brown birds can appear black.