Wow Claire, those are some great/beautiful photos!

I would say it is a Goshawk. We have Northern Goshawk up here but it has the prominent white eyebrows. The eyes are deep red to mahogany and has the yellow claws/feet.

I think it is cool how a lot more birds are coming out and letting themselves be shown. Just sticking around that long should be saying something. It kind of makes you want to carry a camera on you full time, lol.

Keep up the great pics and keep looking up!!

Ed

Those are great photos of a Red-tailed Hawk.

BN

BN: Why do you say it's a red-tail and not a goshawk? I'm not being argumentative, I would like to know - the field guides and online sites are a little confusing.

We have lots of red-tails here and what I heard was not the usual scream of the red-tails; it was something I'd never heard before. That was the main basis of my tentative identification of goshawk.

Claire

An adult NOGO (northern goshawk) would have a steel-gray body with a well defined white patch below the base of the tail. The top of the head would be a black crown with a white line just above the eye from the beak to the back of the head. A juvenile (1st year) would have a completely dark brown streaked breast from the throat to the underside of the tail. The bird you took the picture of has a well defined "belly-band" of streaks with a well defined white breast, classic plumage for a Red-tailed Hawk. Below is an excellent link to photos of many Red-tailed Hawks. There is much variability in this species, but your bird is classic with the rich brown head and belly band of streaking which you will see in many of the photos. Hope this helps.

BN

Here is a link that might be useful: Red-tailed Hawk gallery (not mine)

Thanks, BN, for the excellent description. I didn't understand when I read about "belly-band", but I see it now. I've rarely seen a Red-tailed Hawk perched here - usually they're soaring around being chased by crows and flashing their red tails. I once heard two or three calling to each other in the trees (I saw one adult), but the call was very different from what I heard yesterday.

I wonder what I heard, whether it was the red-tail or if another hawk was around unseen. I'll probably never know unless I get another photo op with a hawk obligingly waiting for me to get my camera.

Claire

Just because I like the photo, here's the other photo of the three I took before the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk flew off.

Claire