I see no orange on this bird, either. I thought, first thing, "Crested Caracara," then "Northern Goshawk," based on its overall coloring and the habitat. The habitat seems wrong for a Caracara, but we had one visiting us in redwood country not long ago, eating at several deer carcasses along Highway One and the bird appeared several weeks later (assuming it was the same one) in Oregon. . . While a Northern Goshawk *would* be feathered farther down on the legs, take a closer look at this photo, then turn to page 190 in the NGFG, and check out the feathering on the legs of the Goshawk (imm) in the painting: the feathers are farther down, yes, but they are sweeping back, as in the bird in the photo. A Northern Goshawk *would* go after prey as large as a squirrel. I sincerely doubt a Cooper's would take prey that large. . .

I agree with you that the tail is a bit confusing, and points more towards BRH unless this bird is a juvenile, in which case the bands should be essentially equal in width. Hmm this is quite confusing, but I still have to go with RSH based on the transluscent crescents on the wings, this is supposed to be the one of the best field marks for these hawks. The fingery appearance can change based on how the hawk holds its wings. Nathan

can anyone id these?

this is a breeding pair, so they should be the same. the underside shot on #4 just didnt show the color variation. i have a 5 mp dig cam with 12x and that was the best it would do from the distance. it is strange how much size dif there is in the pair.