sorry, no id for ;you. there was another oil spill?? dh has had nothing on except the tsunami footage. ihad no idea!

It's the same one but there are alot of oily birds We took in washed quite a few and 8 were sent back to see if they can swim if they can and there was no tranquilizer in their system they will be released . We keep getting oily birds everyday. We go thru alot of Dawn. Sarah

Sarah I don't know what that bird is either.
Can you tell us what species you are cleaning and rehabbing?
I would love to know and thanks for your help!
stephen

Stephen, The birds that were at that facility were canadian geese some were filled with oil some less so. We did rescue a duck and kingfisher. But I later learned the kingfisher didn't make. Sarah

Sarah, I believe it is a rough-legged hawk. The approximate size and shape of the bird indicates that it is a buteo (soaring hawk). In winter on the East Coast, that restricts us to red-tailed, red-shouldered, or rough-legged hawks. The photo seems to show a white or whitish head and throat, with darker areas (black or brown) under the throat area. Those are good marks for rough-legged hawk. (light morph)

Rough-legged hawks are also noted for perching on very small branches, compared to other hawks. This bird seems to be doing that.

Yes, this is a roughie. It's perched shape is very much like a typical roughleg, and the size of the twig it's perched on means it can be nothing else.

I've trapped rough-legs (for banding) and they are remarkably light. They appear as big as a red-tail, but get one in hand they seem to be all feathers. A red-tail (or even a red-shouldered) would never pick a small twig branch like this to perch on. A winter rough-leg down from the North.

Wow Thank you both!!I had no idea His chest was very light colored and very fluffy The picture is so bad and taken from the car window. I did read that two were seen in Pennsylvania"s xmas bird count But this was in New Jersey near the Delaware. Sarah

I never knew about that habit of perching on small branches. That is great to know.

Yes, watch where red-tails sit. They are big and heavy, and seldom, if ever, perch themselves way up in the little twigs. They almost always select a nearly horizontal twig that is stout enough to keep from leaning when they land.

If you start to mentally record where you see red-tails perched, you will begin to be able to think like an RT and will begin to search trees and woodlot edges for expected RT perch sites. When you do this, you will start to see many perched RTs that would otherwise go unseen.

And when you see a small raptor at the very top of a distant tree (after leaf fall), it's usually a kestrel. Kestrels love to park themselves at the very top of a tree in an open field. Many times I've seen merely a small dark spot at the very top of a distant tree, and virtually every time it's a perched kestrel.

That's fascinating Thanks for the info! When I see redtails perched it's on a highway sign or pole. Today I saw one fly low over the parking lot of the Strafford farmers market and then he called very loud! Afterwards We saw two over a park and they were doing a flying ballet. They were so beautiful to watch like two kites gliding in the wind!! Sarah

I will have to disagree...that bird is a Red-tailed Hawk. Rough-legged Hawks (light phase) do not have a dark head. See link below. The bird in the photo above has a dark head and a dark belly band with a white breast...characteristics of a red tail. See this link - http://www.desertusa.com/aug96/du_hawk.html.

A dark phase rough-legged hawk would be completely dark without a light breast. Also, it is hard to tell how stout or stiff those branches are. Given that the tree has "balls" hanging on it, it may be a Sweet Gum tree or a Sycamore..both with stout branches easily capable of holding a red-tailed hawk. This bird just screams (no pun intended) red-tailed hawk, with nothing that leads me to believe it is a rough-legged.

BN

Here is a link that might be useful: rough-legged hawk, light phase

I am 100% certain that that bird is a red tailed hawk. Note the large white breast.