This is undoubtedly a juvenile Northern Goshawk and a FANTASTIC find! They are not commonly seen, let alone perched in the open. They are of the genus Accipiter, and are closely related to the more common Cooper's Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk. What makes this a Goshawk is: (in comparison to the similar Cooper's), the tail bands are wavy and have pale outlines to the dark bands, and also the upperparts are heavily marked and rather decorative. The massive white eyebrow (supercilium) CAN occur on juvenile Cooper's and Sharp-shinned but it tends to be more prominent in juvenile Goshawks. But the tail and the upperpart patterning are what clinches it here. This is a classic example of a juvenile Goshawk, straight out of a field guide! AMAZING bird. Glad you posted. Which state was this seen (and when)? Interesting it let you come close. I have to say, though, that the adults during nesting season are notorious for attacking and injuring humans that happen upon their nesting area. This post was edited by TMFF on Sat, Oct 11, 14 at 14:24

Thanks for the guess, Orrin. When I looked up Buteo buteo on the internet, the wing pattern and size was almost identical. But then I noticed the tail. The Buzzard has a rounded tail, and the one I saw has a distinct V-notch in the tail. Thanks, tho. Candy

Thanks! So when do their tails get the reddish plumage? This one had brown striped tail feathers, I thought that the adults had red tails but I know very little about red tailed hawks so I thought I would ask, thanks! Oh, also, what's that whistling noise that it is making? There is a redtailed hawk couple that lives in my area, I used To see them Together all the time, now they seem to be hanging out solo mostly, I wondered if this one might be one of their "kids" from this year or year before, this one's plumage looks a lot darker than the male and female I usually see in the area.

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