# Can you identify this raptor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592 "2013-08-30T17:25:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/1 "2013-08-30T17:25:46Z")
Hi guys, I had this visitor to my house on Monday evening. I live in central NC (USA), and I’m inside the big city. [This avian creature](https://plus.google.com/photos/101705806889440696686/albums/5917939091532804753?authkey=CN_dke6dkaaPMg) was enjoying his dinner when i discovered him/her. They didn’t mind me being there, and let me take numerous photos. I didn’t see them fly away but they didn’t go far. He/she was perched up atop a nearby power pole when I stepped out the front door about 30 minutes later. He didn’t finish his meal that night, btw. What type of bird is this, please? google photo link –\> [https://plus.google.com/photos/101705806889440696686/albums/5917939091532804753?authkey=CN\_dke6dkaaPMg](https://plus.google.com/photos/101705806889440696686/albums/5917939091532804753?authkey=CN_dke6dkaaPMg) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/2 "2013-08-30T17:31:23Z")
First guess is an immature Red Tailed Hawk. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/3 "2013-08-30T17:37:18Z")
Looks like a young bald eagle. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/4 "2013-08-30T17:40:48Z")
[http://www.whatbird.com/birdexpert/StateColorSize/4/6404/137/2070/birdexpert.aspx](http://www.whatbird.com/birdexpert/StateColorSize/4/6404/137/2070/birdexpert.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/5 "2013-08-30T17:47:12Z")
But that site doesn’t show a picture of [an adolescent bald eagle](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=924&q=young+bald+eagle&oq=young+bald+eagle&gs_l=img.3..0l7j0i5l3.1203.6214.0.6609.16.14.0.2.2.0.148.1705.1j13.14.0....0...1ac.1.26.img..0.16.1744.6G1ONdkZH4o#facrc=0%3Badolescent%20bald%20eagle&imgdii=_&imgrc=_). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/6 "2013-08-30T18:10:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But that site doesn’t show a picture of [an adolescent bald eagle](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=924&q=young+bald+eagle&oq=young+bald+eagle&gs_l=img.3..0l7j0i5l3.1203.6214.0.6609.16.14.0.2.2.0.148.1705.1j13.14.0....0...1ac.1.26.img..0.16.1744.6G1ONdkZH4o#facrc=0%3Badolescent%20bald%20eagle&imgdii=_&imgrc=_). The distinct life stages are the “Getting a Little Thin On Top Eagle” and the “Comb Over Eagle.” ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/7 "2013-08-30T18:20:47Z")
Probably a Red Tail Hawk. We have a lot of them in Central NC, bald eagles… not so much. I’ve got one living in the trees in back of my house. A couple of weeks ago, he finally got one of the mockingbirds that have been hounding him mercilessly. That was one smug looking bird plucking his dinner in my back yard, I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/8 "2013-08-30T18:23:24Z")
Because of the belly band I’m thinking immature red-tail hawk. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/9 "2013-08-30T19:06:09Z")
Yeah, the tail barring and the belly make me think young Red-Tailed. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/10 "2013-08-30T19:17:37Z")
Red Tailed Hawk ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/11 "2013-08-30T19:34:44Z")
Thanks guys, does the tail get redder (rufous) as she/he gets older? I assumed red-tailed from personal anecdotes and knowledge of range, but the tail doesn’t look so red in any of my photos. I have noticed that the red-taileds are more common in my city than i had once thought. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/12 "2013-08-30T19:55:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Looks like a young bald eagle. A bald eagle would probably be half again as large as the bird in the photos. For scale, it looks like the spacing between the vertical bars in the deck railing is about 8", which would put the bird around 24" long at most. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/13 "2013-08-30T20:01:42Z")
Agree, definitely not a bald eagle (nor a golden either). It’s a red tailed hawk, probably the most variable of our native raptors. Most do indeed have almost solid-hued red(ish) tails with less distinct barring. But some, including this bird, do not. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/14 "2013-08-30T20:49:31Z")
A young bald eagle would not have the white legs and the mostly white breast in the photo. It would be more generally mottled. And yeah, it would be much bigger. I have been watching a nesting pair of bald eagles about 150 yards away from where I sit now typing. Junior is a pretty big bird and quite the noisy pest. Thank god they are about to give him the boot. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/15 "2013-08-31T05:32:00Z")
> [@somepumpkin](#): > > Thanks guys, does the tail get redder (rufous) as she/he gets older? I assumed red-tailed from personal anecdotes and knowledge of range, but the tail doesn’t look so red in any of my photos. I have noticed that the red-taileds are more common in my city than i had once thought. Not all Red-tailed hawks have red tails, but all hawks (in the US anyway) with red tails are Red-tailed hawks. The only positive identifier for the species is a thin black line on the underside of the leading edge of the wing and a “comma” shaped black mark just outside the black line. Check out this link [http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/red-tailed\_hawk.htm](http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/red-tailed_hawk.htm) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/16 "2013-08-31T05:55:38Z")
No one has cast “Summon Colibri” yet? I’ll do so. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/17 "2013-08-31T13:10:46Z")
Speaking of red tail hawks: one joined me on my run yesterday afternoon. He flew right in front of me at eye level for about a hundred feet. Too cool. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/18 "2013-08-31T13:41:57Z")
As an aside, you have an awesome deck! ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/19 "2013-08-31T14:59:06Z")
> [@somepumpkin](#): > > Thanks guys, does the tail get redder (rufous) as she/he gets older? I assumed red-tailed from personal anecdotes and knowledge of range, but the tail doesn’t look so red in any of my photos. I have noticed that the red-taileds are more common in my city than i had once thought. The buffy belly band mentioned above is a better indicator, in my personal experience, than the tail color. Also size, behavior, and overall appearance- once you get to know them, they are individuals. And as you say, they are quite common in cities, whereas most other raptors aren’t. You ‘might’ see an eagle, you ‘will’ see Red Tailed Hawks. ---
**Author:** ![MyMack\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MyMack\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyMack_1)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-raptor/667592/20 "2013-09-01T02:36:15Z")
I’m just jealous you got the damn thing to sit still long enough to photograph. 😃