# ID on raptor species **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282 "2013-12-14T00:12:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/1 "2013-12-14T00:12:05Z")
[This fairly-large bird (maybe needless warning - shows dead squirrel in little detail at all, fwiw)](http://aokhere.imgur.com/all/)was seen to have made a kill (of said squirrel) in our backyard. Daughter saw it happen as she was feeding dinner to out Cockatoo. The raptor ‘hopped’ up onto an old ‘entertainment center’ I have sitting in middle of backyard which is where and when I started taking pics. I went outside at corner of house maybe 30 feet away from bird and started taking pics, and I also include a pic that has a foot-long ruler (orange colored) for size comparison taken at same zoom-level and distance of most of pictures. What raptor did we see? Location is ~Southern/Central Oklahoma, and more or less in middle of mid-sized city. Thanks… ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/2 "2013-12-14T00:25:06Z")
Is it a buzzard? The head looks a lot like the 7th picture along in this google image search [https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=882&q=peregrine+falcon&oq=pere&gs\_l=img.1.0.0l10.1531.2297.0.4343.4.4.0.0.0.0.109.374.3j1.4.0....0...1ac.1.32.img..0.4.374.ANDDaqoXMw0#hl=en&q=buzzard&tbm=isch&undefined=](https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=882&q=peregrine+falcon&oq=pere&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.1531.2297.0.4343.4.4.0.0.0.0.109.374.3j1.4.0....0...1ac.1.32.img..0.4.374.ANDDaqoXMw0#hl=en&q=buzzard&tbm=isch&undefined=) ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/3 "2013-12-14T00:30:25Z")
Looks like a [Red-tailed Hawk](http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_hawk/id) to me. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/4 "2013-12-14T01:02:31Z")
Yes, there are a lot of red tails in the north Texas area this time of year. You’re not much north of there. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/5 "2013-12-14T01:16:57Z")
I’ll definitely go with Red-Tailed hawk. The photos don’t show it too well, but it has the “belly band” of dark spots across the light chest, a distinctive RTH feature that’s nearly always present. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/6 "2013-12-14T01:21:46Z")
I thought red-tailed hawk as well, to be honest, but the bird had zero color other than shades of brown/gray to white. I’ve handled mature red-tailed’s in the past (long ago) and they seemed MUCH smaller overall than this fellow seemed to be be. Just an impression, though, not ‘factual’ by any means. This was a large-in-body bird, but still might be a red-tailed. My non-professional guess is that it is young-ish and only showing its ‘immature’ colors’ at this point (making ID harder, of course). I could be very wrong, no doubt. But again, it had NO colors showing anywhere on its body, just the shades of brown/gray and white. Maybe a tad of yellow to its beak (??). Since we have an Umbrella Cockatoo and I am somewhat familiar with birds, I was looking hard for ANY identifying features since my daughter REALLY wants to ID this bird. Its fascinating that such a thing happened in our back yard, to be honest. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/7 "2013-12-14T01:45:13Z")
Agreed, juvie RTH. Fun to see up close! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/8 "2013-12-14T01:59:10Z")
Good a place as any to mention…there is currently a snowy owl irruption going on in the northeast and midwest. Some have been seen as far south as [North Carolina and even Bermuda](http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/gotsnowies2013/)! ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/9 "2013-12-14T02:50:12Z")
> [@Ionizer](#): > > I thought red-tailed hawk as well, to be honest, but the bird had zero color other than shades of brown/gray to white. First-year Red-tails have no red in their tails. Your bird looks to be a normal RTH. First-year birds are full adult size by the time they fledge. In the case of females, this can be substantial - I’ve seen falconers with birds as large as 48 oz (over 1300 g). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/10 "2013-12-14T06:24:11Z")
I agree that it appears to be a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (which as has been said lacks red in the tail). ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/11 "2013-12-14T14:58:25Z")
Thanks for all the replies! Much appreciated… ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/12 "2013-12-14T15:14:40Z")
My first choice would be red tail, they get their adult colors about the 3rd or 4th year I believe. The beak seems a little on the small side like falcons and the legs appear a little long for a red tail but I can’t think of anything else that would fit here. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/13 "2013-12-14T17:45:31Z")
I agree with Juvie Redtail. Been a lot here in So Cal this fall. We had a pair of red shuldered hawks raise a chick here last year, they are gorgeous birds. At first sighting I thought it was a giant robin!!:D:D ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/14 "2013-12-14T18:16:35Z")
Wr have had a huge increase in cooper hawks the past 10 years here in Torrance, just south of Los Angeles. I see them daily now, 20 years ago it was maybe once every few years. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-on-raptor-species/676282/15 "2013-12-14T21:50:02Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > Is it a buzzard? > > The head looks a lot like the 7th picture along in this google image search > > [peregrine falcon - Google Search](https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=882&q=peregrine+falcon&oq=pere&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.1531.2297.0.4343.4.4.0.0.0.0.109.374.3j1.4.0....0...1ac.1.32.img..0.4.374.ANDDaqoXMw0#hl=en&q=buzzard&tbm=isch&undefined=) That buzzard is not found in the USA. It is a hawk found in England and Europe. The bird that some call a “buzzard” here is not a hawk but a vulture. Somehow the first colonials mistook our vultures for your buzzard and called them buzzards. That misnomer has stuck. It doesn’t look anything like a vulture.