Brown Eagle in my backyard

[Cjcorner]

I'm not sure what the exact name of this little guy, and he is obviously a young one due to it's lack of hunting graces...lol...he and a gecko were going round for round on the ground and somehow the gecko got away. I wish the pics were better, but we stayed as far away as possible to keep from disturbing it.




Does anyone know what this one is? It stood roughly a foot, maybe a foot and a half tall.
Thanx for looking

Connie

[Molly Taco]

Sounds like you had quite a show. He looks like a Broad-winged Hawk to me but our resident birders will know for sure.
Cin

[Cjcorner]

Broad winged hawk would be the perfect name because the wing span on this little thing is really impressive. I'll look it up....the lines on the breast should be a dead giveaway when anyone with birding knowledge sees it.
Connie

[Piper]

Hi Connie,

I'm with Cin - a juvie broad-winged hawk. I've learned a ton about raptor species since the book came out, and I actually have a raptor slide show I do at schools and libraries now (I'm spending time with licencensed raptor rehabilitators and raptor centers, learning everything I can.) It's fun to try and ID them, but I'm still a neophyte. Diane is the final word!

Glad he provided a great show for you!

McJulie

[the dragonn]

I think it looks more like a juv red shouldered hawk, they feed more on reptiles than broad wings.

[Piper]

The head and eye ridge coloration of the red shouldered don't seem dark enough (even for a juvie), and the broad winged does. But I'm only working from books, so I'll shut up now and defer to the pros.

McJulie

[Cjcorner]

The only problem I see with it being a broad winged is that in all the pics I have found they have horizontal stripes on their breast where this one has vertical stripes with some splashes of dots here and there. I need to get a good birding book.....
Thanks all...
Connie

[Charles]

Tampa Fl? It's either one of two possible birds. Red tail or a red shoulder. Judging by the build, I vote red shoulder. Had one done that.
Nice Harris Dragonn.
We probably have a lot in common.
Ever work with any eagles? PM if you prefer.

[Diane]

I'm late with my 2 cents worth, but I would go for a juvenile red tailed. Mostly because they are more common, with so many subspecies. Also, red shouldered have yellow legs, although perhaps not as juveniles. And of course, I am much more familiar with the local California Red Shouldered, which is quite different in it's markings.

Here's a link to the pictures I took and posted of the local Red Shouldered that inhabits the greenspace behind my house.

http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchid...ed-hawk-2.html

[Cjcorner]

I actually know very little about birds other than I love watching them through my binoculars. Especially down here, bird watching is a joy. We even have a bald eagle in the area. I haven't gotten to see it yet, but I'm watching for it. I kept a feeder out back for awhile and attracted tons on Black Hooded Parrots and the smaller Parakeets that were so cute and quiet. I had to take it down when the Peregrin falcon moved into a huge tree a couple blocks over because it was stalking the smaller birds in our yard. It flew into the back window one morning trying to catch one of the birds and ended up in the orange tree shaking it's head for about five minutes. It was spectacular.
And I would guess that yes, the above picture is the red shouldered hawk, and a very young one. I had assumed it was an eagle because of it's cry.