ML139189151

Age and sex

Adult, Unknown sex - X

Observation details

Shortly after we began scanning from the overlook just east of the mission Eric spotted first one adult and shortly later a second adult out in the fields to the north. I saw the first bird only briefly in flight before it landed several hundred meters from us, but I never saw the second bird arrive. We then spent a short time studying these birds through our scopes and I took a few very distant photos as they foraged by scratching on the ground along a berm that divided two of the fields. Given that these birds foraged by walking around, scratching at the surface, and bending over to search for items on the ground, their behavior was unlike what I associate with a hawk. Both birds appeared to be essentially identical and I was confident that both birds were adults. These birds were large raptors that marginally larger than the ravens that were in the same field, but they also had a rather different structure and very different plumage patterns. These birds each had a relatively short bill with stout base, what appeared to be a blunt tip, and a culmen that was decurved distally. I also noted an inconspicuous forehead, but a somewhat flattened crown and some suggestion of a weak crest at the nape. I also thought the head was larger relative to the body than that of a Buteo, that the neck was longer albeit relatively stocky, and the body was large but also slimmer than that of a Buteo. The wings appeared to be quite long in that I thought they reached most of the way out the tail, but I was unable to discern the primary projection and we were much too far from these birds to note the number of primaries in the tapered wingtip. The tail was quite long, seemingly about as long as the head and body combined, and it was parallel-sided and of medium width throughout. I also thought these birds had relatively long, unfeathered legs. These were boldly marked birds; however, given the distance from which we made our observations, I was able to discern only the general patterns as opposed to the finer details. The forehead and crown were black, thus forming a dark cap that extended down to a line that appeared to extend from the eyes back along the upper edge of the auriculars to their rear terminus and beyond before curving and continuing a short way down the back of the neck. Below the black cap, the auriculars, the lower part of the face, and the face, neck, and breast were white or maybe creamy-whitish. In the front, the white of the breast and sides merged relatively abruptly with the black that characterized the belly and flanks; however, I thought there was some suggestion of fine barring at the junction of white and black on the lower breast. I was also confident that the feathered thighs were black. I have only a vague recollection that the undertail coverts were whitish or at least pale. Returning to the upperparts, the uniformly white neck blended into the black of the back and scapulars though what a region on the upper back that appeared to be barred with black and white to create a pattern that appeared “frosted” when seen from a distance. At least when seen from a moderate distance, the back, scapulars, and closed wings appeared to be black, but when I saw one of these birds briefly in flight, I thought there were pale patches in the wings even though I was unable to determine either their shape. I thought the tapered wingtips were dark, but I was uncertain about their coloration. I was able to make out that the tail was dark across the distal quarter or so, but extensively pale basally, albeit seemingly either pale buff or cream-colored as opposed to truly white, and possibly with some darker barring or mottling. As far as I could determine, the bill was a light gray in color and thus contrasting conspicuously with the deep pink color of the unfeathered region of face before the eye. I thought the eyes were dark. The unfeathered portions of the legs and feet were bright yellow.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

320

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/1000 sec

Dimensions

1615 pixels x 1156 pixels

Original file size

2.9 MB