ML617482467

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Think this is possibly an American Goshawk. This bird and another accipiter flew in with a kettle of turkey vultures. It wheeled around directly in front of the sun for almost the entire time it was overhead, which unfortunately made for very heavily backlit pictures. I had seen kestrels hunting in almost the exact same place over some of the previous days, and when the two smaller birds appeared with the turkey vultures, my initial assumption was that they were the kestrels again. However, when I got a closer look, the shape seemed more like an accipiter, and one of the individuals was much larger than a kestrel, and seemed a bit large even for a Cooper's or Sharp-Shinned Hawk, although not so large that I ruled them out. Susan Hunter on the What's This Bird Facebook page discussed some of the field marks that may point to AGOS - it could be an immature AGOS "based on the width and full shape of the wings, the evenly banded long tail terminating with a wide, white band, and heavy streaking on the breast." However, she noted that there was not enough detail in the images to determine the presence of a wide, white supercillium, which could help clinch the ID. Interestingly, an American Goshawk had been reported on eBird the day before, 4/13, at Beaver Creek ski resort, directly across the valley. I will go back to my original photos and see if I can find the supercillium and other field marks, and I'll consult some other people.

Technical information

Model

NIKON Z 6

Lens

NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S

ISO

640

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/8000 sec

Dimensions

1406 pixels x 935 pixels

Original file size

717.27 KB