ML618233882

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

First Westchester county record in eBird but not crazy in this context- a period of south winds in late April. Was standing outside the IBM yorktown office with my coworkers showing them bald eagles, had binoculars but no camera. Caught bird circling directly above the campus - bright and unmarked white belly, shoulders, and head. long pointed wings with obvious black, unpatterned tips and trailing edge. deep all black split tail. Osprey ruled out by tail shape/length (long and forked on my bird), wing color, shape, and pattern (unpatterned black, long, thin and pointed on my bird). mississippi kite - my bird was obviously white, not gray or streaked. white tailed kite - my bird had a black forked tail and black trailing edge. These details also rule out all expected gulls, falcons and accipiters—No other USA species could be so white and black with such a distinctive deeply forked tail. After one pass it sailed northeast with intention. barely suggestive iphone photos but that’s it for documentation.

Technical information

Dimensions

1170 pixels x 1054 pixels

Original file size

379.23 KB