Falcon ID

pinseeker · 07-10-2013 8:43pm #1

pics of peregrine my brother took yesterday, there is another pic of different peregrine also which was much smaller so i presume the bird in the pic is female?

521.JPG

518.JPG

519.JPG

OpenYourEyes · 07-10-2013 9:13pm

pinseeker wrote: »

pics of peregrine my brother took yesterday, there is another pic of different peregrine also which was much smaller so i presume the bird in the pic is female?

521.JPG

518.JPG

519.JPG

Looks like a Kestrel to me? It is a falcon species though.

And yes, females are the bigger ones!

dodderangler · 07-10-2013 9:15pm

That's a kestrel mate.
Last pic gave it away for me. Same coloured tail as the kestrel I used to have and also same plumage. Same as all kestrels.
Still a member of falcon family.

pinseeker · 07-10-2013 9:23pm

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Looks like a Kestrel to me? It is a falcon species though.

And yes, females are the bigger ones!

I said the same to him but he showed me the pic of the other peregrine which i would describe as your typical pic, it had that kinda dark grey blue colour to its back.

He said that this bird was much bigger. He would know a kestrel well and its size so if it is indeed a kestrel il enjoy laughing at him

OpenYourEyes · 07-10-2013 9:30pm

pinseeker wrote: »

I said the same to him but he showed me the pic of the other peregrine which i would describe as your typical pic, it had that kinda dark grey blue colour to its back.

He said that this bird was much bigger. He would know a kestrel well and its size so if it is indeed a kestrel il enjoy laughing at him

Well the bird in at least two of those pics looks to be a big Kestrel, but would still be smaller than a male Peregrine!
On the pics you posted the thin facial mask (much thicker, more black on a Peregrine) and the lone bar on the tail, and even the relatively pale front all indicate Kestrel.

It can be hard to judge size sometimes though. Also possible he saw both a Peregrine and a Kestrel within a few mins of each other and just didn't look too hard the second time and assumed he was looking at the same bird?

whyulittle · 07-10-2013 9:36pm

@pinseeker

Are there not two birds pictured? Which ones are you thinking are which?

The two of the one bird doesn't look like a Kestrel to me. Looks too big and head looks too brown. Taking the head alone it almost looks like a Buzzard.

pinseeker · 07-10-2013 9:45pm

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Well the bird in at least two of those pics looks to be a big Kestrel, but would still be smaller than a male Peregrine!
On the pics you posted the thin facial mask (much thicker, more black on a Peregrine) and the lone bar on the tail, and even the relatively pale front all indicate Kestrel.

It can be hard to judge size sometimes though. Also possible he saw both a Peregrine and a Kestrel within a few mins of each other and just didn't look too hard the second time and assumed he was looking at the same bird?

Your spot on with time frame I think.he was saying it was 3 birds.I'll have to get him to put other bird onto comp as it is defnitely a peregrine but he certainly said that these other birds were there at around same time and much bigger.

He must have just misjudged size big time,he even used word not far off buzard size

pinseeker · 07-10-2013 9:50pm

whyulittle wrote: »

@pinseeker

Are there not two birds pictured? Which ones are you thinking are which?

The two of the one bird doesn't look like a Kestrel to me. Looks too big and head looks too brown. Taking the head alone it almost looks like a Buzzard.

Hi whyulittle,that would explain my last post stating buzzard size bird. I'm just downloading pics he put on comp as he wasn't sure of bigger bird. So it seems he snapped peregrine,kestrel and a buzzard.

You say that 2 pics are not of kestrel,but just looked myself properly and pic 1 and 2 have what i thought was facial markings of falcon?

dodderangler · 07-10-2013 10:06pm

whyulittle wrote: »

@pinseeker

Are there not two birds pictured? Which ones are you thinking are which?

The two of the one bird doesn't look like a Kestrel to me. Looks too big and head looks too brown. Taking the head alone it almost looks like a Buzzard.

Really suprised you said buzzard mate. You usually know your birds and to not know a kestrel from a buzzard is very surprising coming from you mate. Not taking a swing at you but a kestrel face and buzzard are completely different.
Not to mention the different shape of both birds.
It's a kestrel.

whyulittle · 07-10-2013 10:11pm

I didn't say it was a Buzzard.

There are two birds pictured as far as I can see.

521 looks like a Kestrel.

518 & 519 do not look like a Kestrel. The body looks too heavy, and too much solid dark brown around the head and neck. If you block out the body, the head alone looks more Buzzard like than Kestrel.

pinseeker · 07-10-2013 10:16pm

dodderangler wrote: »

Really suprised you said buzzard mate. You usually know your birds and to not know a kestrel from a buzzard is very surprising coming from you mate. Not taking a swing at you but a kestrel face and buzzard are completely different.
Not to mention the different shape of both birds.
It's a kestrel.

I'm happy to pass on the info that it's a kestrel, but i'm very surprised he described the size so wrong. Unless he mistakenly didn't get pic of third bird he said that was much bigger than the pergegrine and just thought the pics ive put up were of that bird.

thanks for your comments lads and il try get that pic of peregrine up so ye can confirm that one for him.

pinseeker · 07-10-2013 10:19pm

whyulittle wrote: »

I didn't say it was a Buzzard.

There are two birds pictured as far as I can see.

521 looks like a Kestrel.

518 & 519 do not look like a Kestrel. The body looks too heavy, and too much solid dark brown around the head and neck. If you block out the body, the head alone looks more Buzzard like than Kestrel.

Does 518 not have the facial markings of a falcon, it does look like a big kestrel all the same.

dodderangler · 07-10-2013 10:30pm

Really hate to disagree but I'm going to have to.
518 even though blocking the rest of the body out it its head still looks like a kestrel. Same markings on the face as a falcon species.

whyulittle · 07-10-2013 10:36pm

No problem with disagreeing, I'm not saying I'm right.

It is a Falcon of some kind. I haven't said what it is, I just think it isn't a Kestrel for the reasons I've given.

OpenYourEyes · 07-10-2013 10:40pm

518 has the head of a female kestrel, the body size/shape of a female falcon, the yellow feet of a falcon, and the tail of a Kestrel

All that makes it a female Kestrel for me.
The brown around the neck looks slightly unusual, but not unusual enough to turn it into any other species - individual variation and the angle the birds head is at etc are both a factor I'm sure.

...and 519 looks to be the same bird.

dodderangler · 07-10-2013 10:51pm

Openyoureyes- kestrels have bright yellow feet.

OpenYourEyes · 07-10-2013 10:52pm

whyulittle wrote: »

No problem with disagreeing, I'm not saying I'm right.

It is a Falcon of some kind. I haven't said what it is, I just think it isn't a Kestrel for the reasons I've given.

Would you care to venture a guess as to what it is, other than a female Kestrel with an unusual amount of brown around the neck/head area?

Pinseeker, just for clarity, what county was the pic taken in (no need for a specific location) ?

OpenYourEyes · 07-10-2013 10:55pm

dodderangler wrote: »

Openyoureyes- kestrels have bright yellow feet.

I know they do. I just phrased it that way because its not a Kestrel-specific trait - lots of Falcon species have yellow feet!

dodderangler · 07-10-2013 11:02pm

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

I know they do. I just phrased it that way because its not a Kestrel-specific trait - lots of Falcon species have yellow feet!

Lots have blue feet aswell. Seen good few peregrines and peregrine crosses with bright blue feet but most were immature birds and some will lose the colour.

pinseeker · 07-10-2013 11:03pm

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Would you care to venture a guess as to what it is, other than a female Kestrel with an unusual amount of brown around the neck/head area?

Pinseeker, just for clarity, what county was the pic taken in (no need for a specific location) ?

Cork...are we going with large fat female kestrel

I'm going to check in with my brother in the morn but as said he fully believed it was bigger than peregrine he took pic of. Kestrel is a bird he would every day on the road so as said he must have made big error with size unless bird was high up but don't think so

Kess73 · 08-10-2013 2:05pm

Just to throw my tuppence into the mix.

It is a kestrel, possibly a decent sized hen. Nothing in it's markings and wing shape suggest any other species to me.

The puffed up look in the second and third pics are not uncommon, and can be caused by anything from the bird being excited/agitated to it being the direction the wind was hitting it from.

100% it is not a peregrine falcon. There is a massive difference in size and and also in terms of marking, not to mention in how their style of flight looks.

DellyBelly · 09-10-2013 10:28am

No doubt a kestrel.

I always think calling the size of a bird in the air when it's on it's own is very difficult thing to do. I have done this a few times with rooks thinking they may be ravens but when you see them side by side there is no comparison.

Eoghan Barra · 10-10-2013 5:15pm

As an aside, Pinseeker, any idea what type of camera your brother used to take those photos? The quality of the first two pics is great (to my eyes anyway).

V Bull · 10-10-2013 9:44pm

Deffo a Kestrel, I took the liberty of enlarging the OP's photo's (I hope that's OK), see below
519

521

518

Compared to a Peregrine Falcon...

pinseeker · 11-10-2013 11:56am

V Bull wrote: »

Deffo a Kestrel, I took the liberty of enlarging the OP's photo's (I hope that's OK), see below

Thanks v bull, had chat with my brother who said there was 3 different birds and while 2 were larger and 1 much larger than the kestrel it seems he may not have captured the biggest of the 3 properly and thought the pics i put up for him may have been the bigger bird. No doubt its a kestrel.

His other decent enough quality pic is def a peregrine so can only presume the other larger bird was female peregrine, pity he didn't get decent shot. Next time

Falcon ID

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