Bird I.D Please

friedcircuits

Hi,
Took these not even an hour ago. I'm 80% sure its a Harrier perhaps Hen. Not a kestrel. I was actually waiting to get pics of a Buzzard.
Thanks,
Alan.

V_Moth

Unfortunately the tail and wing shape are all wrong for the larger birds of prey and are distinctly those of a falcon. In the first pic it looks like the bird has a greyish head, which would make it a male Kestrel.

whyulittle

Would be unusual to see a Hen Harrier up that high. Sparrowhawk I'd say.

EDIT- if not a Kestrel.

V_Moth

whyulittle wrote: »

Would be unusual to see a Hen Harrier up that high. Sparrowhawk I'd say.

EDIT- if not a Kestrel.

Wing shape is just not broad enough for an accipiter in my opinion, but can be deceiving depending on viewing angle, light, etc.

Displaying and migrating harriers do fly quite high. Migrating Marsh Harriers high overhead can appear like all kinds of exotic raptors

friedcircuits

I see Kestrels every second day driving around for work so I'm fairly confident it's not one! This guy flew nothing like a kestrel. Pic may be deceiving he was only 16 - 20 foot over a heather hill. Followed him for a bit on foot, didn't hover or resemble kestrel at all.

Tiercel Dave

'Tis a tricky one, for me wing tips are not pointed enough for a Kestrel. Bird seems to have a grey appearance so I'll say female Sparrowhawk!

OpenYourEyes

My immediate thought when I saw the first picture was Kestrel. If I was just shown the other two pictures I'd have a very hard time deducing what it was, but for me its a Kestrel.

stevensi

It's 100% a kestrel

dodderangler

Kestrel definitely.
Looks exactly like my old one at that height

ThunderCat

My first thought was Kestrel also. Outside of that I would have said Sparrowhawk. Out of interest, what sets both birds apart identification wise at that sort of distance? I have trouble telling sometimes, unless of course the Kestrel is hovering or the characteristic Sparrowhawk wing beat and glide.

V_Moth

ThunderCat wrote: »

My first thought was Kestrel also. Outside of that I would have said Sparrowhawk. Out of interest, what sets both birds apart identification wise at that sort of distance? I have trouble telling sometimes, unless of course the Kestrel is hovering or the characteristic Sparrowhawk wing beat and glide.

Kestrels have quite narrow and pointed wings, whereas Sparrowhawks have a broader and more rounded wing. See a comparison here:

Kestrel: http://www.netfugl.dk/pictures/birds_user_uploads/57842_UU_51675__32K7237.jpg

Sprawk: http://www.netfugl.dk/pictures/birds_user_uploads/56456_UU_49878_Spurvehoeg.jpg

Viewing angle and light* can complicate things however - raptor
identification of is one of the hardest challenges in birding as the birds are usually distant, have a large variety of plumages and give only brief views. It takes a long time to get good experience with all the species involved.

Just to note as well that Sparrowhawks regularly soar quite high and that Kestrels do as well (though less frequently).

*A pale background (eg white cloud) can make a dark bird look larger and a pale bird smaller + reverse for dark background.

friedcircuits

ThunderCat wrote: »

My first thought was Kestrel also. Outside of that I would have said Sparrowhawk. Out of interest, what sets both birds apart identification wise at that sort of distance? I have trouble telling sometimes, unless of course the Kestrel is hovering or the characteristic Sparrowhawk wing beat and glide.

After reading this I now believe it could have been a Sparrowhawk. Probably would have been handy to mention this but this fella did flap and glide to various spots. Defo no hovering because I watched it for a good while. So with that additional info - was it a Sparrowhawk?

TedR

Hard to say for sure from the pics but I would put money on sparrowhawk. The flap and glide behaviour says sparrowhawk as well. Ive seen a good few spars displaying over territory up high in the recent good weather too.