Did we spot, and photograph, a Bald Eagle in Phoenix today?

reply to post by AutumnWitch657


They are not so much a sea bird, but they love their water, well the fish in it anyways. In Scotland there are breeding pairs round some of the lochs.

BTW I was getting ahead of myself in the earlier post, the bird the OP pictured is in US am in sunny uk. Don`t know diddly squat bout american birds really. Id still say Osprey, they are known to, when their on the move so to speak, eat mice and lizrds etc, also some juveniles have a dark hood on their head and so do some adults, not many but.

Am just catching up on the thread now and if it`s not an Osprey (which I still think it is) I would have to say it`s not a Swaines but more likely the Red Tailed Hawk going by images from other posters. It`ll be good to find out though!

Thats just my 2 pennarth.

fenian8
reply to post by AutumnWitch657

 

Id still say Osprey .... some juveniles have a dark hood on their head and so do some adults, not many but.

i've never heard of that - do you have a source?

in the autumn juveniles migrate to their wintering grounds and stay there until they are ready to breed - i don't think many over winter in the desert

has the look of a Harpy eagle.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I agree with someone else it resembles a Swainson's Hawk, but looks to be a Light Morph. I live in Utah and we have Eagles that migrate here every winter and that is not a Bald Eagle nor a Golden Eagle. You can tell the difference in the body style,legs and beak. Eagles have a broader beak where as the Hawks (aside from the Harrier Hawks) have a narrow darker beak. In researching possibilities that resemble the dark head, white breast and longer tails the Swainson's Hawk seemed the best fit.

too bad you couldn't get any close up shots of it!

Got a call back from the wildlife guy. No report back on what the people that went looking for signs of it being a bald eagle, but two birders have reported seeing a juvenile bald eagle that had signs of poor health in the same general area yesterday (they sent out a possible sighting alert to local birders). No idea if it's the same bird I saw… but it increases the possibility and might explain the difficulty of identification in my photo. An area bird watching club is apparently converging on the area tomorrow.

a reply to: aynock

I dont have a source at mo it`s Easter holidays but a quick look on the internet under images will show you juvenile and even adult osprey with a lot of brown feathers on their head. It`s not a hood in the true sense of the word,. but a picture of the OPs quality it could look like a hood.

To SkepticOverlord

Honestly that is not a Bald Eagle, I would say Osprey, but giving ma lack of knowledge on American birds it could be a Red Tailed Hawk tbh.

Also the bird in your picture doesn`t sit right for a bird in poor health. Its caught its prey and is eating it in full view. A bird in poor health would not be doing that.

It will be interesting if we find out what it is.

originally posted by: fenian8
a reply to: aynock

I dont have a source at mo it`s Easter holidays but a quick look on the internet under images will show you juvenile and even adult osprey with a lot of brown feathers on their head. It`s not a hood in the true sense of the word,. but a picture of the OPs quality it could look like a hood.

in the op's pics the 'cheeks' and 'chin' are clearly dark - perhaps you could link to a picture on the internet that shows an osprey that isn't pure white in these areas?

as mentioned, juveniles migrate in autumn and stay on the wintering grounds for 18 months returning as full adults in the spring so it's worth bearing in mind the time of year when suggesting a juvenile

in addition the bird is eating a mammal in the middle of the desert - very very untypical for an osprey - but very typical for a red tailed hawk (which it looks like to me)


to the op: have the pictures been shown to anyone who knows about north american raptors yet?

originally posted by: aynock
to the op: have the pictures been shown to anyone who knows about north american raptors yet?

I don't have an update, but yes, it was shown to an expert in the Arizona parks & wildlife service, and felt there was enough cause to investigate further, based solely on the photo and apparent size.

We rode in the same area this weekend, and only saw new and more frequent signs warning against the use of motorized vehicles, firearms, fires, etc. Also saw quite a few hawks (and a rattle snake!), but nothing bigger.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

just wondering if you've heard anything about the sighting.