Montagu's Harrier

Scientific Name: Circus pygargus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found throughout Europe, except Norway where it is not present. The breeding range extends as far east as the Urals. Breeding also occurs in northern Africa, mostly in Morocco.

Field Notes: Adult males are characterized by their overall pale grey plumage contrasting with black wingtips. Compared with other harriers this species has characteristic black bands along the secondaries, both above and below the wing and rusty streaks on belly and flanks. It has a particularly graceful flight, with powerful and elegant wingbeats which give an impression of buoyancy and ease.

Personal Notes: Seen at Donana National Park, Spain.

Booted Eagle

Scientific Name: Hieraaetus pennatus

Population Estimate: Estimated in the tens of thousands, Least Concern status.

Range / Habitat: Bird of wooded countryside with some open areas. Breeds in southern Europe, North Africa and across Asia. Winters in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Field Notes: Medium-sized raptor with two relatively distinct plumage forms. Pale birds are mainly light grey with a darker head and flight feathers. The other form has mid-brown plumage with dark grey flight feathers. Distinctive white markings on the wings and shoulders. Feathers cover the legs.

Personal Notes: Nice digiscoping photo by Richard in Donana National Park, Spain. Along with the Little Eagle this bird is one of the closest living relatives of the extinct Haast's Eagle of New Zealand.

Black Kite

Scientific Name: Milvus migrans

Population Estimate: 6M

Range / Habitat: Widely found throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia

Field Notes: Dark plumage and forked tail in flight.

Personal Notes: Common sight above Donana National Park in Spain.

Whistling Kite

Scientific Name: Haliastur sphenurus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found in open or lightly wooded areas, often near water, throughout most of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia.

Field Notes: Medium-sized raptor, generally brown. Light tail prominent. Distinctive underwing pattern with white streaming back from the wrists noted in above bird after alighting.

Personal Notes: Spotted among a group of cormorants in Chiltern, Australia.

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Scientific Name: Haliaeetus leucogaster

Population Estimate: 670 to 6700 individuals

Range / Habitat: Costal areas from India and Sri Lanka through southeast Asia to Australia

Field Notes: Large bird of prey with white head, breast, and tail. Wings grey. Distinctive profile from underneath with black trailing edge contrasting with the white, as above. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen both perching and soaring during a glorious hike in Ben Boyd National Park, Australia.

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Scientific Name: Aquila audax

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Grassland, scrubland, savannah throughout Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Large, dark raptor with characteristic wedge-shaped tail, prominent in flight. Golden mantle on back.

Personal Notes: Seen at Ben Boyd National Park in Australia.

Black-shouldered Kite

Scientific Name: Elanus axillaris

Population Estimate: 100K

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia, where found in open would lands and grasslands throughout the mainland.

Field Notes: Small grey and white falcon with black shoulder patch and red eye. Similar to nocturnal Letter-winged Kite in central Australia

Personal Notes:

Lappet-faced Vulture

Scientific Name: Torgos tracheliotos

Population Estimate: 8,500, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Dry savannah, arid plains, deserts and open mountain slopes in areas throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Field Notes: Large brown bird, some white mottling underneath. Naked, red head and neck. Large bill.

Personal Notes: Seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

White-tailed Kite

Scientific Name: Elanus leucurus

Population Estimate: 500K-5M

Range / Habitat: Found year-round on open grassland and pastures of California, Mexico, Central America and parts of South America.

Field Notes: Medium-sized hawk with white head, breast and tail with black shoulders, prominent when perched and in flight. Hovers over open land.

Personal Notes:

Roadside Hawk

Scientific Name: Buteo magnirostris

Population Estimate: 500K-5M

Range / Habitat: Common resident throughout Mexico, Central America and most of South America. Preferred habitat is lowland moist forest but adapted to urban settings as well.

Field Notes: Medium-sized hawk with relatively long tail and short primaries. Head grey and relatively unmarked in adult. Eye, cere, and legs yellow. Belly barred rufous. Differentiated from Grey Hawk by rufous belly and yellow eye.

Personal Notes:

Common Black Hawk

Scientific Name: Buteogallus anthracinus

Population Estimate: 2M

Range / Habitat: From southwestern US through Mexico and Central America. Some of the Carribean Islands as well. Common coastal bird, found in mangrove swamps, estuaries, and adjacent forests.

Field Notes: Adult all black above and below with one broad white band in tail and yellow cere and lores. Juvenile with streaked white breast, dark back, several thin white bands in tail. Differentiated from Great Black Hawk by habitat, shorter tail, malar stripe (in juvenile).

Personal Notes: We have only ever seen a juvenile hawk, first on Ambergris Caye, Belize and then on the El Rey archeological ruins in Cancun, Mexico. 

Broad-winged Hawk

Scientific Name: Buteo platypterus

Population Estimate: 1.8M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Summers throughout deciduous forests in the eastern United States. Winters in Central American and northern South America.

Field Notes: Medium-sized, stocky, forest-dwelling hawk. Reddish barred underparts. Pale wings with dark trailing edge white single to multiple white band across dark tail when seen in flight. Forms large kettles in migration. Red-tailed Hawk has pale chest with dark belly band and red tail in flight. Cooper's Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk are accipiters and have relatively long tails and short wings. 

Personal Notes: First seen at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, later the Fontanelle Forest in Omaha.

Golden Eagle

Scientific Name: Aquila Chrysaetos

Population Estimate: 170K

Range / Habitat: The golden eagle has probably never been particularly common in Britain, as pairs require enormous territories. The British population is thought to number around 400 pairs at present. Most of these pairs are found in the Scottish Highlands, although more recently a few birds have returned to the Lake District, Cumbria (6). The species is extinct in Ireland, following persecution. The golden eagle's world range spreads through the Palaearctic region including mountainous parts of Europe as far south as northern Africa and south-east Asia. It also occurs in North America.

Field Notes: This huge bird of prey can be identified by its very long wings and long tail. When gliding or soaring it typically holds its wings in a shallow ‘V’. The plumage is dark brown rather than golden and the massive talons are bright yellow. The feathers of the head and nape of the neck are typically light yellowish or reddish-brown, giving the appearance of a ‘shawl’. Males and females are similar in appearance, but juveniles can be distinguished by the presence of white patches on the undersides of the wings and on both surfaces of the tail.

Personal Notes:

Swainson's Hawk

Scientific Name: Buteo Swainsoni

Population Estimate: 490K

Range / Habitat: Summers in the western US and Canada where favors prairie and dry grassland. Forms large kettles on migration to a relatively small region in Argentina.

Field Notes: In flight, pale inner wing / leading edge contrasts with dark flight feathers. The darker morphs, shown above, have uniform rufous breast; lighter morphs have a rufous bib on white breast. White area on face around bill. Smaller than a Red-tailed Hawk.

Personal Notes: Common hawk in Utah and other parts of the American West.

Hen Harrier

Scientific Name: Circus cyaneus

Population Estimate: 1.3M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: The northern harrier is the most northerly breeding and one of the most widespread of all harrier species, occurring across much of North America, Europe and Asia. In North America, the subspecies Circus cyaneus hudsonius can be found from Alaska and Canada south to Mexico, wintering as far south as Central or South America and the Caribbean.

Field Notes: It is mainly grey above and white below except for the upper breast, which is grey like the upperparts, and the rump, which is white; the wings are grey with black wingtips. The female is brown above with white upper tail coverts, hence females, and the similar juveniles, are often called "ringtails". Their underparts are buff streaked with brown.

Personal Notes: Also known as Northern Harrier in the US.

Western Osprey

Scientific Name: Pandion haliaetus

Population Estimate: 500K, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Migrant throughout much of the US. It winters primarily in South America and breeds in the northern US and Canada. Found around nearly any type of body of water.

Field Notes: Large raptor with black back and white chest. Wings a distinctive "M" shape in flight. Feathers cover the legs. Dark eye stripe on white head. Stick nests place conspicuously in open areas.

Personal Notes: Above photo taken in Amery, Wisconsin on a job interview. 

Peregrine Falcon

Scientific Name: Falco Peregrinus

Population Estimate: 1.2M

Range / Habitat: The peregrine falcon has a worldwide distribution, occurring on every continent except Antarctica. The name ‘peregrine’ means ‘wanderer’, with most northern populations undergoing long-distance migrations to winter further south.

Field Notes: The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known as the Peregrine. The underwing and tail are also barred, and the pale throat and cheeks contrast with a broad, dark ‘moustache’ stripe. The facial skin and legs of the peregrine falcon are yellow to orange, and the beak is bluish, tinged yellow at the base and black at the tip. The female peregrine falcon is up to 20 percent larger than the male, and usually has more heavily marked underparts. Juveniles can be distinguished by the browner plumage, streaked rather than barred underparts, and blue-grey or greenish legs and facial skin .

Personal Notes:

Black Vulture

Scientific Name: Coragyps atratus

Population Estimate: 20M

Range / Habitat: Year-round throughout southeastern and southern US, Mexico, Central America and nearly all of South America.

Field Notes: Large black bird with grey, weathered head. Vultures characterized by large size, wheeling glides, finger-like wing tips. Easy to distinguish from Turkey Vulture in flight as Black Vulture will flap wings more frequently, does not appear headless and has silvery patches at wingtips.

Personal Notes: Common vulture in Mexico though we also have seen in Florida. The bottom photo is of the vulture perched atop Chichen Itza, which was quite dramatic.

Turkey Vulture

Scientific Name: Cathartes aura

Population Estimate: 5M

Range / Habitat: Year-round throughout southeastern and southern US, Mexico, Central America and nearly all of South America. In summers will push up into the rest of the US.

Field Notes: Large black bird with small, red head. Vultures characterized by large size, wheeling glides, finger-like wing tips. Viewed when in flight, Turkey Vulture has silver from their wingtips all along the trailing wing edge, small head, and rarely flap wings. Black Vulture has silver on underside of wingtips only, obvious head, and with frequently flap wings.

Snail Kite

Scientific Name: Rostrhamus Sociabilis

Population Estimate: 2M

Range / Habitat: The Snail Kite breeds in tropical South America, the Caribbean, and central and southern Florida in the United States. It is resident all-year in most of its range, but the southernmost population migrates north in winter and the Caribbean birds disperse widely outside the breeding season.

Field Notes: The Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is a bird of prey within the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures. The adult male has dark blue-gray plumage with darker flight feathers. The legs and cere are red. The adult female has dark brown upperparts and heavily streaked pale underparts. She has a whitish face with darker areas behind and above the eye. The legs and cere are yellow or orange. The immature is similar to adult female, but the crown is streaked.

Personal Notes: