White-tailed Sea-eagle

Scientific Name: Haliaeetus albicilla

Range / Habitat: Diverse aquatic habitats, both freshwater and marine. Year-round in SW Greenland, W Iceland, N & C Eurasia. Winters S to N Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Pakistan, N India and SE China.

Field Notes: Large eagle, overall dark brown with yellow bill and legs. In mature adults, tail white, head and neck pale buff. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Highlight of a "Viking Sushi" tour of Breidafjordur Bay in western Iceland, though the sushi was pretty good, too. Once the bird was sighted, Richard raced to the back of the boat and managed to get this shot (with the characteristic white tail) before we pulled out of range.

Ferruginous Hawk

Scientific Name: Buteo regalis

Range / Habitat: Found in open country. Summers in the American West extending up to Canada. Winters on in the southern portion of the western US extending down into Mexico.

Field Notes: Large hawk. Has both pale and dark morph. In both forms, tail light grey to white with dark legs. Back rufous in both forms.

Personal Notes: Seen on Deseret Ranch in Utah.

Harris's Hawk

Scientific Name: Parabuteo unicinctus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in arid desert and savannah in southeastern US, Mexico and Central America, and much of South America.

Field Notes: Medium to large hawk, deep brown overall, white rump and under tail and white tip to dark tail. Legs and bare face skin yellow. Juvenile mottled as in bottom photo.

Personal Notes: A common sight in our travels in southeastern Arizona

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Scientific Name: Accipiter striatus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in forested areas throughout much of the United States. Summers into Canada, winters into Mexico. In winter will often be found in treed urban areas.

Field Notes: Small, long-tailed hawks with relatively small heads. The tail tends to be square-tipped and may show a notch at the tip. Cooper's Hawk similar in range and coloration, but larger.

Personal Notes: Great find, and photo, by Richard in Burlington, Vermont on a cold December day.

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:

Cooper's Hawk

Scientific Name: Accipiter cooperii

Population Estimate: 600K

Range / Habitat: Year-round in forested areas in most of the US. In summer, extends to northern US and somewhat into Canada. In winter, extends to Gulf coast of US and much of Mexico.

Field Notes: Crow-sized hawk with the classic Accipiter shape (broad, rounded wings and long tail, forming a "T" shape) and flight pattern (flap, flap glide). Agile hunter in wooded areas. Adults are steely blue-gray above with warm reddish bars on the underparts and thick dark bands on the tail. Sharp-shinned Hawk similar coloration and range but significantly smaller (jay sized).

Personal Notes: Part of a good day of "urban birding" on the Mississippi River.

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.