Subject: [Oversea] Please help to identify these raptors [Print This Page] Author: cywong Time: 1/10/2014 23:30 Subject: Please help to identify these raptors
Would experienced birdwatchers please help to identify these raptors?
All were seen in Inner Mongolia in Sep2014.
Sorry for the poor quality photos.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
Author: EricB Time: 5/10/2014 05:07
Seems like lots of people have looked at this post but no one has waded in.
Although I would not claim to be an expert on anything, I can help a bit.
Images 1 a,b,c . A harrier species with a clear white rump The broad hand points to one of 2 species - Hen or Pied. I have very little experience with Pied, except when I was a child (many years ago)we used to call all the ‘white rumped ringtails’ at Mai Po ‘Hen’ , when in fact they have now been shown to be ‘Pied’. In other words, the field guides have been quite poor at differentiating them! I do have reasonable experience with Hen Harrier and this bird looks a bit different from what I would expect in the following ways:
1. Image 1c looks a bit short tailed for Hen.
2. The upper wing coverts are more rufous than I would expect for Hen
3. I would be surprised if Hen could show only 3 prominent dark bars on the upper tail(usually shows 4)
So , my money is on a Pied Harrier for raptor 1.
Raptor 3 - looks pretty typical of Eastern Buzzard.
Raptor 4- The prominent feature is the dark carpel patch on a very pale broad underwing. The only 2 raptors I can think of in the region are a Buzzard sp or an Osprey . Clearly this is not an Osprey! So, I think this is probably another Eastern Buzzard but I may be way off target here.
Raptor 5 is a Eurasian Kestrel. The moustache stripe is too prominent for Lesser Kestrel.
Hope this sheds some light or opens up more debate.
Best wishes
Eric Author: cywong Time: 5/10/2014 09:34
Hello Eric,
Thank you very much for your reply and detailed explanation.
I understand that these images are not good and do not show the birds' features clearly, so it is difficult to identify them.
I am grateful for your help.
Cherry
Welcome to HKBWS Forum 香港觀鳥會討論區 (http://hkbws.org.hk/BBS/)
