taken today during the outing of the birding course for beginners at Maipo.
some say it's an imperial eagle. judging from the size and its form it's very much like an imperial eagle. but the mottled plumage makes it hard to pin down. but can i say that the white patch highlighted by the red arrow is the 'diagnostic white braces on the sides of the mantle' described by the book.
bryan
[ Last edited by cbryan at 23/11/2008 20:47 ] Author: gary Time: 25/11/2008 18:30
"White shoulder" only appear on adult Imperial Eagle.
This is a sub-adult therefore the "white shoulders" are not prominent.
Btw, the position you point is not "shoulder"
I think this is actually a pale ('fulvescens'?) juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle. The extensive spotting on the wing and extremely short tail (I believe I saw the two wingtips projecting well beyond the tail both favour Spotted over Imperial.
Did you see the bird in flight? a pale white 'U' on the rump, with a characteristic shape of broad wings and short tail would be diagnostic of Spotted.
Also for circumstantial evidence - this pale juv. Greater Spotted has been reported hanging around Maipo for a month or so ^^". Author: cbryan Time: 28/11/2008 20:33
unfortunately we didn't see it fly. it stayed perched there for a very long time.
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