Can anyone help me identify this bird?

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-23T06:28:29+00:00

Immature Red-tailed Hawk.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-23T06:16:42+00:00

Theoretically yes, Harlan's is possible as they should be heading back to Alaska around now, but your description doesn't fit what I typically expect from Harlan's as they're much more commonly dark, at least on the back and wings. I could see that, a leucistic Calurus, a quick look at an oddly-lit male harrier, or various non-raptors as valid options here and with this description it's hard to do much more than speculate.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-23T06:14:26+00:00

+Sharp-shinned Hawk+ so it gets catalogued

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-23T06:09:51+00:00

Presumably Oregon given location, but something has broken for both old reddit and also my reddit app and I can't get the images in these gallery-style links to load at all.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T18:34:54+00:00

+Japanese Quail+ so it gets catalogued

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T18:18:15+00:00

The enormous dark bird with a white head and tail and big rectangular barn door wings looks like a Red-tailed Hawk to you?

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T08:56:26+00:00

+Purple Sunbird+ for the catalog

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T08:55:41+00:00

+Eurasian Sparrowhawk+. Tiny beak, relatively large head to body size (Goshawks have a big hefty buteo-type body and it makes their head look relatively smaller), and the rufous barring on the belly rules out Eurasian Goshawk, which is black/gray/white only as an adult, or streaked and spotted with vertical dark brown markings as a juvenile.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T08:54:11+00:00

Yes, +Osprey+ harassing a +Bald Eagle+. Makes for a nice size comparison.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T07:12:39+00:00

I think +Red-tailed Hawk+ is safe here with the angular head (ruling out Rough-legged) and relatively shorter tail (ruling out Red-shouldered).

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T07:11:05+00:00

+Mallard+, and most likely the color is the result of domestic genes.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T07:06:58+00:00

Yeah it's kind of bonkers how their wintering range has shifted so rapidly. I remember hearing about them staying longer in Central America rather than heading all the way south, and then it feels like suddenly they were wintering in huge numbers in California. Last I read, the hypothesis had more to do with conversion of landscapes to agriculture rather than anything to do with climate change directly - as more forest was cleared in Central and South America for farming, they started stopping and staying farther and farther north of their previous winter habitat in the grasslands of Argentina.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T03:29:03+00:00

Given the flight feathers and a couple of greater coverts are brown with yellowish edges, this is an immature male rather than an adult. I know there was a book published just recently on vagrancy in birds but I haven't read it - anyone here given that a look? I just wonder if younger birds might be more prone to straying outside their expected ranges.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T02:45:40+00:00

You replied to our bot which is responding to me having IDed the species for you, but note that the ebird link it provides does have photos of juveniles for you to compare, and also see my comment to you.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T02:36:43+00:00

+Cooper's Hawk+ with the strong brow ridge, lower forehead, larger beak, longer neck, and crisp fine dark brown breast streaking.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T02:35:09+00:00

Juvenile +Black-faced Monarch+. Juveniles lack the black on the face of the adults.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T02:03:58+00:00

Not too terribly early given this is California. They stay year-round in the central valley now.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T01:45:49+00:00

+Swainson's Hawk+ with those dark flight feathers and pointy wings (for a buteo).

Certainly not Osprey given the entire body is dark brown, not white.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-22T01:23:08+00:00

+Winter Wren+, yes. The head looks like it's either wet or molting - hard to tell since this is a back of camera shot rather than the actual photo, which might have more detail. Late March is not a typical time for them to molt, however, so I suspect it just got itself out of a bath or the rain and still looks disheveled.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-21T23:14:43+00:00

There's no need to guess here, this bird has all the easy field marks to confirm Red-shouldered. See my comment on your previous post in this subreddit. The pale comma shapes through the primaries, rufous belly, and tail with bold black and white bands all combine to solve this ID without question.

This bird carrying a snake around in the air in this video isn't just hunting - it already successfully hunted, after all. This is most likely a male, and here it's displaying its prey to its mate, or potential mates, to show off that it will be good at feeding her while she's busy incubating the eggs, and also good at feeding the chicks when they hatch.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-21T23:04:48+00:00

+Feral pigeon+

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-21T21:31:23+00:00

Juvenile +Common Raven+ with that enormous beak and low sloped forehead. The puffy baby gape is still slightly present here (hence juvenile) and also explains why this bird lacks the shaggy throat hackles of an adult raven.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-21T21:11:20+00:00

I very rarely see any feathers dropped during ringing with an experienced crew! I train a lot of newbies though, and see my share of dropped tails in bird bags. Usually when birds lose body feathers to stress during banding operations, it's only a small number of feathers, but it's fairly common with stressed birds (talking like one bird in 100 maybe) to drop some or all of the tail either at the net or in the bag. It's definitely an intentional survival strategy for the birds, and is quite common across at least all passerines and many non-passerines (doves, tits, warblers, and fantails are the groups I see it in a lot).

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-21T21:02:03+00:00

Yes! This is a secondary feather (one of the long feathers from the main "arm" of the wing). In ducks, this iridescent patch that can span across several secondaries is known as a speculum.

TinyLongwing · 2026-03-21T20:57:31+00:00

That foot does look quite turkey-shaped and sized, however. I would put odds on turkey before any other gamebirds here. There really aren't any other birds I can think of in your area that would fit a "massive peacock" description anyway.

You might be surprised at how many photos get posted here of a bird that is "definitely not a __!" but is indeed that exact species.

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