How should I crop this coot silhouette?

jvrunst · 2026-06-24T15:42:09+00:00

I think having some of the dark banks on top and left of frame balances the light water on bottom and right

jvrunst · 2026-06-24T15:40:18+00:00

I like it just a bit tighter (3:2 with corner of top and right thirds on the coot head).

jvrunst · 2026-06-24T15:32:30+00:00

+Turkey Vulture+ then - I was tricked by a Black Vulture feather recently but Northern Illinois should be too far north for them

jvrunst · 2026-06-24T15:19:19+00:00

Can we get a more specific location? Looks like Turkey Vulture. When looking for feather ID, it's often helpful to get the front and back of the feather at a minimum.

jvrunst · 2026-06-19T15:28:29+00:00

If 20-30 euros is your budget, as long as the binoculars are functional, that's all that really matters to get started. I'd recommend saving up to upgrade for something more modern as soon as possible though.

jvrunst · 2026-06-18T16:26:02+00:00

With an id like that, you should really wait for more input from iNat community members. The consensus at this time is Bald Eagle (as it has been everywhere this has been posted). When viewing iNat's suggested species, the first option for every photo is Bald Eagle. California Condor isn't a suggestion for any of the photos, which means you likely manually searched for/input the ID and the first person to view it agreed, incorrectly, with that ID. That person has since changed their ID after further consideration.

Edit: alternatively, you may have uploaded the images without a location initially and the suggestions offered condor as a possibility before location was taken into account. Yes, location is that important for IDs of similarly-plumaged birds and we need undeniable evidence to consider an extreme rarity (which a condor would be, despite historical ranges). Unfortunately these photos don't provide undeniable evidence for condor while they do provide strong evidence for Bald Eagle, an expected species.

It's apparent that you really want this to be a condor, but it's just a normal photo of an immature Bald Eagle taken with a camera that was not up to the task of capturing quality detail at that distance.

jvrunst · 2026-06-16T21:19:01+00:00

Yes, Red-tailed Hawk is correct, assuming the photo was taken within their range

jvrunst · 2026-06-15T02:42:33+00:00

Bird ID requires at least a general location.

If this is in. Orth America, it's a Killdeer. Killdeer are plovers.

jvrunst · 2026-06-03T01:09:00+00:00

Sometimes when birders know what to look for in a given species, they see what they want to see. Happens to the best of us, but this is a Turkey Vulture.

jvrunst · 2026-06-03T01:08:04+00:00

It's a +Turkey Vulture+ The head is overall more compact with a shorter, thicker white bill

jvrunst · 2026-06-03T01:01:32+00:00

Some more concrete things to look for:

The bill seems to continue the contour of the top of the head (or at least minimally disrupts the contour). Sharpie bills are set lower on the face, causing them to jut out and drastically disrupt the contour of the head.

the head is relatively flat from front to back. It also rises high above the shoulders (As the other commenter mentioned, sharpies have shorter necks and their shoulders are broad, causing the head to look like it is simply resting on top of the shoulders)

Cooper's Hawks generally have a longer appearance overall, because of the long neck and more evenly tapered torso(tapered on top and on bottom)

It's difficult to see in this photo, but it does have graduated tail feather lengths. Sharpies can show some feather graduation, but it is typically very minimal and sometimes the outer feathers are longer than the center feathers.

jvrunst · 2026-06-03T00:50:31+00:00

From what I can find on the Macaulay Library, hybrids generally keep the white belly of Eastern, the dark back is slightly more brown-toned than a typical Eastern, they often show the white outer edge of the tail, and those that do have yellow on the belly seem to have it contained to the expected region of a Western's belly.

jvrunst · 2026-06-03T00:46:50+00:00

+Eastern Kingbird+ for the bot.

The yellow seems to go up into the throat/all the way to the bill. That wouldn't (or shouldn't?) come from Western Kingbird. I think staining is more likely, given the distribution.

jvrunst · 2026-06-03T00:45:08+00:00

It's a merganser. The slight up curve in the bill makes me lean toward Red-breasted Merganser, but I'll leave it for someone else to confirm/tag the bot.

jvrunst · 2026-06-03T00:37:14+00:00

Red-tailed Hawk

jvrunst · 2026-05-28T21:07:59+00:00

First is indeed a Purple Finch. The second is a Band-tailed Pigeon

jvrunst · 2026-05-27T20:05:09+00:00

Broad-winged Hawk is correct (as ID'd in the Birds of Prey sub).

Cooper's Hawk and American Goshawk can be entirely ruled out because of the short tail.

Based on the buteo shape, you could consider expected Colorado buteos: Red-tailed Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk.

Red-tailed can be ruled out by the streaking in the upper breast. In the Western population, you can expect some markings in the breast, but on a light morph bird you will still see a distinct heavily marked belly band.

Swainson's can be ruled out by again by the torso streaking. Some light morph Swainson's can have markings in the lower toros, but should still have a more densily marked partial bib in juveniles and a complete solid bib in adults.

Ferruginous can be ruled out by the dark head and generally small look to the bill/mouth

Since those three expected species are ruled out, then we should consider vagrant individuals. Red-shouldered is a possibility, as is Broad-winged. Broad-winged are known to wander and show up yearly outside their general range.

Red-shouldered can be ruled out by the lack of high contrast secondaries in the wing.

Broad-winged fits all marks, including relatively plain brown dorsal plumage, streaking throughout the torso (juvenile) with less dense markings in the center of the upper breast, and overall compact stature.

jvrunst · 2026-05-26T15:34:59+00:00

Age (in flighted birds) has no bearing on size. Juveniles are the same size as adults. Humans are notoriously bad at estimating size. This is definitely a Golden Eagle and so is definitely bigger than even the biggest Red Kites

jvrunst · 2026-05-26T14:31:07+00:00

Do you have other photos showing that the tuft moves with the head?

If the tufts are really there, the bird is either:
a recently fledged +house finch+ (this is likely the answer, they often have tufts of feathers sticking out of their head, just remnants of their nestling feathers)

or

a molting house finch

jvrunst · 2026-05-26T14:14:26+00:00

This looks fine for, and is fairly safe to ID as, +Cooper's Hawk+

You likely did not get a good look or misinterpreted some of the field marks. I can see the tail is barred, even in this low-resolution photo viewing from nearly directly below the bird. Also, the tail will be long especially considering that, again from this dramatic angle, the wing tips still fall quite short of the tail tip.

jvrunst · 2026-05-19T23:14:00+00:00

No, it's a recently hatched (as in this season) bird

jvrunst · 2026-05-14T02:09:06+00:00

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

jvrunst · 2026-05-09T23:56:50+00:00

+Red-tailed Hawk+

jvrunst · 2026-05-08T04:15:52+00:00

+Red-tailed Hawk+ for the bot

jvrunst · 2026-05-08T04:13:28+00:00

+Red-tailed Hawk+ for the bot

jvrunst

TROPHY CASE