Erdos2 Loc: Vancouver, WA

Taken along the auto tour route at Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge a couple weeks ago. I believe this is a young bald eagle. He was only about 40 feet from the road, and spent most of the time watching out forward (away from me), but glanced back in my direction for a very short period of time.

(Download)

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Hi, Erdos,
This is an interesting shot. Judging the bird's size realtive to the size of the tendrils of moss on its perch it appears smaller than a bald eagle. the size of its beak s also proportionately much smaller than would be expected for a bald eagle. I suggest that this is a good example of a melanistic form of the red-tailed hawk that is most commonly observed in the Pacific Northwest and often called a "Harlan's hawk".

The dark bird could have used a touch more exposure, especially against the relatively bright background. If this was a raw capture I'm sure there is more detail, especially in the head region where a bit more detail could be recovered. Good image of a somewhat unusual variety of a common species.

Dave

forjava Loc: Half Moon Bay, CA

Apart from all else, there is interest in the pose because the extreme neck twist and focusing of the eyes are unusual.

Erdos2 Loc: Vancouver, WA

Thanks Dave, I appreciate the feedback and information about the species.

My knowledge of species of birds is limited, so it looks like I guessed wrong. I have other shots that include the whole tree (which was about 10 or 12 feet tall). Based on the proportions of the bird to the tree, the bird is about 20 or 21 inches tall (branch to top of head), so it probably isn't big enough to be an eagle. (according to what I can find on the internet)

I had thought it wasn't a red-tailed hawk because I could not see any difference in the color of the tail to that of the body. Maybe the tail color changes over time as it gets older, or it is a slightly different species? (I would not know)

The original file is raw, so I can adjust the exposure quite a bit. When I do that, the feathers move through shades of brown, to light brown or tan if pushed too far. Unfortunately, the image is a little bit soft, so details are not easy to pull out. Sort of figures the more interesting pose would be a softer image.

Jerry