Tracy,
It certainly has several characteristics that fit a Swainson'sDark Tail with
lighter baseDark head and breastDark mark at wrist on white underwing area. Â
Dark edges to flight feathersSlight dihedral in soar positionWing proportion
different than a Red tail - look less wide or slimmerWing tips look more
pointed or flame shaped than Red-tailThe size of the bird is appropriate for
opossums as prey
Those are the details I remember without referring directly to your photos. Â
There are a lot more i flight details that could be checked in"Hawks in
Flight" or Hawks from Every Angle" if you have those guides. .
Pam SkaarMadison
On Friday, April 24, 2020, 02:04:44 PM CDT, tracy chiconas
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks Pam! I hear you about the dark tail!
Thanks Marcia!
Thanks Steve! For a moment i was thinking Harrier also. I am leaning most
towards a Swanson's Hawk. If anyone has experience ID-ing one, i'd love to
hear what you think!
That is interesting Jym. I didn't think of that. I will look into that. Thank
you!
- Tracy Chiconas
Mil. Co.
tchiconas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Friday, April 24, 2020, 11:22:39 AM PDT, Jym Mooney & Carol Lee Hopkins
<hopmoon@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The odd light area at the base of the primaries looks like the annual
juvenile molt of a Broad-tailed Hawk. Obviously, if that is correct,
this bird is NOT carrying anything near so large as an opossum. Just my
two cents.
Jym Mooney, Milwaukee
On 4/24/2020 7:46 AM, tracy chiconas (Redacted sender tchiconas for
DMARC) wrote:
good morning :)####################
   I have a bird in question that i saw a few days ago. I saw it in the
sky while i was in a car. I quick reached down by my feet to grab my camera
out of my back pack & take a few pics through the windshield. Unfortunately
there were no other birds in that area at that time, therefore no significant
size comparison is available. If one feels confident that it's prey is an
opossum, then that may help; but then again, no real way of knowing the size
of the opossum, except likely an adult by the tail (if that is a tail). I
think perhaps it was loosing its grip on its food. It turned 180 to adjust
grip. I have a pic of it upside down, & also posted a rotated image. In total
i was able to take 4 images before it went below trees & out of sight. I feel
strongly that the bird in question is RETH size or larger; but also it was
some distance away.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S67709520
Any feedback is welcomed & much appreciated!!
Tracy Chiconas
Mil Wi
tchiconas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
