It appears that I was mistaken last Saturday. The Perils of Plumage,
Structure is Supreme!
As I think I may have mentioned, the white-belly speckled with dark streaks
topped by a dark bib led me to believe that it was an immature Swainson's.
However, any time you're pasting two images in a field guide together should
give one pause, though the variability of Buteos could make anything
possible. I really began to question my ID when I perused the pictures in
Wheeler's Raptors of Eastern North America. Frankly, none seemed to
resemble the immature images given in Sibley, in particular the dark bib we
saw. It was only after paging through Wheeler and Clark, A Photographic
Guide to North American Raptors that I found a immature Bald Eagle with
streaked, white belly (pg. 121). This photo, in fact, shows pretty much
what we saw. Sibley does illustrate this, however, the picture has some
white on the head, which our bird lacked.
I still cannot reconcile the apparent small size, as I did not seem it was
much further away. But the generally hulking nature of the bird, the FLAT
back part of the crown, the bulbous bill, all should have clued me.
Phil, please ashcan that report and save the Committee time!
Kurt Schwarz
HowCo
goawaybird now at verizon dot net |