It has to be an accipiter, not a falcon.
Brown Goshawk.
I am not so sure that Sparrowkawk is that easily dismissed. To me, the face
doesn't look that convincing for a Goshawk, but I'm not sure (long time
since I've seen either that close). I can easily think the bird looks tiny
standing on that post, and what little I can see of a leg looks very
slender.
More importantly, I think people are perhaps being misled by the tail shape.
As I understand it, the roundness or squareness of the tail is a function of
the whole tail, and primarily the relative lengths of outer versus inner
rectrices. The outer rectrices of Sparrowhawk may well be more square ended
than in Goshawk, making the tail corners look more angular and enhancing the
impression of a square tail in Sparrowhawk.But what you are seeing in these
photos is just the central rectrices. Do these differ in shape between
Goshawk and Sparrowhawk? I know that Sparrowhawk does often look
square-tailed when perched, but would it still do so if only the central
rectrices were visible?
Cheers, Chris.
Chris Corben
www.hoarybat.com
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