birding-aus

ID Help - Timeless question: C. Sparrowhawk or B.Goshawk

To: Greg and Val Clancy <>, Harry Nyström <>, "" <>
Subject: ID Help - Timeless question: C. Sparrowhawk or B.Goshawk
From: Nikolas Haass <>
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2013 23:16:36 -0800 (PST)
Hi guys,

I agree with Greg regarding the longer central tail feathers. This plus the 
stockiness of the bird makes me think Brown Goshawk, too.
I would even go one step further and say that due to its relative bulk it even 
might be a female Brown Goshawk. But I may be mislead by the photographs.

As this is indeed not a super-easy topic, I am curious to hear the opinion of 
some professional Accipiterists ;-)

Cheers,

Nikolas
 
----------------
Nikolas Haass

Sydney, NSW


________________________________
From: Greg and Val Clancy <>
To: Harry Nyström <>;  
Sent: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 4:07 PM
Subject: ID Help - Timeless question: C. Sparrowhawk or B.Goshawk
 
The longer central tail feather in photo 1 suggests Brown Goshawk and this is 
also just visible in photos 2 and 3.  I wouldn't bet a sheep station on it but 
I am favouring Brown Goshawk.  I would be keen to see what others (?Stephen 
Debus) say.  The wings do look broad like a Sparrowhawk's but the Goshawk's 
wings are also rather broad.


Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
0266493153 0429601960


-----Original Message----- From: Harry Nyström
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 3:40 PM
To: 
Subject: ID Help - Timeless question: C. Sparrowhawk or B.Goshawk

Hello from Finland,

I casually photographed this bird on August 25th, 2012, in Sydney. The bird
was then soaring high above Centennial Park and our initial thoughts were:
a Collared Sparrowhawk. I think we never took a very long look at the bird,
as we didn't have a scope, but our instinctive ID was based on the jizz.

As my personal experience ranges only to European Accipiter species, I do
know the difference in the jizz between the local Sparrowhawk and Goshawk.
But when it comes to the Australian species, I think that the jizz might be
a little different? But is it?

In the photos, the bird seems to be a bit more stocky than to what I am
used to in Sparrowhawks, but on the other hand, I remember that the flight
seemed more Sparrowhawk-ish. And is that hooded "look" usual to the species
(whichever it is)?

Could some of you verify that this was indeed a Collared Sparrowhawk or
that we were wrong and it is a Brown Goshawk instead?

Best three of the photos that were taken of the bird (they're a bit small,
as the bird was very high):
http://www.harrynystrom.net/images/accipiter_sp20120825-02m.jpg
http://www.harrynystrom.net/images/accipiter_sp20120825-16m.jpg
http://www.harrynystrom.net/images/accipiter_sp20120825-17m.jpg

By the way, we positively identified a couple of Collared Sparrowhawks
during our trip, but I am still missing the Brown Goshawk -tick altogether.

Cheers,
-Harry

===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================
===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU