Ann,
That is a really good one to show the challenge of identifying these 2. I believe it is a Collared Sparrowhawk: Based on: The beak is rather small relative
to the head, the eye is clearly visible as round with little if any brow ridge appearing to shade the top of the eye, the profuse presence of white spots on the back and wings. This white is on bases of the feathers and tends to often show in Sparrowhawks
whilst moulting. I don’t see that any books mention this. Not sure why (probably because it is temporary) but you see it in lots of photos of Sparrowhawks in books, I don’t see this in Goshawks. The tail is interesting. Given that it is moulting or the new
feathers are not full length, the old feathers (underneath) that are showing do clearly match a forked shape, the new feathers at the top are still not long enough to fit the normal shape but clearly do not fit a rounded tail. Only one toe is visible and that
does not help in deciding. The red collar is really obvious in this one, I don’t know how useful this is but given the other features it adds to my choice. Of course you could measure the interval of the spacers in the fence or the height of the horizontal
rail and by scaling to the bird, you could get an exact size of the bird and that should help a huge amount in being sure and also determine the sex of the bird.
Philip
From: Ann Eldridge [
Sent: Saturday, 9 May, 2020 8:37 AM
To: Canberra Birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] ID Please
Sorry forgot to add photo, have tried before but too big so this one should make it I hope!
