Hi Sandra
Gordon Beruldsen put out a booklet called Raptor Identification and I think
Penny Olsen also has a field guide to raptors. You seem to have covered
most of the important points in your description. the first thing to look
for is the shape of wings and how they are carried in flight. That is
drooped, flat in a V, are the wings pointed, in the shape of a bow or
fingered on the ends. Patterning and colouration and what the bird was
doing are the next issues. Birds of prey have different ways of looking
for and catching food which can be a guide.
>From your description immature Brahminy sounds ok but two at once I dont
know about and the white on the head, is something that is a little
confusing. Little Eagle carry wings very flat and is not such a ' stocky'
bird as Brahminy kite. I am sure others will give you some good advice.
Gary
On 29 July 2010 15:59, Graeme Gallienne <> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Sandra Gallienne
> Sent: Thursday, 29 July 2010 3:26 PM
> To:
> Subject: raptor identification help needed
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
>
>
> I'm not new to birding (have been keenly watching birds for over 30 years)
> but still have difficulty identifying some of the raptors, mostly because
> they are not often around for me to become familiar with them. Also, they
> are mostly seen flying overhead and either they are only visible for a
> short
> time or the sunlight is in the wrong direction to get a clear look. I have
> several field guides but still I'm having trouble.
>
>
>
> Today I saw 2 birds at the rear of my property with which I am unfamiliar.
> (I usually have Wedge-tailed Eagles, Brown Falcons and Brown Goshawks). I
> got extremely good views of the birds but once I returned to the house to
> consult the field guides the confusion started. The birds I saw could be
> one of about four species - Little Eagles, immature Brahminy Kites (and
> this
> is my strongest guess), Square-tailed Kites or Swamp Harriers. One of the
> birds was darker than the other, both had light heads but not bright white
> like a mature Brahminy Kite (with which I am familiar as I lived near the
> Clarence River for a few years at Iluka), black primaries, a light window
> under the wing which also had a rufous leading edge then a grey area and it
> seemed to me black trailing edge. The back of the wings were dark but had a
> definite rufous band through the centre. The profile of the wings of the
> birds in flight were as shown in the field guide (The Graham Pizzey & Frank
> Knight Field Guide to the Birds of Australia) for both the Brahminy Kite
> and
> Little Eagle. One notable thing about the birds in flight it seemed to me,
> was that they held the legs down and slightly forward, not folded back as
> most birds in flight do.
>
>
>
> I submit a weekly list to birdata and would love to add these birds, can
> anyone help me with where to find more comprehensive information on
> identifying raptors? I would be most grateful as I'm sure I could be on
> the
> internet for hours looking for the right site and this would just add to my
> frustration.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Sandra Gallienne
>
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