Motif: Juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk

Abie

Since comments are welcomed, I'll correct the identification. You've got a great action shot of an adult Red-shouldered Hawk.

I'm not that great with raptor ID so I'll just say, this is a nice shot of this hawk and very well suited to this week's Motif.

My mistake, it appears to be a juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk and not the Coop I mistaked it for. He's clearly growing in the namesake red shoulders and shows the transluscent sections of the outer wing juveniles show.

Abie, great timing and a very nice comp.

Wonderful capture, Abie!!
You did well in Florida!!!
Congrats!!!

Fantastic action shot indeed! Very well defined V shaped wings.

Excellent take-off shot!!!

Love the take off shot -- I think this is an Adult Red-Shouldered Hawk.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but the bird was incredibly dark to be an adult especially considering this was southern florida.

Definitely an adult Red-shouldered. A juvenile bird would have lateral dark brown streaks (not rufous cross-barring) on the breast and flanks, the eye would be gray to grayish yellow (not chestnut brown) and the upper wing surface would not show the "red-shoulders" . All ages of Red-shouldereds exhibit pale bases to the outer primaries which produce the window field mark. The darkness of the plumage likely indicates a "northern" bird wintering in the sunny south. If this shot was taken recently (ie. 2003) then this bird hatched in 2002 at the very latest. It could even be older but without it in the hand to check for leftover hatch-year flight feathers, it's difficult to age beyond after hatch-year.

Wow, thank you, it really never crossed my mind, you learn somethign new everyday