Look Up! An Introduction to Identifying Raptors in Flight
When hawks and falcons stream across the sky in large numbers, you need a distinct set of birding skills to tell them apart.
When raptors stream across the sky by the dozens, hundreds, or thousands, your ground-level ID clues, such as coloration or field marks, become illegible. Instead, you have to rely on body-shape silhouettes and flight patterns to distinguish between species. The best way to learn these cues is by going to a hawkwatch, says Melissa Roach, program director at NJ 勛圖窪蹋's Cape May Bird Observatory in New Jersey. Most of the year raptors are spread out, theyre hard to find, theyre in low numbers and low densitiesso you dont get the repetition you need to learn any new skill. Not only do you get raptor volume at a hawkwatch, but you can also sit near experts, like Roach, who will walk you through the identification process. She gets you started here with a few widespread U.S. species.
Red-tailed Hawk
This is your baseline buteo, Roach says. Learn it in and out, then base other species off of it. Red-tailed Hawks are among the biggest raptors, but size varies: A large female can weigh twice as much as a small male. Their rounded wings appear muscular. It looks like they have biceps, she says. Its not a skinny or slim wingits thick and bulging. Red-tailed Hawks are experts at soaring and, when riding a strong updraft, can glide effortlessly for minutes at a time. The heavy buteos appear to confidently master the air, taking wide, slow turns and powerfully flapping only when it is absolutely necessary.
Sharp-shinned vs. Coopers Hawk
This is one of the hardest IDs, so dont feel intimidated when you dont get it right away, Roach says. Sharpies and Coopers are agile accipiters with short, rounded wings and long tails. Sharpies are energetic and flap often, while the sturdier Coopers prefer to soar, executing forceful, deliberate flaps. The main thing to look at is the head projection, she advises. A Sharp-shinned Hawks small head sits within a valley between its wings, created when it juts its wrists forward. A Coopers Hawks relatively larger head projects in front of the wings leading edge.
American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon
Falcon migration typically follows coastlines. American Kestrels, the most diminutive U.S. falcons, are rather dainty, playfully wandering in flight and flapping more than their cousins. Theyre the happy-go-lucky falcon, Roach says. They look like theyre having a great time. Merlins are superficially similar to kestrels, but in the air they have an entirely different attitude. Merlins fly with a purpose, she says. They dont wander. Before you can say, Its a falcon, its gone. Peregrine Falcons are larger than the other two, with a broad chest and extra-long wings and tail. Theyre bigger and more powerful overall, she says. They cross the sky like a jet, often surpassing other raptors in the stream.