Please Explain: What Kind of Bird Is This?

We spotted this bird in a tree just south of the lake in Central Park when it suddenly took off and flew right above our heads. It seemed huge-- like four times the size of your average pigeon-- and it seems to have some distinct markings on the stomach. Any ideas, especially from our ornithologist friends?

Update: Joe says it's a Cooper's Hawk-, which looks pretty similar-- can anyone confirm?

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By Jake Dobkin in Miscellaneous on January 9, 2006 10:34 AM

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jc

Redtailed hawk.

Look up Pale Male on the web for a famous NYC red tail complete with its own bioptic

pooky

It's definitely a red tailed hawk. There are plenty of them in the area.

Rodney P. Sweetchops

Definitely a young red tailed. I saw 2 of the young ones this summer just north of 59th street on the west side of the park. They were the grandchildren of Pale and their parents (one who is the child of Pale) live on 6th ave and 59th apparently. One of the bird watchers told us they like that section of the park because of the new condos being built on central park west and 62nd forced all the rats out and they are feasting.

tyger

Juvenile Red Tail Hawk.

Cooper's Hawk underside is different from the bird in the photo.

Karen

Yeah, I'd agree that it looks like a juvenile red tail hawk. We have a lot around here (Lockport). The spots make me think that...anyone ever notice that the teen agers of a lot of bird species have spots? Hmmm..avian acne? haha!

Some other birds we get in Lockport in winter...all sorts of wrens and finches (finches are very colorful), chickadees, cardinals, blue jays (noisiest things on earth), waxwings, killdeers, mourning doves, pigeons, gulls of every kind (aka flying rats...there's not a speck of garbage these skanks don't try to grab-and they get nasty, too. Shades of Hitchcock), crows, ravens, hawks, eagles (bald and golden), Canada geese (all year long, they love the canal), the odd snow goose, owls of all sizes, all sorts of ducks, a few swans pass through. I think the reason we get such a variety of birds, is our closeness to the Iroquois Wildlife Preserve, also known locally as Alabama Swamps. Anyone who loves birdwatching should make the trip here-I've heard that you see more here, than at Montezuma. But, as someone not too fond of struggling through muck on a nasty, damp, cold day, I'll take thier word for it.

Cemetaries around here, are also good for birdwatching, especially birds of prey. Must be the quiet, and that most are in rural areas where mice and such live.

Matt Stafford

C'mon, Jake. Pony-up the $5 and Ask Me...You know you wanna.

David Gorsline

Peregrine Falcon is a good match for habitat, but

the dark markings on the leading edge of the wing, the dark band across the belly, and the broad (not pointed) wings indicate Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), specifically an immature bird. An adult would indeed show red in the tail. Cf. the third image here.

wineman

Looks like a juvenile Red-tailed hawk to me. Remember, Pale Male and Lola live on 5th and have had a number of offspring.

TheMatt

Yeah, that looks like the fastest animal on earth, the Peregrine falcon. They really love cities with tall buildings, so NYC should be up its alley.

threetoedsloth

Yeah, I'm not a bird expert, but remembering the birds that used to swoop over my house when I was little, that does look more like a falcon than a hawk.