?Which Raptor

[floraphile]

14 Nov 2020 Baldwin co al Old Field pine near wetlands

No pic.  Long tail.  Pointed wings.  Favor accipiter/falcon.  Had striking white tail viewed from underneath. Wasn't a harrier.  Took off from thick growth of pines/understorey thicket.  

 

 

[Aaron]

Sharp-shinned Hawk? Or possibly Cooper’s, but sharpies fly more pointedly 

[floraphile]

2 minutes ago, Aaron said:

Sharp-shinned Hawk? Or possibly Cooper’s, but sharpies fly more pointedly 

Can the tail of a Sharpie look all white from below?

[The Bird Nuts]

How about Mourning Dove?

[Aaron]

Mmm well generally you can tell that the tail has barring.
A mourning dove would be dissapointing! ?

[floraphile]

4 minutes ago, Aaron said:

Mmm well generally you can tell that the tail has barring.
A mourning dove would be dissapointing! ?

I thought about that and have not ruled it out.  ?   We didn't hear the whistle [of the Mourning Dove wings], but raptors are more exciting so our ears may have deceived us.   And hubby just pointed out that the tail seemed squared off, not pointed like a dove.  But, idk...

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by floraphile
missing info

[HamRHead]

Eurasian Collared Dove has a more squared-off white-looking tail...

[floraphile]

So I think consensus among experienced birders is that there isn't a raptor with a striking white tail and we should look at other species (like doves)?  

[HamRHead]

Or maybe a leucistic Sharpie or Kestral? Which would be way more interesting than a dove.

[floraphile]

Maybe we can get a pic today.  

[Connor Cochrane]

Ferruginous Hawk is red-tailed size and would be very rare. Just throwing out options. 

[Jerry Friedman]

18 hours ago, floraphile said:

So I think consensus among experienced birders is that there isn't a raptor with a striking white tail and we should look at other species (like doves)?  

There's the White-tailed Kite.  The range and habitat aren't right, but you never know.

[floraphile]

Hubby saw more of the bird in detail than I did.  He looked at some pics and he thinks it was a Sharpie.   He said the tail was not all white, just the base, but was strikingly white in that area.  He said it looked just like Plate SS01 in Wheeler & Clark.