I took this photo in Logan SEQ. I asked a few friends what they think the BOP is flying along side a crow/raven and they all mostly agree on little eagle, then another twerked the picture and thinks it may be a Baza? just thought I would ask here and see what you all think. sorry for poor photo's but it's a heavy crop
The undrwing colour of both birds is somewhat similar however the Pacific Baza's distinct feature is the barring on its body.
This barring is not evdient in the pic.
Your raptor looks to be a similar size to the corvid where the Baza would appear smaller.
I therefore put my money on the Little Eagle
Peter
Light morph Little Eagle. That's all there's to it.
Yep, Little Eagle. LJ
little eagle for sure.
William.S
Thanks
Hopefully it returns so I can get a better photo
I thought a little eagle is much bigger than a raven. Unless the raven is much closer than the eagle, I don't think that is an eagle.
Underwing colours (rufous/orange, white/cream and black) and lack of darker striping add upo to Little Eagle... no other Aussie raptor comes close to that look... the raven appears to be quite a bit lower than the raptor... LJ
This is a Pacific Baza. No doubt about it: In this photo it appears to lack barring; this might be due to the photo or it' age. I can see a definite grey head and the wing shape ir right for a Baza.
Little Eagles are not really that much bigger than an Australian or other raven that we get locally. The body shape, wing size in relation to body and all identifiable colouring attributes clearly point to a Little Eagle (light morph) to me. Once a person's seen plenty of raptors in the field, even from poor images (sorry Cassie) it can be a relatively painless ID process mostly.
To be sure, I've sent the pics to Steve Debus, who will no doubt reveal the ID 100%.
It is, however, advised to get as good an image as you can to get a little more clarity.
Unfortunately Steve cannot be 100% due to the image quality. Sorry.
With regards to wingspan, there is negligible difference between LE and PB and a raven. (PB approx.0.8-1.1m, LE approx. 1.2m, and raven approx. 1m.
Steve did say the LE and a young PB have similar markings (of which I am very aware) and he did say the wing looks more like a baza, than a LE. For me, now that I am comparing LE and PB wing shapes, the PB seems to have a far more curved trailing edge than LE and your photo Cassie appears straighter than I'd expect a PB trailing edge to be based on photos I've examined closely.
But to be certain, it is important to get more of an idea of your raptor's flight characteristics, as both species will be different.
Okay, most of you have established that LE has the rectangle on the secondaries, but where is the black fingers? If it was a LE, it would also have the black primaries as well as the clear rectangle, which I can't see. Another ID feature for all LE morphs is the white trailing edge. Sure, I can't make that out due to the heavy crop, but frankly unless you can see that, you can't call this a LE.
Next thing is the tail... your bird's tail is dark-looking, which I doubt is shadow. On a LE, the tail would be light and faintly barred. Again, you can't see such detail, though the tail would still be light-coloured (if anything, we're assuming light morph LE).
As for the trailing edge and wing shape, I can't see how the trailing edge is straight and would only appear so because of the angle of the shot. The wing shape is much like that of a baza in slow glide as I often alike it to a Magpie-Lark calling in flight. Since wingspan of the three suspects are so similar, I think comparison of the birds' sizes is irrelevant, especially when the corvid is in the midst of a wingbeat.
It's easy to say this bird is a Pacific Baza.
Brandon (aka ihewman)
I guess until you get a much better photo you won't get consensus. Even an expert like Steve Debus is unsure.
What is an expert?
Brandon (aka ihewman)
I don't think size is irrelevant. I have seen LE being attacked by corvids because they are always getting hassled. It always looks like an uneven contest because the LE is obviously bigger when they are together. Not to the same extent that a wedgetail makes a crow look like a sparrow, but to me the difference is always obvious. I don't see that at all in this photo, but as has been said it is a very poor photo to be iding.
Brandon, sounds like you are one based on your comment(s).
If you don't know of Dr.Stephen Debus then you should google him and perhaps some day you will realize how much of an authority he is on Australian raptors. He only wrote the most useful field guides for Australian Raptor ID, so in my opinion that puts him up there as an expert.
Let's face it, the photo is of extremely poor quality so it is very difficult to tell to be honest. I am glad you (Brandon) have a solid case for your point.
In this context, Brandon, an expert is one who has written a guide book on Aussie raptors eg. Stephen Debus. I know a bit about Aussie birds of prey but Debus knows a hell of a lot more than me! LJ
And as I look at it, we're all learning! I've been birding since about 1988 and I still have a hell of a lot to learn! LJ