Raptor ID confirmation req.

harlequin2902 · 1st August 2004

I was reviewing some of the pictures I took earlier this week during an outing with ccplim, and I found this :

Pardon the image quality (eeks, it looks almost B&W !!

), as it was subject to quite a lot of processing because the original was grossly underexposed. I made a little effort to save it just for ID purposes. You may need to adjust your monitor a little if it still appears a little dark on your screen.

I'm guessing it's an adult Black Kite. Can anyone confirm or correct me ?

Thanks.

s_wrx · 1st August 2004

think you're right on the money!

kites have very distinctive "curved" wings, and eagles tend to have their heads and wings perpendicular to each other...

also, the tail of this fella is much longer than another close suspect..

harlequin2902 · 2nd August 2004

Ok, now this is getting a little bit confusing. I posted on another local forum and got another 2 suggested ID's from there too.

So now we have :

1. Adult Black Kite
2. Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle
3. Juvenile Brahminy Kite

Guess it's all my fault for coming up with such a 33.3%-33.3%-33.3% pic eh

skfoo · 2nd August 2004

One thing for sure, it is certainly not a Juvenile Brahminy Kite. A Juvenile Brahminy Kite will have an "unbarred-white area across underside of the primaries".

At one glance, it looks like a Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle but it's not. The tail of the Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle is "off-white with subterminal band".

I believe it is an adult (lineatus) Black Kite for reasons such as "whitish area on the underside of the primaries" (which can be easily mistook for a Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle), "curve" wings when in flight, the shape of the tail etc.

Well, that is the fun about "IDing" birds. You should try to join in the fun too. Get the book on "A field guide to birds of South-East Asia" by Craig Robson (hard cover). It is expensive but all the birds are illustrated in colour and very detailed. Useful in cases like this.

Happy shooting!

Cheers!

1st August 2004	#1
harlequin2902 Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 278	Raptor ID confirmation req. I was reviewing some of the pictures I took earlier this week during an outing with ccplim, and I found this : Pardon the image quality (eeks, it looks almost B&W !! ), as it was subject to quite a lot of processing because the original was grossly underexposed. I made a little effort to save it just for ID purposes. You may need to adjust your monitor a little if it still appears a little dark on your screen. I'm guessing it's an adult Black Kite. Can anyone confirm or correct me ? Thanks. Last edited by harlequin2902; 1st August 2004 at 05:06 PM.

1st August 2004	#2
s_wrx Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: sINgaPoRe Posts: 337	think you're right on the money! kites have very distinctive "curved" wings, and eagles tend to have their heads and wings perpendicular to each other... also, the tail of this fella is much longer than another close suspect..

2nd August 2004	#3
harlequin2902 Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 278	Ok, now this is getting a little bit confusing. I posted on another local forum and got another 2 suggested ID's from there too. So now we have : 1. Adult Black Kite 2. Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle 3. Juvenile Brahminy Kite Guess it's all my fault for coming up with such a 33.3%-33.3%-33.3% pic eh

2nd August 2004	#4
skfoo Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,186	One thing for sure, it is certainly not a Juvenile Brahminy Kite. A Juvenile Brahminy Kite will have an "unbarred-white area across underside of the primaries". At one glance, it looks like a Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle but it's not. The tail of the Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle is "off-white with subterminal band". I believe it is an adult (lineatus) Black Kite for reasons such as "whitish area on the underside of the primaries" (which can be easily mistook for a Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle), "curve" wings when in flight, the shape of the tail etc. Well, that is the fun about "IDing" birds. You should try to join in the fun too. Get the book on "A field guide to birds of South-East Asia" by Craig Robson (hard cover). It is expensive but all the birds are illustrated in colour and very detailed. Useful in cases like this. Happy shooting! Cheers!