A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Buteo jamaicensis
Saw 2 of these on the way home from the coast today. Both were easily 3 or 4 times bigger than the usual sized red tailed hawk we saw just up the road. Mistook her for an eagle until we were close enough to see her colors!
Thank you both... I thought I was nuts thinking a hawk could get this big!
I agree with AshleyT! Definitely a RTH! Females can get pretty large and are often mistaken for eagles from a distance. She's a pretty girl. I love her belly band - it looks like lace!
This is still a red-tailed Hawk. The spotted belly band is a pretty good indication for them. Some female red-tails can definitely be the size of eagles, I bet that's what these larger ones were!