White-tailed Hawk

This is a young White-tailed Hawk. 

It took me a while to identify this young bird. Most of the immatures and juveniles pretty much look like each other, it is just that you have to pay close attention to little details. 

This young White-tailed Hawk (Geranoaetus albicaudatus/Buteo albicaudatus) was spotted at the edge of the airstrip a while ago. From a distance I first thought that it was the Grey-lined Hawk, a regular visitor, but the size wasn't right. This bird was way bigger. Note: Grey-lined Hawks are 39 - 45 cm, the White-tailed Hawk is 50 -56 cm.

When I noticed this raptor on the airstrip I patiently walked towards it to try and take some shots. Here you can clearly see that the wings are passing its tail. For a young White-tailed Hawk the wings even extend way beyond the tail compared with the adult.

This was a dark morph type and it was for certain trying to spot something tasty for a later snack. Rodents, iguana's or any small bird will certainly do. Just like any raptor this young fellow was seen alone and on an exposed branch.

Like I said before I was not certain what kind of raptor I had in front of my camera. At first I thought it was a Grey-lined Hawk (too small). After that my guess went for the Short-tailed Hawk, but after seeing this last picture I knew for certain that it was a young White-tailed Hawk as I saw a little rufous/brown feather sticking out.

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