Can someone please help me find out what this raptor is?

[redhen]

Its big..very, very big..like eagle big...so, i do not think its a hawk. My neighbor thinks is an Osprey...it swooped down in his yard right in front of him and grabbed a bunny. it looks like a brown Eagle to me...but..i just cant tell for sure! if this helps any this was over my yard today...we had 3 of them circling over us and over the wet lands directly behind my house. when they saw my silver camera flashing at them they left after doing a few low fly bys

....then one came back by himself and 2 crows chased it off...

yay for crows! *i think*

anyways...i know one has already been in my yard before a few months ago...it almost got my silkie mix girl...it plucked her breast feathers and then my hubby ran outside and it flew off...heres the best pics i could get of it...sorry they arent very good at all...but when they see my camera they start to fly up higher...

 

[KattyKillFish]

immature bald eagle. we have eagles here by the millions (and i mean it, they're everywhere) and that's looks like a young one that hasn't gotten it's white head & tail yet. another guess is a golden eagle but those are very very rare even here in Alaska. it could be an osprey is you live anywhere near water such as a large lake or deep, wide river or the ocean.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
hey thanks! we do live by a river..its right on my road. But i would not call it huge...just average river size...and i have the wet lands behind me connected to my yard... it could be a young Bald Eagle...we have quite a bit of them in the Quabbin Reservoir by my house...(10 minutes away)....but these are the same ones we always see and they dont seem to ever get a white head or tail...like the bald eagle... thats why i am so confused.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Katty is quite possibly right. It could very well be a juvie bald eagle.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
great!

now how do i get rid of them...keep them away from us?

they were ballsy today! real low! but i could not get a pic of it!

 

[stormylady]

Im not sure about where you live, but It looks like it could be a golden eagle, I had one in my yard like last year, it had a raven in it claw and was hopping around the yard with it, It was huge and I was awestruck because I had never seen one that close up. It was huge! So I did a search on our local birds and nothing looked anything like it, anyway I was reading the news paper and lo and behold there it was, said it was hanging around the lake for some reason, it hung around town for a couple of weeks, Luckily at the time I didn't have chickens but I can tell you I didn't take my ferrets out til I was sure it was gone! They are beautiful birds though, just don't want them in my yard. Sandy

 

[warmfuzzies]

It takes a long time for a bald eagle to get his white spots, I think 6 or 7 years. I think.

So you would see them for awhile before they changed.

 

[chickensioux]

Looks like a turkey vulture to me.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
ooh, that could be it then....i never knew that!

 

[KattyKillFish]

sadly, i can't help you... i've never been able to keep the eagles of my birds

if anyone does know how, please speak up! i'm dying to know~