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

[redhen]

Quote:
can you find me a pic of the turkey vulture?just so i can compare? but, last fall one did come in my yard and tried to get my silkie mix girl...we heard a ruckus and ran out and it was taking off from our yard...and then we found a pile of feathers..and were freaking out.. and we couldnt find the silkie...well..she finally came back but her breat was bare and it had a small wound on it....i made a post on it...i forget when it was exactly..

 

[Cetawin]

http://z.about.com/d/phoenix/1/0/S/X/1/birdforbes09.jpg

http://www.all-creatures.org/works/images/w-tvulture.jpg



Edit: Turkey vultures will get live bantams (small live stuff) if they can and are really hungry but they prefer dead stuff because they are not built like a raptor is for killing. A silkie I can see one snatching if given the opportunity and it hungry at the time.

 

[Cetawin]

Redhen buzzards will travel in groups eagles rarely do after 1 year old. Until they mate and then they will travel with their mate.

To see a group of 3 buzzards is very common...I see them in groups of 4 or 5 constantly around here.

 

[redhen]

okay....after seeing these pics..hubbys is saying that he also thinks its a vulture...but...heres my question...we DID see an eagle or hawk perched that day in the field.(it was huge..like these birds..but it was solid brown and had a eagle/hawk head)..that we are positive about...so what was that then? (maybe a juvie bald..because of the quabbin?) but...i have to agree that these do look so much like the vulture pics! and like cetawin said..the fingers on the end of the wings..is exactly the same! but..another question...what then attacked my birds this fall??? will a vulture attack live chickens? maybe i have both here...because i do see them sometimes alone and sometimes in trios....UGH!

 

[redhen]

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okay..so, that explains it then! it must have been a vulture that day...because bryan said the bird that attacked the silkie did have the grey under the wings..he saw it when it flew off from the yard...okay..well..i think this is better news then...also....my neighbor said it came in front of him and grabbed a bunny! will they do that? i wonder if i have 2 differant things here..or what?

 

[Faverolle]

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You probably had a juvi eagle perched by you. I counted 11 eagles at Quabbin last week, 7 were juvenile plumage still. Generally speaking turkey vultures prefer carrion but will sometime kill small sized live prey, black vultures which are very rare in western MA still but are becoming more common are more predatory in nature. I had a turkey vulture kill a small dog in Chicopee a couple years ago.

 

[Cetawin]

You probably have a huge hawk around...maybe a juvenile eagle that got the chicken and was sitting on the fence. That is typical hawk behavior...they sit on a fence and observe the fields or landscape around them. Eagle prefer observing from high altitudes like tree tops and such. Not always but generally.

But that picture you posted is without question a turkey vulture and it is highly unlikely he or one of those killed your silkie..but a hawk would in a second.

Hawks wings are different too as is their body in flight. The Buteos are especially easy to determine...like the redtails. Just their body and wings give them away before their tail ever turns red. They are wider bodied, bigger birds and they are broadwings. Not long narrow like the vulture and not as sleek looking as the eagle.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

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Yep, that's what I was thinking. Either a Turkey or Black Vulture. The wing tips.


ETA--Vultures don't hunt their dinner like Owls, Eagles & Hawks. Their feet are not designed to grasp prey and is actually the weakest part of their bodies. They do have sharp beaks like the other raptors but feed on carrion

 

[redhen]

okay..i think i almost feel better now!

i have been stressing over these birds for months now! stalking them with my camera!

my neighbors also! we all go outside and watch them and say..what the %%^&** is that?! and they call me when they see them around to warn me to watch the birds... so...i'm thinking something was dead down behind my goat pen in the wet land behind us....but we heard alot of ducks or something down there today..so we were thinking they are trying to get the ducks...

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Yep, that's what I was thinking. Either a Turkey or Black Vulture. The wing tips.


ETA--Vultures don't hunt their dinner like Owls, Eagles & Hawks. Their feet are not designed to grasp prey and is actually the weakest part of their bodies. They do have sharp beaks like the other raptors but feed on carrion

i'm gonna google black vulture also...thanks!