What kind of bird was this? Predator of chickens?

[kuntrychick]

Yesterday afternoon after I pulled out of the driveway, I saw a big bird fly from the woods across the street, flew right over my car toward my place. I was driving, so I couldn't look for shape of tail, shape of head & bill, etc.

I have looked on Peterson's & whatbird & can not find one like it. I know males & females & juveniles have different colorings & markings. I don't know very much about identifying birds.

I am in Alabama, since that will help narrow down what birds we have in our area. I do live in a rural area...lots of woods & about a 8-acre lake/pond behind my house. There's also many other ponds/small lakes nearby & the river is also not far away (I have seen those big long-legged birds that I see frequently on the river here at the house on occasion).

Description:

Size - Large bird (From what I could tell from a quick glance, it seemed to have a hawk-like or eagle like appearance, but again, I don't know much about identifying birds).

Color - Brown (primary color brown, possibly different shades of brown). It did have some white on it (not much). I don't
remember the tail being white, but from what I remember, it seems like the tips of the wings were white...just the tips.
It looked brown all over except the wing tips white (but not positive). It wasn't barred nor striped.

Wing Shape - Rounded (large)

Location - Alabama

So, does anyone have any idea what it could be & if it is a predator of chickens or not?

 

[Jay262]

Sounds like a Osprey or an eagle both are easily confused for each other, and yes they normally eat fish but they will eat your chickens.

 

[sourland]

Rounded wings sounds owl-like.

 

[pips&peeps]

vulture...

It is primarily black with a white patch near each wing tip.​

 

[kuntrychick]

Quote:
From the pictures I've seen of both ospreys & eagles, this bird didn't look like that...same body type, but didn't have white head, didn't have white underparts or underwings, didn't have any barring on it. The only white I remember is the tips of the wings.

 

[kuntrychick]

pips&peeps :

vulture...

It is primarily black with a white patch near each wing tip.
​

This bird wasn't black; it was brown with white wing tips.

I've looked at all kinds of different hawks, kites, ospreys, eagles, vultures, etc. & can not find a picture of one that looks like this.​

 

[kuntrychick]

Quote:
I have heard an owl late at night nearby, but haven't in the past few weeks. They are only around at night hunting prey, aren't they? Also, all the pictures of owls I've seen, this bird doesn't look like them, although I'm sure there's so many varieties of coloring, even in a certain species of bird.

But, yes, it's body type was very hawk-like, eagle-like, owl-like....I just don't know though.

 

[sourland]

Owls will hunt at daybreak, dusk, and all day long on overcast days - if hungry they are not strictly nocturnal.

 

[popsicle]

could it have been a broad-winged hawk?
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Broad-winged_Hawk/id

Depending on light, they often appear to have a "window pane" at the ends of the wings similar to a black vulture. Wings are also more rounded than other buteos.

 

[kuntrychick]

From what I could tell, it had no stand-out colors other than white on the tips of the wings. No white on the tail, no barring, no banding, no stripes, etc.