OSPREY, EAGLE LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE, NAPLES, FL

JUVENILE COOPER'S HAWK, EAGLE LAKES COMMUNITY PARK, NAPLES, FL

   We can ID this accipiter as a juvenile by its being brown above, not gray and in having underparts mostly streaked, not barred.  Also, juvenile accipiters have yellow eyes that turn to dark red as they age.

    This  juvenile accipiter can be identified as a Cooper's Hawk rather than a Sharp-shinned Hawk by the dark brown streak pattern on the breast, rather than reddish brown or dull brown of the Sharp-shinned Hawk.

PEREGRINE FALCON, EAGLE LAKES COMMUNITY PARK, NAPLES, FL

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, SNAKE RD., BROARD COUNTY, FL

DARK MORPH SHORT-TAILED HAWK, MARKHAM PARK, SUNRISE, FL

   The Short-tailed Hawk has both light and dark morphs.  They never morph between the two. The dark morph is more numerous in Florida than the light morph.  In Florida the only dark buteo that appears regularly is the dark morph Short-tailed Hawk.

   We can ID this bird as a dark morph Short-tailed Hawk by its almost completely blackish brown color, its small size (which we estimated to be 15"+-), and the small white patch where the lore and forehead meet.

   The Short-tailed Hawk is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 257.

AMERICAN ROBIN, SNAKE RD., BROWARD COUNTY, FL

AMERICAN KESTREL, SNAKE RD., BROWARD COUNTY, FL

   We can ID this bird of pray as an American Kestrel by its barred rufous pattern in this back view, by the pattern on its face, which you can just make out, and its dark cap.