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What is this bird?

22 replies

LittleOwlorNot · 08/11/2022 22:24

Not sure if this is the right area to post so apologies if not.

Saw this bird in Hampshire today. Can anyone confirm what it is please?

Thank you!

What is this bird?
What is this bird?
What is this bird?
OP posts:
AlfiesGirl · 08/11/2022 22:28

It's a Sparrowhawk I think

LittleOwlorNot · 08/11/2022 22:30

I wondered that too but the pics I googled look different.

OP posts:
RudsyFarmer · 08/11/2022 22:31

Red kite?

PlatinumBrunette · 08/11/2022 22:31

A kestrel?

try this www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/identify-a-bird/

TwoMonthsOff · 08/11/2022 22:31

Looks like a sparrow hawk to me as well, yellow legs - gorgeous but fearsome bird

LittleOwlorNot · 08/11/2022 22:32

Just googled again and actually it might be @AlfiesGirl Thank you!

OP posts:
LittleOwlorNot · 08/11/2022 22:33

@PlatinumBrunette I tried that earlier without much luck!

OP posts:
Pieceofpurplesky · 08/11/2022 22:38

It's a sparrowhawk.

daffdil · 08/11/2022 22:40

Think it’s a kestrel - in the second photo it seems to have dark marks under the eye (sparrowhawks have more of a ‘mask’), and shorter legs than a sparrowhawk

crossstitchingnana · 08/11/2022 22:43

In the second photo it looks more like a peregrine falcon.

CoisFarraige · 08/11/2022 22:48

Merlin?

rockingbird · 08/11/2022 22:49

It's a sparrow hawk for sure. Looking for small birds your feeding in your garden sadly.

Hedgesfullofbirds · 08/11/2022 22:50

It is a Common Kestrel ( or Windhover, to give it its old country name)...

Wrong colour plumage for a Sparrowhawk and too small to be a Peregrine

Scrowy · 08/11/2022 22:53

It's a kestrel

CoisFarraige · 08/11/2022 22:53

I still think it might be a merlin. It looks quite small?

What is this bird?
LittleOwlorNot · 08/11/2022 22:56

@CoisFarraige Do you know, it could be! Was about the same size ish of some pigeons nearby?

OP posts:
LittleOwlorNot · 08/11/2022 22:57

@rockingbird it wasn't in my garden thankfully but my parents have one who swipes their small birds in the Wye Valley.

OP posts:
bloodywhitecat · 08/11/2022 23:03

I'm going to take a stab at a female kestrel

LittleOwlorNot · 08/11/2022 23:04

@Hedgesfullofbirds looking at images of Windhovers and it's markings (esp under the eye) do match. I didn't know about the name Windhover, I love that.

OP posts:
Hedgesfullofbirds · 08/11/2022 23:04

Common Kestrel - too big to be a Merlin, wrong colour plumage and Merlins are birds of upland heaths and moors.

Far too small and, again, wrong colour plumage for a Red Kite which are similar in size to Buzzards.

iknowimcoming · 08/11/2022 23:05

Male and female sparrow hawks look very different to each other which confused me when we had one visit our garden several times a few weeks ago, we saw her take down a woodpecker mid flight (it was flying down to our bird table poor bugger) incredible but sad!

Hedgesfullofbirds · 08/11/2022 23:08

@LittleOwlorNot, yup! Windhover is a brilliantly descriptive name for these delightful little birds which do hover on the breeze! Sadly no longer anywhere near as common as they once were and used to be a common sight hovering over motorway and roadside verges

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