Hi all

Sorry about the late post, but I wanted to report what I believe was a Northern Goshawk flying over my yard in Baltimore City.

Early morning on April 8, before sunrise, I stepped out to my car and noticed an accipiter flying across the street toward my home. He had good size, but the first thing I noticed was how heavy he was. I've seen lots of accipiters but that one's body was heavier than I could remember before. (I've only identified one Goshawk before and that was probably 30 years ago in Colorado - an adult seen well.) This bird was not seen so well - just a fly-over before full sunrise. I hope others may comment on the bird to confirm my ID or teach me some things I haven't taken into consideration.

General appearance: *very* heavy-bodied. If this wasn't a goshawk, it must have indulged too much on Easter sweets. The tail seemed shorter than I would have expected of an accipiter, causing me to second-guess whether it could be a buteo, but the bird really didn't have a buteo shape. 

Flight: The wingbeats were strong. My first thought was something like, "He's sure pushing those wings." The wing beats extended well below the plane of the bird.

In the book, Hawks in Flight, Dunne et al talk about the broad tail giving a "stove pipe" appearance to the bird - with little demarcation where the tail actually begins in the bird's profile. That detail seemed absolutely consistent with the bird I saw.

But, again, a brief view in poor light ...

I understand that plumage may be difficult to separate with accipiters, even in good light. But I still invite comments about this unusual bird that hope would be my first goshawk in years.



Don Burggraf

Baltimore






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