Greetings. 



        So I got a number of replies to my request for info. Thanks Jim McCormac for your pin-point analysis of the photo. I for one agree with what you said. Also, what may not be visible in some people's monitors is the red on the shoulder of this bird in the photo. So yeah, I'd say I'm as sure as I can be about a photo that this is indeed a photo of a Juvenile Red-Shouldered Hawk, its what came to mind as soon as I saw the picture. I've seen 4 juv. Northern Goshawks up in Michigan as well as their parents on several occasions since they have nested for years up in the park area of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Funny story is that I was riding my mountain bike by their nest on a jeep track when the female attacked me. That was my lifebird, haha, exciting in a rather scary way. Anyways, about half of those who responded said they thought it was a Red-shouldered Hawk, the rest were split between being unsure and/or suggesting it was the Goshawk or something completely different. The point is not to point the finger at anybody and say they were wrong, its just a study into identification. I'm not saying that this is the bird everyone saw, I'm just letting it be known that this confusing looking bird and others like it are out there in the area, so be careful. 




    So what does all this mean?? Well the good news is that Larry Gara and Beth, as well as a couple other observers say that the bird in the photo isn't the bird they saw. Here is some of Larry's description: "Ours had an eyebrow which was narrow in the front and wider in the back and much more obvious, feathers which covered part of the legs and a very thin white line at the end of the tail. The bird was heavily streaked and had very bright yellow legs. Unfortunately I did not take note of the color of the eye. "  And I guess Charlotte knows her stuff. So, those who are unsure, the best answer I can give to all this head-scratching is to get out there again and get a better look if you can. Or you could sit around and hope someone gets a good picture of the real thing that you can enjoy later. I may do one or the other, I'm not sure what the schedule will allow. Thanks for your input everyone. Sorry if its not the bird some of you hoped. Its still an interesting bird photo and useful I think.




     Bird On,

                      - Ben Warner







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