I was about to give up finding a picture so I sat on the river bank for awhile. It's probably the last 84 degree day we'll have for months so I decided to enjoy it. After 10 or 15 minutes this hawk flies by and now he's my pic-of-the-day!
@clifford I'm not sure we even have Kites here in Iowa...I've never seen one. I think this is a Red Tailed Hawk but I often get them confused with Red Shouldered Hawks.
It's a buteo & I'd call it as a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, maybe costaricensis (indistinct patagial mark & belly band but clearly present)
From a very long distance away, from underneath a Red-Shouldered Hawk you would see what appears to be light or white crescent moons shining through their wings
@peachfront Thank you for sharing your bird identification knowledge. I need to see tails or shoulders...I know the Red Shouldered has a more reddish/brown chest and banded tail but w/o out that information it's a tossup! :)
@bluemoon
It's a buteo & I'd call it as a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, maybe costaricensis (indistinct patagial mark & belly band but clearly present)
From a very long distance away, from underneath a Red-Shouldered Hawk you would see what appears to be light or white crescent moons shining through their wings
Excellent close-up and detail.
I love it!