CLOSED: Any guesses....

.....on this faraway bird?

My guess is an Osprey ... LOL, and that's just a wild guess!

Wing colors seem wrong for Osprey...and too wide. I only saw it briefly, but assumed it was a Hawk.

This message was edited Oct 3, 2010 8:28 PM

Agree, Osprey...going by "wing pattern".

Just a wild guess but white tail band may suggest possible female Northern Harrier

I just looked up Northern Herrier in my Florida bird book and it says it's an abundant but declining avian predator during winter in Fla and can be expected to arrive with the earliest fall cold fronts. It also says they are usually seen flying close to the ground, seldom flapping, while hunting for small prey. Females and juveniles are predominately brown while males are light gray. It says a good field mark for both male and female is a white rump patch that can be seen from a distance.

Here are images of them in flight: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,23320,24813,26614,26781,26790,26885,26993&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=images+of+northern+harrier+in+flight&cp=10&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=_SepTNTDEsmEOqn5occM&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=701

Bird Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/birdfiles/go/113/

The wings are too broad and the underwing pattern wrong for a harrier. I'd say a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.

Resin

Thanks, all. I was fairly certain it was not an Osprey.