Raptor ID?

[Ian]

These shots are very poor quality, sorry - the bird was very far away!

Google Images suggests 'Northern harrier' which can't be right because I'm in SW France, not North America

I suspect it's a buzzard that's lost some old plumage around the top of the tail - but that light area is intriguing...





Any thoughts?

Ian

[wanderer]

That's not a Buzzard. That's a Harrier.
Body too long and narrow.
I think its either a juvenile transitioning to adult male or a female.
Probably the latter.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/hen-harrier/

Scroll to the 3rd picture.

[Ian]

Someone else has suggested this to me as well👍

[blackfox]

ring tailed hen harrier .. denoted by the white ring of feathers around the tail .also you can just faintly see in this there are a few black bands/rings on the tail as well . the one to watch out for is the male hen harrier which is grey and white and can be mistaken for a sea gull.

oh and well caught BTW

[BDennis]

Yes, looks like female Hen Harrier - a nice spot.

There was one around in Norfolk on our last visit with a GPS tracker - given away by the small backpack with an aerial sticking out!

[antpitta]

Agree: ring-tail Hen Harrier (so that includes all ages/plumages except adult male). Of the other ring-tailed harriers, Montagues should still be in Africa & you can see enough of the head/neck to eliminate Pallid Harrier (increasingly being seen in Western Europe & occasionally overwintering like the one this winter in North Norfolk). Northern Harrier is an extreme vagrant from North America with less than 20 records - including 1 in North Norfolk!

[Ian]

I don't suppose this is the same bird?

[antpitta]

Pretty sure it's not the same bird although hard to be absolutely sure from this angle (it looks much "cleaner" on the head than the earlier bird). TBH I can't be sure on the ID at all ... maybe you had other views so could see if it was - for example - a harrier?

[Tordan58]

This one looks more like a Black kite. The tail looks forked, feathering looks quite uniform brown. Do you have a photo where the tail is visible?

[antpitta]

That seems a reasonable suggestion - they are early summer migrants to France (I'd not considered BK with my UK blinkers on!).

[davcoll]

Agree with all that is said here, only just got t'internet installed so am paying catchup with the forum.

Dave