Bird of prey, Sydney, Australia (1 Viewer)

[Leafbringer]

Hi, I saw this bird slowly circling and flying higher in the sky. Initially thought it was a Swamp harrier, but looked again and now it doesn't seem right. Could it be a brown goshawk instead, or another species? Pics are all of the same bird at different angles.

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

Brown Goshawk and Collared Sparrowhawk are known to be very difficult to separate. As I see thin legs, I would favour Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrocephalus.

 

[Leafbringer]

Brown Goshawk and Collared Sparrowhawk are known to be very difficult to separate. As I see thin legs, I would favour Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrocephalus.

Thanks Valéry, I see that this bird has slender legs too, so Collared Sparrowhawk sounds good

 

[SteveClark]

Rounded tail indicates Brown Goshawk.

 

[sicklebill]

Brown Goshawk for me too, and pretty large if you thought it a harrier

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

I find the tail rather squared, but there's a more significant feature for the sparrowhawk, it is the extra-long middle-toe we can guess in some of the photos, notably here.

 

[Leafbringer]

Thanks for your input, everyone. I'm new to birds of prey, since I rarely get to see them in the wild. Brown goshawks and collared sparrowhawks are hard to distinguish, especially when there's no side by side comparison and far away.

Brown Goshawk for me too, and pretty large if you thought it a harrier

I thought it was a harrier because of the shape. Unfortunately I was unsure of the size, because this Accipiter sp. was a lone bird and high in the sky.

I've since looked at better quality photos on eBird (MacCaulay Library), comparing both species to my pics. I think that overall, my pics seem to more closely resemble the collared sparrowhawk. I looked at the 1st photo of a brown goshawk and noticed that my bird was more slender and its shape (the width of "chest area") wasn't as wide. The photos of brown goshawks seem to show it is a more robust looking bird than the sparrowhawk.

Examples

ML530987391 - Brown Goshawk - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML530987391; © paul mclelland; Penrith, New South Wales, Australia

macaulaylibrary.org

ML503517961 - Brown Goshawk - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML503517961; © William Richards; Tablelands, Queensland, Australia

macaulaylibrary.org

ML176453551 - Brown Goshawk - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML176453551; © Ramit Singal; Devonport, Tasmania, Australia

macaulaylibrary.org

Other photos of collared sparrowhawks for comparison

ML270357891 - Collared Sparrowhawk - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML270357891; © Scott Rolph; Greater Geelong, Victoria, Australia

macaulaylibrary.org

ML73175181 - Collared Sparrowhawk - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML73175181; © Michael Rutkowski; Penrith, New South Wales, Australia

macaulaylibrary.org

ML544865581 - Collared Sparrowhawk - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML544865581; © Peter Bennet; Whittlesea, Victoria, Australia

macaulaylibrary.org

ML359502141 - Collared Sparrowhawk - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML359502141; © Ged Tranter; Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

macaulaylibrary.org

ML24382241 - Collared Sparrowhawk - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML24382241; © Suzanne Kuskoff; Alexandrina, South Australia, Australia

macaulaylibrary.org