Huge bird of prey - Devon - Need help to identify (1 Viewer)

[benhersey]

Hello everyone and thankyou in advance for your knowledge, expertise and help...

I have lived in Devon pretty much all my life and although not a keen twitcher, i all ways have one eye in the sky.... Two days ago i saw a HUGE bird of prey? sitting on top of a telegraph pole as i drove towards it in my car.... from 100 yards away i noticed what i thought was a buzzard, but as i approached i realised that this bird was considerably larger than any buzzard i have ever seen... perhaps even over twice as large of some of the larger buzzards i have seen locally... The bird had a small white / off white head, black / dark back and a light / mid grey belly.... i was stunned by the size of this bird and as i approached the telegraph pole and slowed, frantically trying to grab my phone to take a picture, the bird dropped / swooped off the top of the pole and quickly dissapeared behind the hedge. I did notice that the bird had a relatively short wingspan for such a huge bird and also seemingly swept back wings to pointed wing tips and perhaps some lighter markings under the wings.

When I arrived at my destination, the pub...!, i spoke to various friends about what I had seen and we came to no conclusion....

I should add that The bird was seen between Torbryan and Staverton, Nr Totnes in south Devon. The bird was perhaps only 10m away when it flew.

One of my friends keeps a mature European Eagle Owl who i have met on many occasions.... although i forget 'Inca's' sex i know its the bigger of the two and is huge.... The bird i saw was easily as big if not bigger than this owl....

The only other information i can give you is that the bird had a huge body in comparison to head size and wing span but it was suggested that the bird might be ruffling its feathers..... And also my description of the birds wing pattern may be inaccurate as the bird was swoop / diving and not in proper flight. I did not see any rings, trailing leather bits from feet or anything else strange.... The bird swooped away in a very lethargic manner normally associated with larger more clumsy birds.

I have seen many hundred buzzards in this area before but this was definatly not one, friends suggested Red and Black Kite, Goss Hawk, Buzzard, Osprey, Fish Eagle, Sea Eagle and even Emperor Penguin...! I did see in the spring another considerably smaller unidentified bird of prey only 200m away with after another visit to the pub was told was probably a Goss Hawk

There are several bird of prey centers nearby including Pennywell, Woodlands, Fermoys and loads of working and pet birds of prey so escapees' could be considered.... And a few years previously there were numerous sightings of a vulture...!

Also the first person i mentioned it to in the pub said a friend in Torquay, only a few miles away and the previous day had seen a unknown bird of very similar description....

To finish off i must strees that this bird was huge....! and unlike and any other bird i have ever seen.......

Sorry to go on and i hope you can help...... its really bugging me now....

Once again thankyou for your help...... ben...x

 

[AlanR]

Hello and welcome, Ben.
I have no ideas about this bird - but it is notoriously difficult to estimate the size of a bird.
Alan

 

[dantheman]

Yep, welcome to birdforum...

Buzzards do vary in size a bit.. the fact that you saw it close to may also have some bearing on the size. Otherwise, yes, various birds of prey, including vultures escape all the time and could feasibly be seen. Aside from the various falconry centre birds, wonder if Paignton zoo has anything that could fit your description?? Vultures would also fit your description as having a small head in comparism to body size.....

 

[JRE]

Hi Ben.
I live very near the area where you saw the bird, so I'll keep an eye out for anything unusual. It could possibly be an escaped bird from Paignton Zoo, in which case it may have been a vulture sp., although I think you'd know if you saw a vulture sat on a telegraph pole!

There is a vast amount of variation between Buzzards in both size and plumage features. An abnormally large female Buzzard ruffling it's feathers could potentially be what you've seen, although without a photo, it's hard to say.

I very much doubt that you've been lucky enough to come across Goshawk in this area as the habitat is not suited to them and they are very rare indeed in Devon away from breeding sites, although again anything is possible. Like Buzzards, female Sparrowhawks and Peregrines can vary in size, and every now and again you may encounter something which seems ridiculously large but is in fact one of the above species.

I'll have a look round the area where you saw the bird, and will let you know if I come across anything out of the norm.

To sum up: from your description it sounds like a very large female Buzzard (some individuals really are big!), although if you are positive it wasn't, then it is likely to be something escaped from perhaps Paignton Zoo or Pennywell Farm.

Regards
Joe

 

[deborah4]

... from 100 yards away i noticed what i thought was a buzzard, but as i approached i realised that this bird was considerably larger than any buzzard i have ever seen... The bird had a small white / off white head, black / dark back and a light / mid grey belly.... and perhaps some lighter markings under the wings.


The only other information i can give you is that the bird had a huge body in comparison to head size and wing span .... The bird swooped away in a very lethargic manner

Apart from size estimation sounds like a good description for Osprey - they're still passing through on migration on the South Coast, so location OK. Easy to misjudge size when there are no comparisons although they are somewhat larger than Buzzards:
http://www.heicron.com/images/20050702_ph-osprey044_zmqi.jpg


http://goorcasisland.com/images/Osprey.jpg

 

[Fritz73]

Hola Ben! :hi:

A warm welcome to Birdforum from all the staff and mods. I've moved your thread here, so you can get more opinions from other members. Enjoy!

 

[benhersey]

Many thanks.... sounds likely.... the picture you posted of the osprey in flight looks very similar to what i saw..... but as you mentioned the size is now the only questionable fact..... many thanks, ben

 

[Susanindevon]

Huge Bird

Hi all, I am new to the forum but have been searching the internet and found the description of the bird mentioned and ..........I live near Totnes, I have Buzzards nesting in the woods behind me and they often fly over the orchards...where I saw a Buzzard flying high (as they do) , lazily flying overhead was a HUGE bird, the description here on this post fits almost exactly what I observed in locality,size,and the wing shape was deeply curved with the tip of the wing noticeably 'sharp' in comparison to the Buzzard. Its the second time I have seen it, flying in the same direction 'from' Totnes, over towards Plymouth way. I had to gauge its size as at the least half again as large as the Buzzard.
I am at a loss, I first thought of the Osrey but the wing shape is wrong. Its flight was lazily soaring, no sign at all in the time I observed it of so much as a flick of the wing.
The very next hot sunny day, around mid afternoon I shall have the camera out and do my best to capture it on a long range lens to try and get more details but your post is older than 2015 so I am wondering now if we have an indigenous species so large and if so...what is it? an escapee seems unlikely now.
I'm new to twitching, so please forgive the lack of proper description but I am so excited in having found someone who actually saw (hopefully) the same bird as myself.

 

[Corvus cornix]

Hi Susanindevon,

From your and Ben's descriptions, I'd think it's some sort of escapee. Buzzard would be the obvious candidate for a wild bird in that area, but as you both say you're both familiar with Buzzard and the bird in question is much too large, I'd suggest it's an exotic species. The lack of jesses or any other falconry paraphernalia doesn't rule out escapes. There were a pair of Harris' Hawks nesting in my area for several years, so leather rings etc could abrade and become less obvious if the bird has been at large for some time. It may also be that the bird had been kept illegally and any traces removed before a deliberate release.

If you could try and get a picture, that would be very helpful.

Cheers.

 

[DarkFireFalcon]

While it may sound harsh, I take anyone's estimate of size (my own included!) with a grain of salt. I was a hawk counter at a migration site for two years, and I'd occasionally see a falcon that I "knew" had to be a peregrine because it was huge. Then it'd get a little closer, and the plumage would reveal that it was an American Kestrel... Or an accipiter that looked like a good candidate size-wise for a goshawk, only to have it fly up to and attack a crow, and turn out to be smaller than the crow when seen in direct comparison.

So if the only thing wrong with it being an Osprey is size......

 

[stevethehydra]

I'm not sure if I'm reading Susan's post correctly, but it sounds like she saw the bird with/at the same time as a Buzzard?

I'm not quite sure how to interpret the description of the wing shape (perhaps you could sketch it and scan and upload the sketch? or draw it in Paint or similar?) but the size as "half again as big as a Buzzard" could fit Osprey in terms of wingspan - my field guide says 100-125cm wingspan for Common Buzzard and 140-165cm for Osprey so a big Osprey could have more than one and a half times the wingspan of a small Common Buzzard. Or another (if less likely) idea - hasn't there been a Short-toed Eagle knocking around the South West recently?

The 2008 bird could be an Osprey too, but I also wonder about an escaped Bald or White-tailed Eagle or Griffin/Cinereous/other Old World Vulture if the size estimate is accurate - but we'll probably never know...

 

[dantheman]

So if the only thing wrong with it being an Osprey is size......

But not the bird in the original post, at least (wings relatively short for size of bird).

 

[Sangahyando]

Hi all, I am new to the forum but have been searching the internet and found the description of the bird mentioned and ..........I live near Totnes, I have Buzzards nesting in the woods behind me and they often fly over the orchards...where I saw a Buzzard flying high (as they do) , lazily flying overhead was a HUGE bird, the description here on this post fits almost exactly what I observed in locality,size,and the wing shape was deeply curved with the tip of the wing noticeably 'sharp' in comparison to the Buzzard. Its the second time I have seen it, flying in the same direction 'from' Totnes, over towards Plymouth way. I had to gauge its size as at the least half again as large as the Buzzard.
I am at a loss, I first thought of the Osrey but the wing shape is wrong. Its flight was lazily soaring, no sign at all in the time I observed it of so much as a flick of the wing.

"Curved" as in "bent downwards" or "curved backwards"?
Grey Herons have wings that are curved downwards in flight, and their usual flight style is quite relaxed.
If the curve was more backwards (like in a Swallow), Red Kite or Osprey seems the most likely explanation. Red Kites can show very curved and relatively pointed wings, depending on the situation. They can also appear larger than they are, due to their very long wingspan and slow wingbeat.
As for Osprey, I saw one flying over a few days ago, and at first (as it was approaching) I thought it was a heron due to general appearance and flight style.