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by Waynbro on March 21st, 2005

Waynbro

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What are the noticable differences between hawks and eagles and can these differences be noticed from the ground while they are flying?

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  • by LaserFalson on August 3rd, 2005

    LaserFalson

    Also, eagles are accipiters, while many hawks are not; so there's a good place to begin to separate the two. An accipiter has narrower wings and longer bodies, with a noticeable differentiation between were the tail is and were the edge of the wings is. A buteo, like the red tailed hawk, has broader wings and the outer-lower edge of the wings look almost like they over lap the tail; this gives it a more compressed appearance. If you get a Peterson's Field Guide to Birds of Prey (from any bookstore) many of these differences are pointed out. Also it's important to determine if a bird has a strong dihedral, like the Turkey vulture, which can look like an eagle from the ground because they have such long wings. A dihedral is the way they hold there wings in flight, the bald eagle holds them in a slight dihedral meaning they form a very slight V when viewed from straight on in flight, a turkey vulture has a more sever V, and a red tail hawk holds them more perpendicular to their body and forms more of an M.

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