The Unknown Raptors of Tanzania

One year on and I am still trying to figure out a few birds from Tanzania. Mostly they are raptors. I have ideas on most of them as noted below, but if anyone can help out with the ID's I would really appreciated it (click on each image to enlarge).


The next two images were taken in the Pugu Hills. This bird was out a ways and these are the best images I could manage. The overall darkness of this bird (beyond the apparent exposure problems of the photo), broad, short wings, primaries and secondaries paler than the forewing, pale legs, and the pattern of banding in the tail suggest a Brown Snake-Eagle to me.
[ I apparently am on track with this one]




This bird was photographed on the Kenya border northwest of Kilimanjaro at the old natron mine. It is obviously a harrier and appears to be a first year male just molting into it's first adult plumage. Based on the length of the wings in comparison to the tail and the lack of chestnut streaking on the flanks, I am guessing a Pallid Harrier.
[This one was humbling. Now that I have the suggested ID, my comment that it is obviously a harrier is obviously wrong. Eastern Chanting Goshawk. At least it still looks like an immature bird molting into adult plumage]



This photo was taken in Tarangire National Park. One of the large dark eagles but appearing to be not as heavy built or as large as the Golden Eagle I am familiar with. Lesser Spotted Eagle?
[suggested that this is a Tawny Eagle. I can go with that]




This one was taken at Tarangire National Park. Immature Brown Snake-Eagle?
[At least I can ID Brown Snake-Eagles. This one was confirmed]


This one has me stumped. It was taken northwest of Kilimanjaro and appears to be a buzzard of some sort to me. However, the combination of streaking (rather than barring) on the breast and light, unmarked throat and upper breast do not match any thing in my field guide. Anyone?
[Ayer's Hawk-Eagle. Sounds good to me. Doesn't quite match my field guide, but I am very aware of the range of variability in raptors and it does make sense to me]


The next two were taken on the northwest slopes of Kilimanjaro as it flew high over me. I am puzzled by the shape of this bird. It was quite large and I can't figure out any large raptor with the long tail and the apparent feather pattern and coloring especially in the primaries. Great Sparrowhawk? European Honey-Buzzard?
[This one was suggested as another Eastern Chanting Goshawk. I am having a harder time with this one based on my limited resource, but I can see why this species was suggested. The color and shape and size seem right but the pattern on the primaries is what is throwing me a bit. Maybe I just want it to be something different too much.]

Raptors Across Montana

I returned yesterday from a two day training in Butte, MT, an eight hour trip (one way) from Fort Peck. Although it is a long drive, it was a nice, albeit fast, traverse of the state with a good deal of windshield birding. On Tuesday when I woke up, it was -25 degrees outside without the windchill and after a day of blizzard like conditions on Monday, attending the training was in question. After consulting the weather reports and road conditions on the web I decided that I would go. It turned out to be a rather uneventful drive for winter in Montana as far as road conditions and weather go. The most obvious birds I found during my drive were raptors and there were lots of them along the way (probably because it is tough to observe smaller birds while traveling down the interstate, much less identify them). Rough-legged Hawks were the most widespread bird I found from one end of the state to the other. I probably observed between 50 and 80 individuals each way. Bald Eagles were the next most common and widespread bird I observed, from the more traditional habitats along the Yellowstone River to perched on small buttes and feeding on roadkill. Ravens and Black-billed Magpies were pretty common too but only west of Billings. Black-billed Magpies are still much less common in the eastern part of the state after a precipitous decline that occured about the time that West Nile Virus came through here and I suspect that much of the population around Fort Peck was wiped out at that time. Horned Larks were common in scattered flocks along the highways north and east of Billings. The most species I observed the most individuals of was the Canada Goose, with many large flocks wintering along the Yellowstone River from Billings to Livingston. I saw one haystack near Reed Point along the Yellowstone River that was covered with Wild Turkeys like a wildebeast carcass covered with vultures. Other raptors observed along the way included two Merlins in Billings, a number or Red-tailed Hawks along the Yellowstone, two American Kestrels, and a Northern Harrier.

This photo depicts a typical scene in Eastern Montana this time of year. Although this happens to be a Bald Eagle, more often it is a Golden Eagle perched on these knobs.

This immature Golden Eagle was soaring in the updraft at the edge of a small hill along the highway.

This adult Bald Eagle was perched in an old Ponderosa Pine along the highway. I appeared to have just finished a dinner on the roadkill Mule Deer in the ditch on the opposite side of the road.