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ID this large bird

ID this large bird

It was huge, eagle sized.

I turned around and parked on the side of the road. It was a nasty ruffled bird, some kind of vulture I suspect, eagles don't let themselves go like that. Do they?

Turkey Vulture?

Spotted in SE Michigan, what is it?

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ISC/BIRD-1.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ISC/BIRD-2.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ISC/BIRD-3.jpg

your guess is likely correct and your pictures lack a lot ;)

if you saw it fly and the wings formed an upright "V" shape, then highly likely that it was a TV

swallow - can't say whether is African or European though!

It's a larger Kite or Falcon species.

Don't think it's an eagle, hawk or vulture.

its a vulture you can tell by the shape of the wing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dogtrainer (Post 4662670)

its a vulture you can tell by the shape of the wing.

Nope

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBAtarga (Post 4662189)

swallow - can't say whether is African or European though!

how do you tell if it's an African swallow?

It is of the gull / Turn family

That was Nancy Pelosi on her way to Washington DC!:D

Quote:

Originally Posted by afterburn 549 (Post 4662699)

It is of the gull / Turn family

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

(Unladen, obviously);)

looks like the turkey vultures we have around here..which to me sort of look like a cross between a hawk and a crow...pointy heads...i have seem some very large ones but most are really not very impressive compared to say, an eagle

Quote:

Originally Posted by afterburn 549 (Post 4662699)

It is of the gull / Turn family

I thinking like you, a guy at another car forum who was the first to ID my Carolina Wren in Michigan a couple of years ago said this:

http://carnuts.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2268

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roopull

I'm still thinking albatross.

One detail; As I started to walk around the barn to get a side angle shot I hear a loud thwacking sound, drew my camera up and snapped the shot of the open wings.

If it were kite/falcon talons, I might have heard a sharp scraping or scratching noise.

Web feet might go thwap.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...MISC/KITE1.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...MISC/KITE2.jpg

it does look like a shore bird as it sits there. like a black seagull . its shape and head as it flies looks like a TV. maybe its a seavulture

Cut 'n Paste from the other thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roopull

How big would you guesstimate the wingspan was?

Not as hard as guessing the size and speed of a flying saucer, but if I tell you there may be the same level of disbelief.

Easily over six feet, in my excitement it looked to be closer to seven+, but keep in mind I only saw half of it (one wing).

I went back this morning with my wife's Canon Rebel, I really wish I had this camera instead of my tiny seven year old Pentax Optio S4.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...AEB-ROOF-1.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ARN-ROOF-2.jpg

I took pictures of the typical birds of prey just down the road from the possible albatross sighting, not bad detail, but not mind blowing amazing either.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...MISC/HAWK1.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...MISC/HAWK2.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...MISC/HAWK3.jpg

immature black footed albatross
http://orcawatcher.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iKawzGKhsv...dAlbatross.jpg

Quote:

...................seven foot wingspan

A west coast bird in Michigan?

http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/seabirds.html
http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/Pho...irds/BFAL2.jpg

Quote:

http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/Photos/Seabirds/BFAL2.jpg

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/whatsnew/events/robbins/photo_gallery.cfm
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/whatsnew/ev..._IMG018_lg.jpg

Quote:

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/whatsnew/events/robbins/photo_gallery.cfm

Lost bird......................
http://www.birdinghawaii.co.uk/XBFAlbatross2.htm
http://www.birdinghawaii.co.uk/Images/JJBLACKFOOTS.jpg

Quote:

The Black-footed Albatross (Diomedia nigripes) is one of two species of Albatross that nests annually in the Hawaiian Islands, and one of three that occur regularly in the North Pacific (the other species being Laysan and Short-tailed Albatrosses). Although breeding birds are limited to the Northwest Chain and Lehua Rock, individuals can frequently be seen from the Main Island of Kaua'i and occasionally O'ahu and Hawai'i.

[QUOTE]
http://www.birdinghawaii.co.uk/Image...acificMap3.jpg

Recap
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ISC/BIRD-2.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ISC/BIRD-3.jpg

That kind of looks like the bird I have flying by my place - can you ID this one?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1242326388.jpg

We call those Turkey Buzzards or Democrats down her in Texas.

p930man

It might have been a pa-teradactyl .......

I was looking in the birds eye, it had a worried look, not bird of prey or vulture like at all. Funny that I can recall the eyes better that the beek.

Long slender wings, skinny short legs, and a horizontal not vertical stance.

Back to the charts.

http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Bird_Wing_Types.htm
http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Bird_wing_types.gif

http://cacondorconservation.org/content/did-you-see-a-california-condor-let-us-know/
http://cacondorconservation.org/cont...pare_chart.jpg

http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/birds/eagles/
http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/birds/eagles/images/eagle4.gif

http://www-scf.usc.edu/~tchklovs/Proposal.htm
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~tchklovs/Pro...s/image005.gif

EDIT:
Two experts which have been contacted.

The one expert at U of M thinks it's a turkey vulture:

Quote:

......they have bare, red heads. It may be nesting in the barn. If you look at the one of it flying, you can see the lighter feathers on the trailing edge of the wing. This is distinctive, as is the V shape of the wings when soaring.

I don't remember a red head or any other vulture like thing except the ruffled condition, and he photos at the barn don't have any color to speak of. Also the slight lighting of feathers is seen on the black footed albatross Internet photos and illustrations.

The second expert at Oregon State said;

Quote:

Basically, I can't tell from this photo..............(but if I had to choose, I'd choose vulture- again a lot of the other raptors aren't likely to sit on a barn like that)..............But birds do get way lost- you never know!

Also said:
.....contact the local Audubon society for some help with identification- if there was a wild sighting like an albatross, they'd know about it, and they'll know what the most likely local possibilities are.

I've driven this into the ground for now, I may contact the local Audubon society but have picked up a little work, so I gotta go chase the money right now. :D