Birds of Prey Identification

Making an identification of birds of prey can be a difficult thing without a handy guide or a study of pictures of the various birds in your area. When trying to identify the birds of prey you see, owls are perhaps the easiest to spot and identify. Owls commonly have large round yellow colored eyes. In fact their eyes are the most noticeable feature on their faces. One exception would be the Barred Owl that has smaller, dark colored eyes on a flattened white and gray face. Common Barn Owls have a striking appearance with a large white, heart-shaped face and medium sized dark beady eyes. Their beak is much lower on the face than most other Owl portray. A condor is the largest bird of prey in America and has a bald head that is reddish-orange in color and feathers are a dark, blackish gray color. It also has a reddish colored neck and a red spot on it's chest. Eagles are a bit easier to spot since most Americans are familiar with the sight of the American Bald Eagle with it's white head and tail and dark body and yellow bill. Hawks and ospreys look similar to eagles except with darker eyes and more striped and colorful plumage. The Turkey Vulture is a common sight since most people know what a turkey's appearance looks like. http://www.hunter-ed.com/wildlife/birds_of_prey.htm