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Raptor(s) ID



Heh heh, here I go again, <g>

On Friday I was walking out to do the mail at work, off the Weston Parkway in Cary. I heard a crow above me, and looked up. The crow was chasing a large raptor, and I have no idea what it was.

It was the size of a Red-Tailed Hawk, and in fact at first that's what I assumed it was, having seen a pair in the area. But there was no red tail. This bird's tail was about the length of a RTH's, not long like Sharp-Shinned. But it was not "spread". I'm not sure how to describe it. The RTH usually keeps his tail feathers kind of fanned out, while the bird I saw did not.

The bird I saw was very light-colored, pretty much light cream all over. So light that for a second I thought it could be a Snowy Owl, but the head was not owl-ish. There may have been some darker marking on the head and neck, but the sun made it difficult to see for sure. But the biggest thing I noticed was a very distinct light-colored "bar" on each wing, running from the front to the back of the wing. 

I checked my bird book, but I don't see anything similar. Could it be an albino of some sort?

Lisa G.
Lisabirder@aol.com