Raptor Identification

North American Raptor ID Fact Sheets

ID Factsheets created by Jerry Liguori
Click through to learn more about each species’ shape, flight, plumage, migration, and conservation status.

Raptors We Work With

American Goshawk

Accipiter atricapillus

American Kestrel

Falco sparverius

Bald Eagle

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Barn Owl

Tyto alba

Black Vulture

Coragyps atratus

Broad-winged Hawk

Buteo platypterus

Burrowing Owl

Athene cunicularia

Common Black Hawk

Buteogallus anthracinus

Cooper’s Hawk

Accipiter cooperii

Crested Caracara

Caracara plancus

Ferruginous Hawk

Buteo regalis

Flammulated Owl

Psiloscops flammeolus

Golden Eagle

Aquila chrysaetos

Gray Hawk

Buteo plagiatus

Great Horned Owl

Bubo virginianus

Gyrfalcon

Falco rusticolus

Merlin

Falco columbarius

Mississippi Kite

Ictinia mississippiensis

Northern Harrier

Circus hudsonius

Northern Pygmy Owl

Glaucidium gnoma

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Aegolius acadicus

Osprey

Pandion haliaetus

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

Prairie Falcon

Falco mexicanus

Red-shouldered Hawk

Buteo lineatus

Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

Rough-legged Hawk

Buteo lagopus

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Accipiter striatus

Short-eared Owl

Asio flammeus

Short-tailed Hawk

Buteo brachyurus

Swainson’s Hawk

Buteo swainsoni

Swallow-tailed Kite

Elanoides forficatus

Turkey Vulture

Cathartus aura

Western Screech-owl

Megascops kennicottii

White-tailed Kite

Elanus leucurus

Zone-tailed Hawk

Buteo albonotatus

Guides by Jerry

You can learn straight from the expert himself from his seminal works such as Hawks at a Distance and The In-hand Guide to Diurnal North American Raptors

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