::trixxie17

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This was a recent visitor to the terrace of one of our neighbors. It was about 8am and we were drinking tea and reading the newspaper and my husband let out a shout. This bird had swooped through our little courtyard and settled on a terrace railing about 60 yards diagonally across from us. We see hawks frequently but this was much larger than any hawk we'd ever seen. We at first thought it might be an eagle. I grabbed my Nikon as I did not want it to fly so I shot through my window using the super zoom as it was so far away. (This is why the quality is not my usual) Here's some additional info paraphrased from several sources. The ferruginous hawk is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged Buteo hawks. It is endemic to the interior parts of North America. This is the largest of the North American hawks and only one other hawk of Asia is any larger in the world. It is often mistaken for an eagle due to its size, proportions, and behavior. It has two types, light and dark morphs. This is a light morph. Length in this species averages 23 in, and wingspan average 55 in. Females, as in all birds of prey, are larger than males. It's range is open grasslands of Canada and the US. It is not normally found in Illinois but we do get occasional strays such as this one.