The red tailed hawk; no points awarded for guessing why it’s called that. I imagine this is the Eastern variety, based on my location. I do like the way the sunlight is shining through the feathers here.

I should have probably bumped the exposure compensation up a bit for this but I was taking pictures of ducks on the ground at the time and was not expecting this hawk to fly right overhead. I got what I got. Canon R10, ƒ/8, a mere 1/8000 sec, ISO 640. Believe it or not, not the entire length of the lens – only 325mm.

Bird fact: The noise that eagles make in movies is usually actually the cry of the red tailed hawk. This hawk made exactly that noise, which is what prompted me to look up. Eagles (or at least bald eagles, if experience is any judge) can make a similar noise, but often they make a range of rather different noises that don’t carry as well.

Bonus picture of a red tailed hawks red hawk tail: