Portrait of Peregrine Falcon (falco perigrinus) |Elan II, 100/300-4.5/5.6, Velvia, exposure unrecorded. This was taken at the Renaissance Faire, CA during a Falconry show.

-- Bhaskar Thiagarajan (bhaskart@hotmail.com), January 14, 1999

Answers

It's a nice portrait, but a pretty bad identification. A golden eagle maybe, but definitely not a peregrine falcon.

-- Bruce Rideout (brideout@sandiegozoo.org), January 14, 1999.

Well...It's quite likely that I'm wrong about the identification - I'm far from being an expert. I started looking in nature guides under the premise that it is a falcon...since it was part of the falconry show (they wouldn't cheat would they??). The closest in description was a peregrine falcon.

-- Bhaskar Thiagarajan (bhaskart@hotmail.com), January 14, 1999.

Sorry Bhaskar, but I think Bruce is right. This bird doesn't look like a falcon. It does look more like a Golden Eagle as Bruce stated.

-- Alan (afive@pacific.net.sg), January 15, 1999.

Actually, it's a Harris Hawk.

-- Jason Jesse (jajesse@teleport.com), January 15, 1999.

Yep, Jason's right, I didn't notice the chestnut shoulder patch on my first look (good eye Jason)...Anyway, I suppose we should at least offer some constructive criticism of the image. My only criticism is that I find the large out of focus bright area a bit distracting. Not terribly so, but it does tend to pull my eye away from the eyes of the bird. Otherwise a fine portrait.

-- Bruce (brideout@sandiegozoo.org), January 15, 1999.

Thanks for the correct id Jason. I did a check on Harris Hawks on the net and they seem to fit the features of this bird (also - they are a favorite with falconers). I'll update my records for the slide...

-- Bhaskar Thiagarajan (bhaskart@hotmail.com), January 15, 1999.

As far as the actual photo, it could be better. The bird's body and most of the head seem poorly lit, and are against a distracting white background. The beak appears to be in direct sunlight: this is distracting as well.

-- Mark Ciccarello (mark@ciccarello.com), January 15, 1999.