Two Days, 1 Jewel!

I am posting 4 pictures of blue sky, in this post.  Each has one raptor, each  zoomed to the level of my camera's ability, but is similar to how we see some of our hawks. Can you ID each?   At the end of the post, I will give the answers, with an explanation of the key features that ID the birds.
Above is #1.

I am reposting Jimmy's e-mail here, so if you access both, please forgive. I need to use my time to put up some pictures.  A million thanks to the extra eyes this week!  I will never get tired of having someone help us get on the hawks.  Jimmy begins with Monday's birds.  Please read on through to see what we saw on Tuesday.

Sept 23, 2014
Soddy Mtn
Hamilton Co., TN

On Monday Sept 22 we saw 36 Broad-winged Hawks; 1 Northern Harrier;
4 Osprey; 1 Cooper's Hawk; 1 Red-shouldered Hawk and 2 immature
Bald Eagles.

Visitors and counters were: Harold Birch, Bill Haley, Jimmy & Cynthia;
Clay Seneker and Pete & Marg Krampe.  Pete & Marge have been several
times over the last couple seasons.  Welcome Back!

----

Tuesday Sept 23 we saw 223 Broad-winged Hawks; 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks;
2 Cooper's Hawks and 1 MISSISSIPPI KITE. (Juvenile)  I think Cynthia was the first
to shout out Mississippi Kite, followed by a confirmation by Harold Birch
and then by Mac McWhirter as he has seen several from their farm.  I was
a skeptic to say the least.  Later after replaying in my mind numerous
times I became more convinced.  After getting home and reviewing 4 Raptor
research books I was able to glean enough information that finally seals
the deal for me.  Cynthia and I have seen Ms Kites in Tennessee, Georgia,
Florida and especially in South Carolina.  I'm not sure why it took me so
long to come on board with the rest of the group.  I have seen Ms Kite from
Soddy Mtn before in 2003 when it was identified by Bill Haley when he and I
were alone on the lookout.  One or two days later Roi and Debby Shannon also
saw a Ms Kite, I think they too were on the lookout by themselves.

Visitors and counters today were Harold Birch, Jimmy & Cynthia, Susan & Mac
McWhirter who also brought with them Woody & Becky Woodiel, Woody was a long
time hawk watcher from long ago.  He also used to keep our grass mown so
beautifully WELCOME BACK WOODY!  Counter Clay Seneker was about 30 minutes too late to see the Kite. (But he hung in there 'til day's end.)

#2 Easy one.

Keep Looking Up!
Jimmy And Cynthia Wilkerson


#3

#4

Did you do your best? Many web-sites work at getting pictures from long lens cameras, which show close up details. Those of you who come to our watch site, know that what we are seeing are tiny, often much smaller than these birds, even through our binoculars.  Are there features that will ID these raptors without close detail?  Yes to all 4.

Answers: Going backwards>
#4 - Red-shouldered Hawk --- the "windows" in the outside ends of the wings.  Also, banding in the tail, and the wings are NOT pushed forward.

#3 Red-tailed Hawk --- this bird doesn't have a strong red tail color. So how do we know? Belly band, Patagials, Commas, and Headlights are all very clear on this bird. Definitive. (see Raptors of Eastern North America, by Brian K. Wheeler, pg. 19 for a great explanation of the terms.)

Belly-band - a band of dark feathers that crosses somewhere on the belly. Varies greatly from bird to bird in size, density, and where it crosses the belly.
Patagials - Dark band from neck to wrists along the forward wing.
Commas - Dark comma shaped marking after the elbow, and before the end of the wing.
Headlights - White section immediately after the patagials  on the leading edge of the wing, at the elbow - obviously, looking a bit like headlights when the bird is flying directly toward you.

#2 Bald Eagle --- You might think the White head or tail would be the answer I am looking for.  There are hawks with a lot of white on their tails, and raptors with white on their head. Suppose your bird isn't close enough to really see that head or tail yet. Answer: It's the very wide, plank-like, flatness of the wings, especially in comparison to the head and tail size.  Flat wings looking like an airplane.  However, they do not always present as flat-winged.  Wind speeds and direction can cause them to draw up or flap.  But as often as they can, they don't flap.  They ride the air with little effort,, looking like a flying board with rounded ends.

#1 Broad-winged Hawk --- The paring knife shape of the wings, arched forward.  In this picture, the wings aren't as forward as they would be when they "set their wings" and fly off the top of a kettle.  The silverness of the under-wing.  The strong black line that outlines the wings.  The deep white band adjacent to the outer dark band  on the end of the tail. Wide and bold!  (When banking in a kettle, the flash of white at the rump, which isn't obvious in this picture.) 

Well, how did you do?  Could you pick out the silhouettes, even if they were smaller?  Just as with warblers, you learn to see only certain things quickly.  And under windy or other certain conditions, they don't present these perfect  setups immediately, sometimes. I went through a half dozen shots of these birds to select the perfect shot.  The secret is to watch the birds, note what you are seeing, until the perfect pose is displayed.  Or add the bits and pieces together.  All the clues add up to one bird, most of the time. And then again, we can always be wrong.  All we can do, is make our very best call on what the bird shows us. 

Too far out to see all that? Well, that's another lesson. LOL