Raptor over London

by Diehl Elkin
(London, Ontario, Canada)

We have watched a type of hawk from our 14th floor apartment building on Ridout St. in London.

This morning it landed on our balcony railing and sat there for a good 5 minutes. It appeared to listen as I spoke to it softly.

It was definitely a raptor. It had the usual curved beak and sharp talons. Its colour was a creamy breast with light brown patches. It's wing span was about 3 to 3 and a half feet.

I wonder if the bird is young and has been raised by humans as it was not frightened of my voice or movement. We snapped several pictures of it but realized in our excitement that we did not turn the camera on.

I tried to see if he or she was banded but could not ascertain that. It sat on one leg and seemed quite content to be there.

Thanks for your submission to our site - here is a link to the Hawk Cliff website which has many pictures of raptors - maybe you can see the bird you saw in their picture gallery.

I wonder if it could be either a Kestrel or a Perigrine Falcon? If you figure it out, please let me know, and I'll add a picture to your page.