Steve and I saw an unusual bird yesterday afternoon, and I'm
wondering if anyone has any input.

When I first saw the bird, it was being harassed by what I assumed
was a crow. Pulling out the binoculars, the crow turned into a
raven, and the other bird was at least half again the size of the
raven. By size, it would seem to be an eagle. But my first
impression by coloration was a dark Swainson's Hawk. The body was
reddish brown, and looked fairly uniform from head to tail. The
outer wings were a dark gray/black, the rest of the wing was a
lighter brown than the body. As the raven continued to harass it, it
twisted in the air, and I was able to see a white band at the base of
the tail, although this wasn't very visible from below.

I was almost willing to accept an immature Golden Eagle, and then we
started hearing the crying calls you hear when adults are up with
their young (the calls reminded me of Osprey). I thought, 'Great!
I'll get to see the adult' but the second bird appeared identical to
the first. But it did dive in at the raven to drive it off like an
older, more experienced bird.

I am still tending towards Golden Eagle, but the wing coloring didn't
seem to match. These two birds were far away, so even with binos I
couldn't get real good looks, and we were able to watch them circle
over Moscow for about five minutes. Can anyone with more/better
references offer input about the wing color of goldens?
jw
Jane Westervelt
Steve Kalloger
Moscow, ID