Dove or Pigion?

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Since this is backlit the bird is seriously underexposed, so the colours are not as dark as you imagine.

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Pigeons and doves both fall into the same family - Columbidae. That uses up my technical knowledge, so all I have left to offer is this bird looks pretty ragged. I've had instances in which a 'wedding release' dove ended up taking refuge in our yard until nature took its course.
On first look, I thought it was a dove, but since you initially thought it was a hawk, it may be larger than what I was thinking (discounting comparsion to a kestral). Any other clues you can offer based on visual sighting without your camera?


Marnie

Mourning Dove...

Lightened the shadows to see a little better...

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It's a mourning dove.

busbyea wrote in post #9144680
Lightened the shadows to see a little better...

Great idea. +1 on mourning dove.

GRD wrote in post #9144673
The only dove it looks close to so far that i have seen in pictures is an Inca Dove.

Incas are small - about the size of a cardinal. As doves go, they are my favorites. They summer with us (Phoenix metro area) though I did see about two weeks ago.

Marnie

GRD wrote in post #9144497
Thanks

Yes, backlit and first time at a backlit situation. I did play with numerous settings but yet was still confused at how I could get it better.

From a distance it was a silhouette situation. It was dark.

Yes, colours were maybe not as dark if it would have had sun on it.

Top shot was at.....P mode......1/500ss.....​..F/8.0....ISO200.....​WBsunny

Bottom shot at.......AV mode.....1/1000ss.....​.F/8.0.....ISO400...WB​cloudy

In a backlit situation like this, what would have been the better settings to do?

Still not sure what it is, Dove or Pigeon?

Always appreciate any insight with it all.

To answer your question about exposure can be lengthly..First off-- I am definitely not an expert..but here it goes.. Here are couple of ways to expose the bird in this case..First, you try using your flash--the on board flash might work--but a 430ex ii or 580ex ii will work much better at providing fill flash. This method might get proper exposure of the bird and the background. The second method is to expose for the ground (lock in the exposure) and then take the shot if the shot is still to dark bump your exposure comp up by a stop or two. In this case your sky will be totally blown out but your bird will be more discernible..

Experience and a lot of reading about exposure will move you along the learning more quickly..

It probably seemed large just because it had its feathers fluffed up.