Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask but I couldn't find the skull identifying community.
Found in Western US
Bird
/thread
I think I can provide the detail OP is looking for.
It is a Dead bird
Think its a raptor of some sort?
Pretty hard to say without the outer part of the beak. Looks like a bird of prey of some kind. Most are protected, if not all, so be careful who you show it to…unless you're a teacher, then you can say it's for class.
Would they assume OP killed the bird, or is it illegal to pick up the skull? (Are the bones beneficial to other organisms?)
What I understand of the law is, if you can't hunt it, you can't have any part of it. Unless you are planning on using it for educational purposes. Rodents will eat bones.
Probably illegal in US, much like hawk feathers etc
Even if OP is a teacher they probably need a state permit to possess bones from native birds.
Very possible. I just remember it saying "except for educational purposes" or something similar.
I'm not an expert but I believe what looks like the eye socket at first glance is actually the nasal fenestra or whatever name the nose opening has. It's a fragment without a beak or eye sockets.
I agree, the "beak" would be oriented wrong if the opening is an eye socket. If the "beak" is vertical then the eye socket would be a vertical hole as well.
Rooster? Chicken?
I think it's a fish. To check, we count the number of bones in the skull.
I hoped for an answer like from him. This skull looks especially confusing because i don't see where the eyes would be.
