I live in a small city that is 25 miles south west of Manhattan. While eating lunch this afternoon I watched through my kitchen window and noticed a extremely large bird with a white tail. I have seen many hawks within five miles of here and a few vultures. This large bird was partially obstructed by my neighbors house and about 300 hundreds away so I did not get a very good look at it. I contemplated grabbing my camera from the living room but assumed the bird was just passing over my neighbors yard to a more remote area. About two minutes later it passed again in the opposite direction and I am now certain it had a white tail (definitely larger than a red tail hawks that I've seen about five miles away many times).

Is there any chance an eagle would come to this part of the state of NJ? Anybody know of another large bird that resembles an eagle in size with a distinctive white tail?

If time permits tomorrow I may have to do some scouting at a few local parks. I have never seen an eagle and I never expected one to be in this part of NJ (Newark airport is twenty minutes away).

Please share your thoughts.