4 replies to this topic

[PanHanNE]

Garden County Nebraska (panhandle) August 2012

1>Red-tailed Hawk
(the redish colored tail as it flew in was a dead-giveaway. I'm learning a little.)



2>Anything I say would be 100% guess. Please help me learn by telling me what leads you to your conclusions.
Eyes: Looks gold to me.
Tail: Long. Thick bands light and dark, ending with white band.
Legs and Feet: Yellow.
Coloring: White underside. Brown back.

(several shots -all the same bird-thumbnails-click for larger view)

Front:


Back:




Side view:


(Unsure how members here would rather view the photos, a 640x480 or 800x600 photo embedded into the post, or thumbnails, which require you to click on them for larger view. If there are preferences, please let me know, and I will do it that way in future posts. All my photos are located on an external server, so file sizes do not affect the whatbird server either way.)

[psweet]

The first one is a young Red-tailed. It's worth pointing out that at this age, the tail often shows no red at all -- but all of the other field marks should be there, the white markings on the scapulars, the patagial bars on the underwing, the belly-band if the bird has one.

The second one is a young Cooper's Hawk. One useful tip -- the accipiters should be the only hawks we get where the folded wings only reach the base of the tail. Some of the buteos have wings that don't reach the tip of the tail, but they all reach at least most of the way down. Once you know it's an accipiter, it's young because it's brown on the back and streaked below. The streaks are very crisp and they are much stronger on the breast than on the belly -- these are good marks for Cooper's.

[Liam]

The white scapulars (the "V" marking on the back) are what give the first bird away as a Red-tailed for me. Is there any chance it's a Krider's or light morph Harlan's Hawk? Nebraska is in range for both subspecies and this bird sure doesn't look like the juvie B.j. borealis I see in my neighborhood. Adult Krider's and Harlan's show vaguely red tails, like this bird, if I'm not mistaken.

I agree with young Cooper's on the second bird.

[psweet]

The bird's definitely not a Harlan's -- aside from the date, any Harlan's with that much red color in the tail would be called an intergrade with calurus. The date is also wrong for Krider's, and an adult Krider's would show a much paler tail -- more pinkish than ruddy, with little to no barring on the tail. Given the location, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some calurus genes in there, though. I can't speak for Georgia, but around here we do see juveniles with a pretty good wash of red on the tail. (Of course, that's at the hawkwatch from late August on, so those could be dispersers from who knows where.)

[PanHanNE]

Thank you both SOOO much! I learn so much from both of you. (I generally have to search for definitions, look at bird anatomy photos, and do online searches to see what it is you are telling me, and hopefully, I will retain at least a smidgeon of what I learn for longer than a week) Just like grade school again... repetition is the key to retention.