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Help ID United States Hawks (1 Viewer)

SAY37

Active member
Hello! I'm new here. Can you please help identify the species of hawk in these two photographs? Thank you!

Spotted in Chicago, IL area December 2017.

nydw11.jpg

2r2t7jb.jpg
 
Agree, both are Red-tailed Hawks. 1st one is a juvenile; you can see its thin tail bands.

I can't see the tail well enough on the 2nd one on my monitor to see if it has the tail banding of a juvenile. It looks like a solid color.

Bob
 
RTH Hawk's irises don't become dark until after the Hawks get their full plumage at 2 years of age.

Wheeler addresses the iris colors in the first paragraph on the Red-tailed Hawk in his Western Edition of Raptor's of North America at p. 318.

".......Adult plumage is attained when 2 years old. Iris color gradually darkens with age. Birds in full adult plumage when 2 years old may still have rather pale irises (see Mindell 1985). .........."

Bob
 
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RTH Hawk's irises don't become dark until after the Hawks get their full plumage at 2 years of age.

Wheeler addresses the iris colors in the first paragraph on the Red-tailed Hawk in his Western Edition of Raptor's of North America at p. 318.

".......Adult plumage is attained when 2 years old. Iris color gradually darkens with age. Birds in full adult plumage when 2 years old may still have rather pale irises (see Mindell 1985). .........."

Bob

Okay, thanks. I did read about this a while ago in an article by Jerry Liguori...
 
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