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Hawk ID Central Texas (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter camallard
- Start date
humminbird
Well-known member
Harris Hawk and not unusual in the area from my experience.
MLoyko
d[-_-]b
It's not. It's missing the yellow cere of a Harris Hawk and also the white flash at the base of the tail as well as the white tip to the tail. What you have here is a darker Red-tailed Hawk. Not to mention you can just make out the patagial bar of a Red-tailed on the nearest wing.
-Matt.
-Matt.
phil baber
Clipped Wing
Wise words. No-one on BF should be afraid of making mistakes. However competent! As a wonderful person once said, "Learn to fail, or fail to learn." A consensus always develops based on available evidence. Please allow no-one here to "have a go", and NOT fear ridicule, because they did a great thing. And did what they could to help someone who needed help. If we fail, at least we tried to help. Everyone who learns to fail here, never fails to learn by their mistakes. A world without imperfections would be boringly perfect. A world without diffuculty, and "left-field strangeness" would be not my world! I celebrate the mistakes of others. Long may I live to be informed of these mistakes. And long may we ALL learn from those of others and, ourselves...
MLoyko
d[-_-]b
Right on
humminbird
Well-known member
My error. Thank you.
There is something about this photograph that bothers me. It is the rather delicate Tarsi this bird has. The Tarsi on both the Harris Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk are much more robust. There is also the rather small branch from which it is either taking off from or about to perch on. And there is the length of the feathering on it's Tarsi.
I wonder if it is not a Dark Morph Rough-legged Hawk.
For those who have Wheeler's books I refer you to plate # 420 in the Eastern Edition and plate # 472 in the Western Edition. Quote: "White outer lores and forehead. Brown head. Dark brown iris. * Brown breast often mottled with tawny-rufous; belly and flanks often darker brownish black. May have white or tawney speckling on breast, especially at breast-belly junction. Feathered tarsi. * Wings extend past tail tip."
Notes on page 16 of the Eastern Edition: Adult Male Black Type: HEAD.--Pronounced white mask. Very rarely, the white forehead may be reduced or lacking on the blackest types. ......."
The range map in the Western Edition shows it's winter range extends into south-central Texas below Dallas. To make things more complicated this range overlaps with parts of the "Eastern" RTH, parts of the "Harlans" RTH, all of the "Western" RTH and all of the "Fuertes" RTH and all of these RTH's have Dark Morphs.
Bob
I wonder if it is not a Dark Morph Rough-legged Hawk.
For those who have Wheeler's books I refer you to plate # 420 in the Eastern Edition and plate # 472 in the Western Edition. Quote: "White outer lores and forehead. Brown head. Dark brown iris. * Brown breast often mottled with tawny-rufous; belly and flanks often darker brownish black. May have white or tawney speckling on breast, especially at breast-belly junction. Feathered tarsi. * Wings extend past tail tip."
Notes on page 16 of the Eastern Edition: Adult Male Black Type: HEAD.--Pronounced white mask. Very rarely, the white forehead may be reduced or lacking on the blackest types. ......."
The range map in the Western Edition shows it's winter range extends into south-central Texas below Dallas. To make things more complicated this range overlaps with parts of the "Eastern" RTH, parts of the "Harlans" RTH, all of the "Western" RTH and all of the "Fuertes" RTH and all of these RTH's have Dark Morphs.
Bob
wanderer55
Well-known member
So it would be a "Rufous morph" "Western" Red-tailed Hawk? Is that about correct? I don't think I will ever learn all the different morphs and variations of Red-tailed Hawks.........
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