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Red-tailed or shouldered hawk? - Delray, Florida (1 Viewer)

Zackiedawg

Zackiedawg

Well-known member
We usually have red-shouldered hawks very commonly down here - and I don't recall ever having seen a red-tailed. This one was atop a tree calling out, and two birders were adamant that it was not a red shouldered hawk, but a red-tailed. I wasn't so sure it might not have been a particular morph or a juvie with slightly different coloration. I took this shot of it hoping someone might be able to verify for sure:

A link in case the upload didn't work...
http://g3.img-dpreview.com/6294D338A8AF42898CC55E0792EEC5E5.jpg
 

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Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Dark and Light bands on the tail are equal width. Light bands on the tails of juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks are narrower than the dark bands. Juvenile Red-tailed Hawks also have a large pale panel on the upper wing behind the primaries which is visible here.

Bob
 
Interesting - hadn't known of the equal width bands on the tail. I'd love to hear any additional confirmations or otherwise - we've got two votes for shoulder and one for tail. I'd love to know if it was a red-tailed, since I've never spotted one down here in South Florida.
 
Here is a photo of a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk (from page 2 of this thread) for comparison.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=219583

There are Red-tailed Hawks throughout Florida. Actually, according to Wheeler, who wrote the book on North American Hawks there are 2 sub species. The very common "Eastern" sub species, B.j.borealis, and the B. j. umbrinus, which can be found from about Jacksonville, Florida south to the Miami area and west to the Bahamas. He says on page 256 of RAPTORS of Eastern North America that overall their head is quite dark, darker than the "Eastern."

Bob
 
shirleyvijay said:
Hi all

Can u tell me if this bird is a white hawk, because i spotted him quite surprisingly in chennai India.....right in my apartment!
Click to expand...

Hi Shirleyvijay,

Welcome to Bird Forum!:hi:

You should re-post your query as a NEW thread otherwise people with expertise in Indian Raptors will probably miss it. Maybe the moderators can help or you can repost it as a new thread and then delete this one.

It is a very good picture!

Bob
 
Thank you Ceasar - that helps indeed. I'm thinking the other two birders did a good job on ID - I didn't argue with them, but I just hadn't ever spotted a red-tailed, so I snapped the pic and figured someone here could help. I'm glad to know it was a red-tailed, as that adds it to my sighted list of birds. There are actually quite a few birds that are known in the area that I just haven't had the luck in seeng yet - this one was included.
 
This is a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. It has light tail bands slightly thinner than the wide dark bands. Juvenile Red-tailed Hawks have wide light bands almost twice as wide as the very narrow dark bands.

The best comparison photos I could find in similar postures are here:
Red-shouldered: http://www.howardsview.com/NockamixonHawks/JuvenileRed-shoulderedHawk11.jpg
Red-tailed: http://www.howardsview.com/NockamixonHawks/JuvenileRed-tailedHawkAAc.jpg

Here are a few more of each species showing consistent differences in the tail pattern:
Red-shouldered:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/red_shouldered_hawk_sim_3.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2296233809_420b220cc5.jpg
Red-tailed:
http://images.nationalgeographic.co...000/006/cache/red-tailed-hawk_681_600x450.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1222/733571025_a7f6953cd6.jpg

Both species have pale in the primaries - Red-shouldereds have a crescent, Red-tails have a panel. The extent and shape of the pale in the primary bases in the original poster's bird I don't think can be determined from this angle with wings partially open. Both species also have white speckling in scapulars. It's unfortunate that we don't have underparts coloration to help support the ID, but tail pattern is spot on for Red-shouldered, not Red-tailed.
 
Interesting...leaning more towards red-shouldered then. Which would be more typical for the area, where I commonly see many red-shouldereds. That same day, I photographed 2 other red-shouldered hawks - this was the only one that a few others had called into question. Appreciate all the efforts to help identify it - Unfortunately I was limited on angle and distance, and could get no closer to it than this.
 
It is a Red-shouldered Hawk.

Red-tailed Hawk is an uncommon resident (with a winter influx of migrants) in Florida south of Lake Okeechobee. In Palm Beach county, they are probably easiest to see out in the Everglades Agricultural Area.

Carlos
 
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