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What bird is this..Richmond, canada (1 Viewer)

This bird is always perched in this big tree all day long over the road. This is Iona, Richmond,bc, canada
 

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Northern Red-tailed Hawk I believe, one of the more northern sub-species of Red-tailed Hawk.

(Buteo jamaicensis abieticola)

Some images and ID criteria here (note particularly the solid dark head cf to Rough-legged Hawk)


They are predominately East Coast, although West Coast records occur - and probably it is under-repoerted as a sub-species. However the solid very dark belly band and solid dark head makes this a Northern imo.


I should add, in the least itโ€™s certainly one of the Red-tailed Hawks! ๐Ÿ™‚







 
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The shape is clearly that of a Buteo. Zooming in you can see that the bird has a dark "cummerbund" between pale under-chin and pale lower belly - that's a classic ID feature for red-tailed. (Unfortunately, the coloring of red-tails is variable, so the "belly band" pattern is not always this obvious.)
Also, the location and behavior are typical of red-tail. They like a good perch from which to look out for squirrels, chipmunks, etc - usually a fairly high perch near an open spot, like a light pole by a wide road, or a tree over a lawn.
 
I'd go with Red-tailed Hawk. I can just barely see the belt across it's belly behind the twigs.
 
The shape is clearly that of a Buteo
Itโ€™s without doubt a Red-tailed Hawk , nartreb.

Zooming in you can see that the bird has a dark "cummerbund" between pale under-chin and pale lower belly - that's a classic ID feature for red-tailed

Itโ€™s also a feature of Rough-legged Hawks but the OP has a solid dark head too which distinguishes it from the RLHA.


I was trying to ascertain the sub-species. Itโ€™s very boldly marked for a borealis (Western Red-tail). Calarus is the other possibility in BC but not sure if that sub-species doesnโ€™t winter further south. ebird is trying to encourage reporting of Red-tailed Hawk down to sub-species - Northern Red-tailed is largely under-reported.

Perhaps Birdmeister or one of the other NA โ€˜bird mastersโ€™ will chip in hopefully with some comments on what sub-species of RTHA we could be seeing here.
 
Hi Deb and others who may be interested,

In this photo, I don't think there's enough to call an abieticola. I agree that there's a nice swath of dark markings across the chest, but on that image quality I don't think there's enough to eliminate the other subspecies that could occur in the British Columbia area.



The abieticola "subspecies" is a fairly muddy situation according to some. I should start by linking this article (with some great comparison images!) by raptor experts Liguori and Sullivan: https://northernredtails.files.word...ieticiola_north_american_birds_march_2014.pdf.

Another American raptor authority, Brian Wheeler, has written a piece in his field guide "Birds of Prey in the East" in which he argues that this is not a subspecies at all. Rather, he argues that this consists of heavily marked borealis and mixed plumages from intergrades with the more western subspecies.

Personally, I think abieticola IS a subspecies, for a few reasons. While I understand that the features considered "classic" for these Northern birds can be found on borealis individuals, even in summer, I think that hawkwatch data in particular support the claim that thousands of Northern Red-tails show these features. As a hawkwatching "nerd", I've seen multiple birds pass over Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in November with beautifully dark and bold patterning. I can't remember for sure, but these plumaged birds are either absent or close to it during August to early October. Only because I don't feel quite knowledgeable enough about this, I've never reported an abieticola on eBird. Perhaps this will change as I slowly get into the habit of taking more photos.
 
Hi Birdmeister

Firstly, thanks for the expose! The linked paper is really interesting- Iโ€™ve skimmed it but will read it more carefully at a sensible hour. You may also find this of interest

I think my issue here is cf with other RTHA in the range (calarus and borealis) is that the extent and depth of the belly band along with the very dark head would be at the extreme end for Northern let alone the others. However, I agree on an image of this quality ( with no offence meant to Heather!), assignment of sub-species is too problematic to be certain.

Just FYI, I lightened the image to get a slightly clearer idea of what we are looking at not that it takes the discussion to another level!

F3DFCB38-6A36-44FE-B052-5408BDAA8078.jpeg
 
I've never heard of the Northern subspecies of RTHA. In Vancouver and nearby areas, Western (I didn't know thats what they were till today... just thought of them as "regular" :) ) is the most common, but Harlan's are also seen on occasion.

I think that this picture is probably is best left at RTHA.
 
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