Subject: Re: raptor at Mont. Fill ID
Date: Jul 19 17:34:10 1995
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


>I just returned from the Montlake Fill and saw a raptor that I can't
>identify. I'm pretty inexperienced, but I can't find anything in ....
>
>The head and breast were brown-white mottled, but mostly white, and the
>back was brown. There was a distintive white "ring" that extended along
>the throat and up around the back of the head (which sorted of reminded me
>of an owl). It had long tail feathers, and when it flew, a distinctive
>white rump patch (like what Peterson shows for the Norther Harrier). The
>head and bill were very "eagle-like." Long tail feathers. The bird was
>maybe about a 18 inches long or so. The eyes were yellow.
>
>The closest I could find was the Northern Harrier, but the head is all wrong.
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Jim Lady

I'll take a guess at an immature Red-tailed Hawk, although if there were a
really conspicuous white rump patch, that seems to indicate otherwise.
Certainly not a harrier from your description. Maybe there was just a
little bit of white on the rump? Did the white really go all the way
around the neck, or just partway? Young red-tails can be quite tame. I
don't think you would have described an immature accipiter in this way, and
there's really not much else it can be.

Or perhaps it is Buteo lehuitouzei, a vagrant from France.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416