On Wed, 19 Jul 1995, Jim Lady wrote:

> I just returned from the Montlake Fill and saw a raptor that I can't
> identify.
>
> 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.
>
> It sat on the ground for a long time in what I think is called the
> central pond (the one by the main path, all dried up), and I was able to
> get within about 15 feet. I had plenty of time to get a good look at it.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Jim Lady
> Center for Quantitative Science
> University of Washington
> jiml at cqs.washington.edu
>
Jim--

given your description, there's really only one raptor that fits
those ID points..an immature Harris Hawk..my guess is a falconer's bird,
although you didn't say anything about bracelets..sometimes falconers
take the leather off their birds when they put them up for the moult..
the white butt patch, brown back and *all wrong head* seem to add up..
the Harris head is sort of flat and the top of the beak looks like it
comes straight out of its forehead giving the head a flattened appearance..
it's also long legged and has a long tail...I've always thought a Harris
Hawk, with it acciptiter-like tail and too-long legs, looked like the result
of a one night stand between a Redtail and a Cooper's Hawk..
I'll make a couple of calls and see if anyone's lost a bird...I heard a story
this weekend about a Harris Hawk that hung out on Queen Anne Hill for over
a year..she was being fed by a neighbor, who when a falconer claimed the
bird and took it home and put it up in his mews, appeared after he went
to work and turned it loose along with this guy's long time Redtail..he
subsequently retrapped them both, but it took a while..and there are other
birds out there..this could be a non-local bird...I hope that someone else
sees it and posts an message IDing it..I have falconer contact numbers
if this turns out to be a Harris Hawk...

Tom