>Dan Victor forwarded Andy's comments to me, more of them than were in Ray's
>forwarding. I'll reply briefly to them, to add to what I wrote earlier.
>

>
>
>But there is no record committee that would accept a report of a rare hawk
>without detailed plumage description. And in fact there are plenty of
>differences between Red-tails and Red-shoulders--in plumage--that have to
>be documented for an acceptable record, where one of the species is rare
>(for example, the Red-tailed Hawk on the Florida Keys!).
>
>
>
>>I'm also surprised nobody played a tape to this bird. If it responded with
>>even a brief call, the case would be open and shut in my opinion.
>
>I agree. Where they are common, Red-shoulders are very vocal, much more so
>than Red-tails, in my experience. Have people heard any of the Ridgefield
>birds calling?
>
>Dennis Paulson 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
>
>
>Steve Pink, Bart Whelton and I were at the Ridgefield site in January
admiring the Vermillion Flycatcher and heard 2 Red-shouldered Hawks in the
distance. I instantly honed in on these two calling birds (apparently
squaring off, from opposite sides of a wide slough). We trekked a good 1/4
mile sw to the area where they were calling and had good looks - one an
adult, the other an immature. Their calls are utterly unique for a raptor
north of the Mex/US border (and probably so for tropical species).
Andy