Subject: strange hawk at Nisqually
Date: Nov 11 23:24:38 1997
From: Rob Saecker - rsaecker at thurston.com
Saw this strange looking hawk at Nisqually this morning, about red-tail sized:
tail- white, with a wash of red at the bottom, and a dark terminal or
sub-terminal band.
back- charcoal grey, no distinct scapular markings.
head- dark, but with a broad white stripe covering roughly the lower half
of the head. The impression was: dark hood, broad white eye stripe, and a
dark chin.
Sitting posture was very red-tail like; I never got a clear look at the
underside. I've seen Krider's in Illinois, and the tail on this one is
similar, but that IL bird had a head mostly white, like an immature
rough-leg. I've never seen this facial pattern on a hawk before. Given the
variation of red-tail plumages, though, I imagine it is safe to assume that
Krider's come in more than one variety. Any comments would certainly be
welcome.
Rob Saecker
Olympia