>There is that word "always" again. I doubt that *all* young Harlies have white
>on the breast. Best discriminant is that the outer primaries on young Harlies
>are barred on both vanes to at least half their length and probably all the
>way down the feather. Only distal barring on outer vane on other Red-tail
>immies. Best to see them in flight directly overhead to make sure if possible.
>
> - Jack

Point well taken, I'll be more careful in the future about quoting
anybodies' always. But jezus, differentiating barring on primaries? How
often do you get conditions perfect enough to do that?

> saw a *black* morph once, but it had deep orange
> bands on its tail..RT 35 pp. 96 Wheeler & Clark,
> A Photographic Guide to N. American Raptors

I had the chance one winter to see a black morph as an immature, and then
again the next winter as an adult. The original description you posted
sounds a lot like the immature. The adult had pretty much your standard,
well, red tail.


Rob Saecker
Olympia