On Wed, 5 Aug 1998, Don Baccus wrote:

>
> This kind of hovering doesn't really fit the normal hunting mode of
> red-tails (who like to perch-hunt or hunt from a soar),

[snip..]
>
> Still, this doesn't rule out hovering on the part of any of them, and
> I've seen many buteos do so...
>
Don--

My wife and I were driving from Albuquerque to Santa Fe
Spring 97, when I saw a buteo hovering over the median.
It was scooping with those big wings and shortly dropped
on whatever it was watching. It had a distinctive red
tail.. don't remember any appreciable wind.

I also saw a redtail do this up in the Skagit this year.

Tom