At 1:14 AM -0800 11/24/98, Jack Bowling wrote:
>
>On sober second thought, a run through my slides, and a read through
>Clark & Wheeler, I will have to retract my first guess and agree with Rob
>that this is a young Ferruginous Hawk.

I'm relieved not to have to defend my i.d. against Jack, who's experience
far exceeds my own. Let me expand on my original post and say why I call it
Ferruginous:

The predominantly light head suggests Ferruginous to me. Having no
experience with the northern B.C./Alaskan race of red-tails, I didn't have
that potential source of confusion.

The streaking on the belly doesn't match red-tail markings, in my
experience. I expect red-tail belly bands to be spotted, varying from
almost invisible to completely black, but never streaked as in Jerry's
photo.

The pattern on the underwing coverts of a Ferruginous is very distinctive,
unlike anything I've seen on red-tails. Light morph Ferruges will not show
a dark patagium, but will have a pattern covering the under wing coverts.
This is not easily seen in Jerry's photo, but there is enough of a
suggestion there to give you and idea of what it looks like.

The white primary window that Jack mentions is not that clear in my
monitor, but it is a good field mark.

A couple more things to look for in Ferruginous: Ferruges generally look
much lighter than red-tails. The chest on a perched bird, especially, will
look whiter than a red-tail. Again, Jerry's photo, at least as reproduced
in my monitor, only suggests this.

The color of the back of a perched bird is a good way to separate species;
red-tails will look brown, immature Ferruges will look grey in comparison,
while adult ferruges will have a reddish cast.

Ferruges are as likely to perch on the ground as they are to perch on a
phone pole or in a tree. Red-tails rarely perch on the ground; if a
red-tail is on the ground, it is usually because it has caught prey.

Rob Saecker
Olympia