Diann M. wrote -
>I'm getting in on this belatedly since I've been gone, but the nice photos
>sure say red-tailed hawk to me. One thing not mentioned, and which is
>often pretty significant in a ferrug, is the size of the gape. The bird
>looks to have a nice, neat redtail gape, not the large economy size usually
>sported by ferruginous hawks.

I'm not sure... Of course splitting the difference and going with a possible
RTHAxFEHA cross as Rob brought forth would allow me to squeeze out of changing
my mind with a modicum of comportment...

The sticking point for me is the flight shot. The primaries of FEHA are not as
barred as RTHA and this creates a larger "window" in backlight situations. But
more importantly, the shape of the window is more rectangular in FEHA with the
long axis normal to the body axis (aligned with the length of the wing).
Conversely, RTHA have a squarer window which if anything is longest along the
axis of the body. To me, the bird in flight seems to have the longer window of
FEHA.

- Jack
---------------------------
Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca