Hi Tweeters,
About five years ago, I found an adult male Rough-legged Hawk wintering
here on the Samish Flats in NW Washington. It is rare enough to find this
age/sex class, so I took the time to get some good looks at him. I noticed
that he had an extremely long upper bill. I would estimate that it was
overgrown approximately 10-15 mm. It was the first time I had seen this
feature in a wild hawk in many years of looking at raptors.
The following winter, I found a freshly dead adult Red-tailed Hawk, also
on the Samish Flats, about a mile from the Rough-leg area. Its beak was so
overgrown that it could not open its mouth completely. It was quite thin
and I assumed it had died from starvation. Needless to say, this got my
attention.
Last year, a woman from Anacortes sent me a photograph of another adult
Red-tailed Hawk (from Anacortes) that also has this same type of unusual
overgrown beak.
The beaks on all three of these birds are not deformed like the Chicadee
picture but simply too long. They extend quite far past the lower beak. If
you see one, I think you will notice it right away. I would like to know if
anyone else out there is seeing this feature.
I would like to thank Paul for bringing this important article to our
attention.

Bud Anderson
Falcon Research Group
Box 248
Bow, WA 98232
bud at frg.org
(360) 757-1911