Bud,

Discussed this subject at length with my friend Phil Bartley while were
birding yesterday morning and later that day he found the light-morph
Red-tailed Hawk which I've been observing here since 1994. Based on the new
information which has recently become available regarding identification of
light-morph "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk and his careful observations of this
bird, I am now convinced that this bird (and several others which I've
observed on this side of the state) are indeed not "Krider's", but
light -morph "Harlan's". I am amending my personal records to reflect same.
Just for the heck of it I am sending along all my Washington state
"Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk records, both dark and light morph.

"Red-tailed Hawk","east Kennewick","12/15/1994", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Columbia Park","01/07/1995", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Two Rivers CtyPark","01/17/1995", 1 "adult
dark-morph 'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Two Rivers CtyPark","01/21/1995", 1 "adult
dark-morph 'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Columbia Park","01/21/1995", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Columbia Park","02/08/1995", 1" adult light-morph
'Harlan's.' ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Two Rivers CtyPark","02/18/1995", 1 " adult
dark-morph 'Harlan's' ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Columbia Park","02/18/1995", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","east Kennewick","02/19/1995", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Hover County Park","03/08/1995", 1 "adult
light-morph 'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Two Rivers CtyPark","10/19/1995", 1 "adult
dark-morph 'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Umatilla NWR Wash.","02/24/1996", 1 "adult
light-morph 'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Columbia Park","10/28/1996", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","W.E.Johnson Park","11/23/1996", 1 "adult dark-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Yakima River delta","11/23/1996", 1 "adult
light-morph 'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","east Kennewick","12/20/1996", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","east Kennewick","01/18/1997", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","east Kennewick","11/24/1997", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Walla Walla Co.","10/25/1998", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'-Lyons Ferry Rd","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","McNary NWR","02/13/1999", 1 "adult dark-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","east Kennewick","10/26/1999", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","east Kennewick","12/25/1999", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","Walla Walla Co.","01/08/2000", 1 "adult dark-morph
'Harlan's'-Frog Hollow Rd ","WA"
"Red-tailed Hawk","east Kennewick","11/28/2000", 1 "adult light-morph
'Harlan's'. ","WA"

But for the two marked Walla Walla Co., these are all Benton Co. records.

Dennis Rockwell Kennewick, WA dennis.rockwell at gte.net

"Time wounds all heels."
Groucho Marx 1895-1977

-----Original Message-----
From: Bud Anderson <bud at frg.org>
To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, November 29, 2000 9:26 AM
Subject: Light morph Harlan's Hawks


>Hi Tweeters,
> I'd like to comment on the recent discussion concerning light morph
>Harlan's.
> I've been interested in this form for a number of years as I consider it
>to be one of the rarest plumages among hawks in Washington.
> As far as their rarity, to my knowledge, no one has yet determined the
>proportion of classic Harlan's among other red-tails here in Washington,
>much less light morphs. So the answer is that we simply don't know how many
>there are. It might be a great project for someone to figure this out.
> Over the years that I have been working with hawks in this state, I have
>only seen three, two in Whatcom County and one here in Skagit County, so
>they are rare in any case.
> It has been wonderful just to learn that several more individuals are
now
>being seen throughout the state.
> In my opinion, it is not that there are more coming down but rather that
>most people have not been aware of this plumage until the last few years.
>You can miss them quite easily thinking that they are normal reds unless
you
>see the dorsal surface of the tail.
> In the early 70's, I believe, there was a paper written about Harlan's
>Hawks first showing up in Washington. Actually they had been here all along
>but it was something new to the author who was from another state, a
>phenomenon we have all seen since. I suspect the same is true about light
>morphs. They have always been here but they are just quite rare. In fact,
>you would have to look at the tails of every red-tail you saw to get an
>accurate count of them. Who has time for that?
> One last point is that Harlan's are strongly philopatric, returning to
>the exact same wintering areas every year, even to the point of using the
>same perches. So you can get to know individual birds as many of my friends
>have been doing for years. Red-tails can live over 20 years in the wild so
>it is something to look forward to every winter.
>
>Bud Anderson
>Falcon Research Group
>Box 248
>Bow, WA. 98232
>360.757.1911
>
>