Subject: Light morph Harlan's
Date: Jan 3 13:49:15 2000
From: Bud Anderson - bud at frg.org


Tweeters,
I hope everyone has had a chance to look at Jerrys excellent photos of
the light-morph Red-tailed Hawk from eastern Washington. The series shows
all of the field marks required to identify it as a light-morph Harlan's
Hawk, one of the rarest hawk forms in Washington.
First, the bird is a Red-tail because of the obvious dark patagial marks
on the underside of the wing. The odd tail shows it is an unusual Red-tail,
not a typical adult (brick red) or typical immature (transverse
light-brown, dark brown bars). Instead, the dorsal tail surface shows the
longitudinal, intensely white patterns so often seen in the harlani form.
Since the vast majority of Harlan's Hawks are very dark in overall body
plumage, this light-plumaged form can be confusing when you first see it.
It has been suggested that this might be a Kriders form, but it lacks
the pure white head, its patagials are too pronounced and dark and the tail
surface is not overall pinkish in color. Probably the best place to compare
the two forms is in Clark and Wheelers "A Photographic Guide to North
American Raptors". Several photos show the differences quite clearly.
Again, for west-siders, there is one of these birds (almost identical to
Jerrys pictures) on the Samish Flats, near the Rhododedron Cafe. It was
seen there again two days ago and I am sure will winter there.
All Harlan's Hawks in Washington are migrants. They breed in Alaska and
Canada but are typically "philopatric". Like many raptors, they return to
winter in the same place, even the same perches, year after year. If you
find one here, you can usually expect to see it every winter from then on.
They are so unique (tail pattern), that it is possible to identify
individuals, and for me, it is always nice to get to know a specific hawk.
On the Skagit, there are two different places where I have seen two
Harlan's sitting together in the same tree. Also, A.C. Bent was the first
one to point out that they seem to be shyer and less tolerant of humans
than our local red-tails. That has certainly been my experience as well. It
is tough to get close to most of them.
Thanks for the excellent photos Jerry,
Bud Anderson
Falcon Research Group
Box 248
Bow, WA 98232
bud at frg.org
(360) 757-1911