Hi everyone,

This bird is definately a Red-tail. In addition to
characteristics already pointed out by the few who
have posted, the dark head along with the light chest
eliminate Rough-legged.

I have seen Red-tails perch on telephone wires many
times, so I would not use this as an identifying
characteristic. As a matter of fact I saw 2 Red-tails
sitting on wires today and got pictures of one of
them. I would say that this is not an uncommon
occurence.

Michael Dossett
Bothell, WA
Phainopepla at yahoo.com


--- SJPeterson at aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 2/2/2002 10:32:18 PM Mountain
> Standard Time,
> hawkowl at shaw.ca writes:
>
> > Hi,From what I can see in your photo, that is
> defintely a Red-tailed Hawk.
> > To help you identify a Red-tailed Hawk,you should
> look for the brown breast
> > band and orange under tail coverts
>
> The colors on the bird don't seem "natural" and I
> wonder if the light / photo
> quality plays into that a bit. Rough-legged Hawk
> also shows a breast band
> virtually identical to the one shown on the bird in
> the photograph, and that
> was going to be my suggestion. The legs look a bit
> too clean, and the head
> appears a bit too dark (photo effects?), but...
>
> Also, what about the item it's perched on? I've
> seen Roughies perch on
> telephone wires, but don't ever recall seeing
> Red-taileds do that. Seems to
> me that Red-taileds like more "solid" perches, and
> the top of a wispy
> evergreen tree brings to my mind a perch more likely
> used by a Rough-legged.
>
> But I ain't goin' out on a limb!
>
> Best,
>
> --Stacy
>
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> Stacy Jon Peterson
> 4442 Sijan St. Apt. A
> Mtn Home AFB, ID 83648
> Elmore County; USDA zone 6a; Sunset zone 3
> SJPeterson at aol.com
>
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>
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