Subject: Hawk Photo
Date: Jun 23 16:59:55 2004
From: Charlie Wright - charlie at birdwright.com


Greetings all:
Before considering wing structure, note that feathers are not entirely fixed
in place. In Red-tailed Hawks I have observed anything from P7 to P9
"appear" to be the longest feather in various postures. While it's true, in
a fully spread wing of a soaring bird P7 will often appear longest, this
rapidly changes with even the slightest difference in how the wing is being
held. Photos show how a raptor was positioned in a single instant of time,
and frequently misportray the actual lengths of feathers.

The photo by Gayle Benton shows an obviously flapping (vs. soaring) bird. P8
is indeed marginally longer than P7 from this view. This does not make it a
Swainson's Hawk. Those birds are delicate looking with slender, tapering
wings and smooth (not saw tooth-like) edges to all flight feathers. As a
juvenile, this bird will have even broader wings later in life. The remiges
are also slate grey in color in Swainson's Hawk. Note the uniformity between
the tail and the vent. Swainson's shows contrastingly pale undertail
coverts. They're also rare in the Klamath area, and March would be rather
early.

Aside from the bill, Ferruginous Hawks again have more pointed wings,
particularly at the tips I believe. Their remiges are essentially pure
white, not as well marked as this bird. A bird with a dark head and blotchy
body like this would be most unusual as intermediates apparently don't occur
in this species. Dark morphs are uniform chocolate-brown, while light birds
have pale, rusty heads and are essentially white from below.

Harlan's Hawk is a possibility that hasn't been brought up. Identifying
juveniles of this subspecies from dark Red-tails is extremely difficult. The
mostly unbarred outer primaries are not typical for pure Harlan's, however a
slight intergrade would be difficult (impossible) to rule out. The more I
look at it, though, the more it just looks like a strange Red-tail.

Many people have commented on the lack of a patagial marking. I wouldn't say
it's lacking, however, just broken up so it doesn't stand out from the rest
of the speckled underwing coverts. I'd have to agree with Guy Monty, there
are Red-tailed Hawks like this out there.

As with all birds, one must be very careful not to rely on a single mark
with raptors.

Cheers
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington