Hi Raymond and Tweeters,

I should have added some other links to my earlier reply. For folks new to hawks, most hawks have lighter (yellow) eyes as juveniles and as they age they become darker (redder). Raymond's bird in Magnuson Park has a dark eye, and so is an adult. You can also see fairly clearly that it has the characteristic red tail of the adult. In the following image - http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=3466415&cat=38975 - of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, note the yellow eye color. Also, note the absence of a red tail - juveniles have brown barred tails. In Osprey, the color progression is an exception - it progresses in the opposite manner. Note the somewhat darker orange eye of the Osprey chick in the following image - http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=2693993&cat=38975 - and the much lighter yellow eye of the adult in this image - http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=4312049&cat=38975. Another example of a young b!
ird wit
h a yellow eye is this immature Cooper's Hawk - http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=4951573&cat=38975. Unfortunately, I don't have a good image of the dark red eye of an adult Cooper's.


John Tubbs
Snoqualmie, WA
johntubbs at comcast.net
www.tubbsphoto.com