Subject: [Tweeters] Red-tailed Hawk - Juvenile vs. Adult Eye Color
Date: Jan 10 12:33:06 2008
From: Kevin Mack - kmack at paws.org


A close-up of the red eye of an adult Cooper's Hawk (plus may other
species) can be found here:
http://www.paws.org/about/emailnetwork/archive/wildagain/wild_2006_06_21
.html

I've always been amazed by the diversity in color of bird irises.

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Kevin Mack
Naturalist, PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center
425-787-2500 ext. 854
P.O. Box 1037 Lynnwood, WA 98046

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From: johntubbs at comcast.net [mailto:johntubbs at comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 10:42 PM
To: rayshome1 at hotmail.com; tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Red-tailed Hawk - Juvenile vs. Adult Eye Color


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=38
975 - 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=38
975 <http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=269399!
3&cat=38975> - and the much lighter yellow eye of the adult in this
image -
http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=4312049&cat=38
975. Another example of a young bird with a yellow eye is this immature
Cooper's Hawk -
http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=4951573&cat=38
975. 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