Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Mystery Hawk help
Date: Feb 27 13:46:16 2010
From: Charlie Wright - c.wright7 at comcast.net
Hi Mark,
Great looking bird!
It's a light morph "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk (B. j. harlani). The overall plumage is very good for a light morph Harlan's, with the pale head and narrow streaks forming a sparse belt across the belly. The tail appears gray and white and lacks any bands, suggesting an adult bird.
The only other possibility would be a Red-tailed Hawk with partial albinism, but from these two photos I don't see any out-of-place white which you would expect. It would be nice to see more photos including the back, to make sure that's the case.
Cheers,
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington