hawk id help please

ronbco

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Oct 5, 2023, 9:41:43 PM10/5/23

to Colorado Birds

Morey Wildlife Reserve in Loveland, this is a riparian area next to a golf course with some rugged hogback terrain nearby.

I just had 5 seconds of view of a very large hawk perched in a tree only 15 feet from me. No time to grab a pic. What struck me was the robust body size with large wings. Larger than a red-tailed. It took flight and I was focused on what the tail would look like. I saw only the upper side. It had a buff (not white) band at the base of the uniform, dark (not rufous) tail. I can't seem to find a match of that tail color pattern. I think the body was uniform rufous (no bib or breast band).

With just a few seconds and a poor short-term memory that is all I got.

Thanks for help.

Ron Bolton

Berthoud

David Matson

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Oct 6, 2023, 3:15:43 PM10/6/23

to Colorado Birds

Eagle?

David Matson

La Veta

ronbco

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Oct 7, 2023, 9:14:35 AM10/7/23

to Colorado Birds

thanks for all the opinions!

I got about 6 suggestions

I've settled on Rough-legged. Perhaps wishful id'ing because I've had trouble seeing these over the years. But my revisionist memory has claimed that the feathers on the legs were pretty low down and thick.

I suggest that more contributors for ids posting rather than direct emailing would help us all. Scrolling the digest is easy if a reader is not interested in all the input.
Thanks