Hawk i.d. Storm Mountain, Larimer Cty

[Dave Hyde]

HI CObirders,,

                At 1.25pm today as I looked out my kitchen window I saw a large hawk fly upwards and over the house. All I saw was a spread tail with many fine bands. I grabbed my binoculars and camera and went to the front of the house to see the hawk land atop a pine tree. I spotted it and thought, ‘that looks like an Osprey! Better take a picture.’ So I did and got 3 photos before the bird flew away. As it went it looked like it had a white rump. This is the best photo I got. Can anyone please tell me what hawk this is? – Dave Hyde/nr Storm Moutain, Larimer Cty.

 

 

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[Caleb A]

Hi Dave!

Thanks for mentioning the white rump field mark. This looks like a Ferruginous Hawk to me. On its upper side there are the diagnostic "three points of white," the third point being the rump white patch and two white patches on the "wrists."

The birds are happy, and so am I

~Caleb Alons, Larimer County 

[Todd Deininger]

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, check out light western juv. in Sibley. Bands on tail from Dave's description. Also, no feathered legs that Ferrug would show.

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Todd Deininger
Longmont, CO

[Joe Kipper]

Yes, this is a definite juvenile Red-tailed. When I see birds like this in the field I don't really take note of the field marks like a should I just say "this is a Red-tailed because of the GISS," but this is a good opportunity to note the field marks since Osprey and Ferruginous Hawk were suggested. This bird is paler individual so it doesn't have the "helmeted" appearance that most adults and some very dark juveniles have. The "three points of white" field mark is a field mark that is useful when looking at the dorsal side of soaring buteos. Because this bird is perched, you can't even see the "wrists" mentioned by Caleb that would be white on a Ferrug. White speckling on the scapulars is another field mark of RTHA. Adult Ferrug would have orangish back with steel-blue primaries and juvenile Ferrug would have a uniform brown back. Unfeathered legs are also a huge field mark, thank you Todd D.

Good Birding everyone! In a few months we will have plenty of opportunities to study the many buteos that winter here and their endless myriad of unique color morphs and plumages.

Joe Kipper,

Fort Collins

[Dave Hyde]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I accept the pale Red-tail, possible Krider’s hawk (even though looking at the photo I thought there’s no way this can be a Red-tail: white head, white rump, barred tail!). But there is more to the story of this pale red-tail. I was looking out the kitchen window and the bird flew up from below the window,  which is when I saw its tail. I got to thinking, what would any large hawk be doing on the ground outside my window? So I went and looked on the ground there for any signs of avian mayhem. And I found … a complete wing of a Yellow-rumped warbler! There were no excess feathers or body anywhere although I later found the other wing, also intact. Whatever had got this warbler – and it may not have been this hawk as the wing feathers were only slightly supple as if the bird had died yesterday or early in the morning – had clipped off its wings and carried off the body! In fact, I had the impression that the pale hawk had something in its grasp as it landed atop the tree because it looked down at its feet when it alit. I dunno, this was certainly a strange hawk encounter. Here’s a photo of one of the warbler wings, and thank you all again for your advice – Dave

 

 

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[Joe Roller]

Great discussion.

In the distant past, the name for Ferruginous Hawk was

"Ferruginous Rough-leg", because of its feathered tarsi,

a feature it shares with the "regular" Rough-legged Hawk.

I still call them "Ferruginous Rough-legs" to remind me 

to look at the tarsi. 

Or maybe because I seem stuck in the past -

Marsh Hawk, anyone?

Joe Roller, Denver

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[Peter Ruprecht]

Buteos are never boring!  Even our most common one, the Red-tailed, has variation both subtle and dramatic for a lifetime of interest and wonder.  I have appreciated hearing everyone's perspectives on Dave's bird.

I wanted to note that a few weeks ago Chris Petrizzo and I saw a similar immature redtail in the Endovalley in RMNP.  Ours had an almost completely bright white head.  https://ebird.org/checklist/S73061878 .  If it was a Krider's (hard to say for sure because we only got very brief distant looks at its dorsal side) then I think it would be unusual to see up in the mts like that.  Interestingly, now we have Dave's very light redtail up off of the plains as well.

One thing to keep in mind with the "three white lights" field marks of the Ferruginous Hawk is that immature redtails can often show a similar pattern.  They regularly show a white base of the tail, and they have light windows or panels on the outer third of the wing.  I admit to having been fooled by this (cough cough) more than once!

Peter Ruprecht

Superior

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[Diana Beatty]

I just came across the Ferruginous Rough-leg nomenclature this past weekend - I just got a copy of Charles Aiken's Birds of El Paso County from 1911 and it was there - I should share more from it sometime - lots of name changes and species divisions and lumps that are different from now.

Diana Beatty

El Paso County

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All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

[Pam Piombino]

Who was it that quipped on co-birds a few years back when noting hawk variability, "It's a Red-tail until proven otherwise"? 

Pam Piombino

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