Who was Harris of Harris’s Hawk fame?

[Robert Righter]

Ed Harris of course! Harris was a friend of J.J. Audubon during the early 1800s.  Audubon valued close friendships and often honored those friendships by naming a bird after that person. In 1837 the Harris’s Hawk, illustrated by Audubon, was introduced to the world with the publication of Birds of North America.

Harris’s Hawk is locally found throughout the  Americas and utilizes one of the most sophisticated cooperative hunting techniques known to birds. The Hawk is a favorite amongst falconers because of its skills in hunting varied assortment of prey as well as its ease in trainability.

Bob Righter

Denver CO 

[Joe Roller]

What's in a name?

Ed Harris must have been basking in the warm glow of Audubon's recognition

in the Latin name of that raptor, as Audubon's drawing of what is now known as Parabuteo unicinctus was labelled 

Louisiana Hawk (Buteo harris) in his The Birds of America (published, London 1827–38) as Plate 392.

Harris (if still alive) was pleased all over again when his name became the English name too, with improved spelling,

as :Harris's Hawk", even though the Latin name rudely dropped "harris" when it was changed to Parabuteo unicinctus

Then at some point, the English name changed to Bay-winged Hawk. When was that, I wonder?

By the time of Peterson's first western field guide in 1941, the descriptive "Bay-winged" name had 

been changed to "Harris's Hawk".

All along the birds did not seem to care what name they carried, as they carried on.

Joe Roller, Denver

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