I couldn't reconcile the red tail of photo 1 with the black and white stripes of photo 3, even though I have seen various effects of looking through backlit feathers. The reason I didn't say Red-shouldered Hawk is that the white tail-band appeared too wide to me (but this may be a focus issue, or may judgement may be wrong), and the white mark in the otherwise even-colored primaries appears to me due to a molted missing feather on each side, not a "window" across the primaries. The reason I said "the only species of Buteo around here" is that Zone-tailed Hawk is way out of range, and also is less familiar to me. My guess was that Zone-tailed would not look so pale on the flight feathers of the wings. I am open to correction on all points.
--Dave Nutter On Jun 15, 2014, at 08:28 PM, Sandy Podulka <s...@cornell.edu> wrote: > As you know, I'm really just a beginner at hawks...... but... What about a > Red-shouldered Hawk? It's got the white windows and the banded tail. The > reddish appearance of the tail could just be sunlight shining through > brownish feathers, which can really play tricks on the eye. It seems like the > distribution of light and dark on the underside of the wings matches that of > Red-shouldered Hawk. > > Sandy > > At 08:09 PM 6/15/2014, Ann Mitchell wrote: >> I agree with Dave regarding a Broad-winged Hawk. Ann Mitchell >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Jun 15, 2014, at 5:28 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@me.com> wrote: >> >>> I am NOT an authority on raptors, but that has never stopped me from >>> commenting before, so here's my guess: >>> >>> I think the first blurry photo looks like a dark type of Red-tailed Hawk >>> more typically found out west. >>> >>> I think the second and third photos are of a different bird with a feather >>> missing from primaries on each side. The only species of Buteo around here >>> with such a wide bold white stripe in the tail is Broad-winged Hawk, which >>> also shows a black outline to the ends of the flight feathers on the entire >>> wing, as seen in the third photo. However, dark-type Broad-winged Hawks are >>> rare, and the wing shape looks too long and rounded to me, so I'm not at >>> all confident. I hope someone who really knows what they are talking about >>> has a look at your photos and sets me straight. >>> > --Dave > Nutter > > On Jun 15, 2014, at 03:23 PM, Ray Zimmerman <r...@cornell.edu> wrote: > >> Today around 12:30pm as I stepped outside (in Eastern Heights, Ithaca) the >> call of red-tailed hawk caught my attention and I quickly spotted it >> circling overhead. As I grabbed my binoculars, I soon realized that it was a >> very unusual red-tail (at least very different from the oneâs Iâm used >> to seeing). As you can see from very bad photos linked below, it was quit >> dark below. >> >> So is this a western bird, or is this just a variation I havenât seen >> around here before? >> >> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t7pw5hoifjpzeey/AABcyimp4JipHTo8DwZc0r8-a >> >> Ray >> >> -- >> >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >> >> ARCHIVES: >> 1) cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu /maillist.html'> http://www.mail-archive.com/ >> cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu /maillist.html >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds >> 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html >> >> Please submit your observations to eBird: >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >> >> -- > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > ---- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
