Good point about the primary barring showing at the molt. If the slaty color of the wing linings and underside of the body & head is true, not just reddish which appears so dark because it's dull, backlit, and distant (as our usual Broad-wingeds appear gray instead of pink on the breast when high overhead), then I must admit that Zone-tailed seems possible. I think Red-shouldered, although darker than Broad-winged, shouldn't be so extensively dark, either. I'm just not familiar enough with Zone-tailed to be confident.
--Dave Nutter On Jun 15, 2014, at 11:28 PM, Rbakelaar <rbakel...@aol.com> wrote: > The photos seem to demonstrate barring on the primaries, more so than I would > expect on even a dark phase Broad-wing. The molted out feather allows this > characteristic to be seen somewhat well. This bird's proportions seem to > weigh against B-wing too. The wings seem long and narrow, with only a slight > bulge of the secondaries. Tail seems long as we'll. The photos also seem to > show a black body. > > Any of our resident experts care to weigh in? > > Ryan. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jun 15, 2014, at 10:57 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@me.com> wrote: > >> 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 one’s I’m >>>> 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 haven’t 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: >> 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/ --
