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Post by denisknopp on Jan 10, 2014 22:33:36 GMT -8
Near the corner of Marion and #5 Road I saw a black hawk with some white on the breast. Must be a Harland's Hawk, a subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk without a red tail. I got by scope and took a id shot and off it went over to a power pole off to the north. As it flue away the white tail was obvious. Attachment Deleted
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Post by Gord on Jan 14, 2014 22:17:35 GMT -8
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Post by denisknopp on Jan 14, 2014 23:58:08 GMT -8
Nice bird Gord you get the best photos! Just so no one gets confused your bird is a dark faze Red-tailed Hawk and the other bird is a Harlan's Hawk a Red-tailed Hawk without a red tail. Harlan's Hawk is distinguished by having variable white streaks on the beast and white tail fading to grey at the tips of stipend in juveniles. Denis
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Post by Gord on Jan 15, 2014 4:07:04 GMT -8
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Post by oldfulica on Jan 15, 2014 8:36:36 GMT -8
I got a few shots of a RedTail in Abbotsford 2 months ago and put it down to a dark morph Redtail because the edges of the feathers are not white as a Harlan's should be. It looks a lot like your bird Gord except your's has more white on the face.
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Post by oldfulica on Jan 15, 2014 15:14:00 GMT -8
Near the corner of Marion and #5 Road I saw a black hawk with some white on the breast. Must be a Harland's Hawk, a subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk without a red tail. I got by scope and took a id shot and off it went over to a power pole off to the north. As it flue away the white tail was obvious. I believe this is the same Hawk, Denis, as I took the following pictures in the same area today. Some Harlan features are white throat, white shoulder patches. white speckles and greyish-whitish tail. Here are excerpts from an ABA site on Harlan's Hawks; www.aba.org/birding/v42n2p30.pdf " A few adult dark-morph Harlan’s Hawks show rufous-brown body plumage; however, it is unknown whether this is variation within Harlan’s or if this is an intergrade characteristic. Jerry Liguori. " "Dark-morph Harlan’s Hawk can show white “shoulders,” unlike other dark buteos. Adam Hutchins." "Uniformly dark Western Red-tailed Hawks are similar to Harlan’s but almost always have fully red tails and dark throats. Jerry Liguori". You can see examples of the above descriptions at www.aba.org/birding/v42n2p30.pdfOne thing for sure, Harlans and dark morph Redtails can be difficult to identify in the field unless the field marks are obvious and the lighting is favourable.
Note the white shoulder patches (not always present in a Harlans)
Note the white throat.
The whitish tail is visible here.
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Post by Gord on Jan 15, 2014 19:42:11 GMT -8
Len, I agree your first Red-tailed is a very dark intermediate (or lighter dark phase ) . The hint of a belly band, to me in part, would solidify the ID. Great links there Len. I have not had time to look at them yet but can see they are new from what I've seen before so look forward to looking at them more closely. Length of wingtips has been cited as an identifying feature as I recall. Red-tails' wingtips will reach the tip of the tail while on a Harlan's it is supposed to not reach the tip of the tail. The bird I feel is likely a Harlan's from Vye Road has its wingtips falling short of the end of the tail. I am not sure how reliable this one is. As well, a little bit more white streaking on the breast and bit less of a hint of brown in the plumage would fit a Harlan's better but again, it seems some Harlan's can be completely black underneath. BUT possible hybridization with typical Red-tailed Hawks could cause some birds to fall in between the two. A fun subject and any excuse to look even more closely at these majestic birds is most welcome!
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Post by denisknopp on Jan 15, 2014 20:27:37 GMT -8
Wow Gord that is a lot to absorb and very enlightening. I think the article oldfulica posted said it best. Unfortunately it sounds like they have not yet done the DNA on birds that appear to be integrates so there is still the possibility that there are bird that can not be identified without DNA. After reading all the papers I still fined it unlikely that Gord's bird is not a dark morph Western Red-tailed Hawk. The reason for this is I see no white on the throat or breast and the pattern on the tail is red complete to the outer edges and typical Western, not a wavy band pattern. The only photo of the breast is with the bird in flight against the sky. This may be a Harlan's but I just can't see it from the photos. Always more to learn, that's what makes birding so interesting. Denis
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Post by hank9 on Jan 15, 2014 20:52:17 GMT -8
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Post by hank9 on Jan 15, 2014 21:05:46 GMT -8
the bottom photo was taken nov, 28 and the top photo dec. 26 both on Dixon rd.
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Post by oldfulica on Jan 15, 2014 21:15:52 GMT -8
Gord, I had not heard of the primary projection characteristic before but if it is a diagnostic feature then your bird certainly has shorter primaries than my dark phase. Hank your pictures may be the same bird as I just posted as it was also on Dixon.
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Post by hank9 on Jan 15, 2014 22:05:12 GMT -8
len more than likely they are and that tall tree on Dixon is a magnet for hawks and eagles. I have photographed 3 Harlan`s in the last 2 months and before I did I hadn`t even heard of a Harlan`s.
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Post by hank9 on Jan 15, 2014 22:19:06 GMT -8
I photographed this one on dec 22, and after looking at denis`s photo I am thinking this must be a Harlan`s also? 079 by henrywall174, on Flickr
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Post by hank9 on Jan 16, 2014 7:14:00 GMT -8
here is another Harlan`s that I got in glen valley on dec 22. 014 by henrywall174, on Flickr
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Post by kestrel on Jan 16, 2014 12:20:59 GMT -8
Great find!
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