[Dixonary] (OT) What bird?

[Dodi Schultz]

Judy, my neighbor says that "Red Tails are incredibly variable at any age,"
adding that "any raptor is difficult to identify when it is sitting"
because, of course, some of the key ID points are evident only in the tail
and [spread] wings. She also notes that, "Red Tails are the most common
hawk around [meaning the general area] and are often seen on the highway."

She concludes that, in short, it COULD have been a different species, but
Red Tail seems most likely.

P.S.: I haven't looked on the Web, but one of the field guides on the shelf
by my desk (for ID'ing anything that wanders into the area outside my
office window; it's education, not procrastination) pictures something
labeled "dark phase" for the Red Tail that would certainly appear to be all
one color if the bird's sitting with its wings folded. Another, the Audubon
guide, says that Red Tails are "variable in color" and that "young birds
are duller."

--Dodi

[Judy G. Russell]

Judy, my neighbor says that "Red Tails are incredibly variable at any age,"
adding that "any raptor is difficult to identify when it is sitting"
because, of course, some of the key ID points are evident only in the tail
and [spread] wings. She also notes that, "Red Tails are the most common
hawk around [meaning the general area] and are often seen on the highway."

She concludes that, in short, it COULD have been a different species, but
Red Tail seems most likely.

P.S.: I haven't looked on the Web, but one of the field guides on the shelf
by my desk (for ID'ing anything that wanders into the area outside my
office window; it's education, not procrastination) pictures something
labeled "dark phase" for the Red Tail that would certainly appear to be all
one color if the bird's sitting with its wings folded. Another, the Audubon
guide, says that Red Tails are "variable in color" and that "young birds
are duller."

Thanks very much to both you and your neighbor. This has been a fascinating side venture. I have seen hawks in the distance before, and even hawks nesting along highways (but again at a distance), but I've never seen a raptor other than in a zoo that close before.