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Armleder Red-taied Hawks posted by eric burkholder on February 7, 2010 at 16:26:25

Re: Armleder Red-taied Hawks posted by Jonathan Frodge on February 10, 2010 at 00:36:20

Re: Armleder Red-taied Hawks posted by Joshua Eastlake on February 10, 2010 at 08:38:13

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	Armleder Red-taied Hawks         posted by eric burkholder on February 7, 2010 at 16:26:25
	There are 2 very brown immature Red-tailed Hawks right now at Armleder. i saw them both on Wednesday and got pictures of them. I tried to make them into Rough-legged Hawks but they aren't. They seem to be larger than the mature Red-tailed Hawks. They have white streaks on the backs , very dark brown almost black belly bands with white breasts and the tails are brownish red. When they fly they have a white underwing. Check out Sibley Guide to Birds pgs 122-123. What they don't have are white rumps or underneath, white tails with a blackbands. Also they have not been seen hovering. I saw them today and one was perched on the stop sign and the other was standing in the N field. They don't even act like Red-tailed Hawks. I never noticed them until Wednesday. The mature Red-tailed Hawks ignore them.
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	Re: Armleder Red-taied Hawks         posted by Jonathan Frodge on February 10, 2010 at 00:36:20
	I had a close encounter with one of these birds when the ice had receded just enough to walk to the trails that lead to the overlook; don't really know what day it was but maybe a week ago? It was perched with a father and son and I within 25 yards of it and was disturbed but didn't fly until after about 5 minutes. I'd been watching the bird closely for a long time trying to ID without scaring it from its ground-level spot out in the open field... another odd behavior, but one for which adult red-tails are known. It was definitely a juvi red-tail, but like you said showing some tough field marks to pin down. The clincher for me with a standing look at the bird was that the belly streaking, which was exceedingly dark, ended at the breast, rather than continuing to the neck.
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	Re: Armleder Red-taied Hawks         posted by Joshua Eastlake on February 10, 2010 at 08:38:13
	I have noticed these as well. Saw a very similar bird during the Christmas Bird Count in the vicinity of Miami Whitewater...
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