Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 23:53:00 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mike Callahan Subject: Re: Hawk ID... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Jordan, It is very likely you saw a Broad-winged Hawk. It seems there was a movement of Broadwings this weekend. About the color of the bird you saw. It could not have been a "Phase" because other than changes from immature to adult plumage the hawk remains the same color the rest of its life. The term phase is an old one that is no longer used in guides that are up to date. Phase gives the impression that the bird changes form one color form to another. Birds that would be correctly described as having a phase would be the Willow and Rock Ptarmigan, for they truly change their color to white in the winter months. The ornithologically correct word to use nowadays is MOPRH. Morph describes the color - phenotype that we observe on the bird. Check out the Audubon guide to raptors and you will see what I mean. The term morph was drilled into me by that books author Bill Clark in his Hawk Id class. You aren't the first person I have mentioned the Morph/Phase issue to. Ever since I took Bill's class, I say it to everyone I hear use phase that way. Naturally, Mike Callahan On Tue, 25 Apr 2000 10:02:52 -0400 "Wilkerson, Jordan T." writes: > MDOsprey, > > This past weekend I saw a Buteo that was entirely dark underneath > (wings, > body, everything), except for a white band on the tail. The white > band was > not on the end of the tail, but made the tail look like it had > three, > equally sized zones: dark-white-dark. Unfortunately, I only watched > it for > approximately 2.03 seconds before it tracked out of view, so I can't > give > any other details. > > Is this a dark phase Broadwing? It was Saturday morning right after > that > huge front moved through, so I guess I was hoping it was a > zone-tailed from > the South West that was pushed up here by the storm front. > > Thanks for the help, > > Jordan > Cloverly, MD > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to > listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================