Rufous morphed red-tail.....
BlkVulture@aol.com
Mon, 11 Jan 1999 18:42:13 EST
Hello all.....
A rufous morphed red tail was found this morning 11 JAN 99, by myself, and
Kathryn Warman, and eventually seen by Bob Abrams as well.
The bird was found on the new bypass of VA Rte 234 (actually called Rte 234,
with the old 234 being labeled "business"), heading south off of Interstate
66. The bird was seen in trees on the east of the bypass, perhaps 500 feet
south of the on-ramp for 66 east. The bird was found at 10am where it was in
view for 10 minutes until we had to leave, and then reacquired at 10:45 when
we returned with Bob Abrams.
The bird was observed at several angles, and flew several times. Mostly the
bird remained perched either in a pine tree, or on top of a phone pole.
Distance of observation varied, the closest was perhaps 200 feet. We had the
bird for about 30 minutes. We left, the bird was still in the area. A later
pass-by (about 1pm) did not produce the bird.
The head of the bird was a solid chocolate brown. The bill and cere seemed
powder blue. The bill was large. The iris was light, seemingly white or
yellow. There was a pale patch on the back of the birds head, which was more
noticable when the wind lifted feathers, but was noticable while the feathers
were still. The throat was brown. The upper breast was rufous. The belly
was dark chocolate brown. The back of the bird was brown. The median and
greater covets had some whitish on them. The secondaries, while perched were
lighter than the back of the bird. The upper tail was rust, with several
darker brown bands, all of equal size. The folded primaries on the perched
bird seemed to be about 1-2 inches short of the end of the tail.
In flight, the underwing lining was dark; the flight feathers were a silver-
gray from the body extending through the primaires. There was a darker gray
fairly wide trailing edge to the underwing; there were smaller bands through
out the flight feathers. The upperwing in flight showed pale panels near the
wing tips, but this was not obvious.
After careful examination and consulting Bill Clark's Peterson Hawk guide, the
bird was determined to be a rufous morph red-tail. The eye color suggests a
young bird, but the tail patterning is more likely adult.
The bird is quite close to two heavily traveled highways, and was very
skittish to vehicles that slowed down near it. Hopefully it will stick
around. My wife or I am in this intersection daily, and if either of us see
it again, I will pass it along.
Yours....
Todd Day
Jeffersonton, VA
BlkVulture@aol.com