possible Western Red-tailed Hawk in Anne Arundel County

Miliff@aol.com
Sat, 23 Jan 1999 11:58:16 EST


Hello all,

While driving home today my attention was caught by an unusual hawk sitting by
the roadside at the junction of Rte. 32 and Rte. 97 in central Anne Arundel
County MD.  Due to its appearance of dark belly I first pulled ff with hopes
of a Rough-leg.  When I glassed it it was obviously a Red-tailed Hawk, but
with a plumage more typical of western birds.  The breast was broadly streaked
with reddish-brown, giving the appearance of a dirty chest.  The belly band
was low on the belly and comprised of several large black blotches, rather
than a thin complete band of fine streaking that is typical of Eastern birds.
The head was covered wth a complete dark brown hood, including a dark throat
(Eastern birds have whitish throats).  I snapped a quick distant photo and as
I was setting up a tripod to try for a better picture (I was shooting 1/200 w/
a 400mm lens), it flew off.  In flight it revealed an all red tail, and
otherwise did appear to be an adult, although my views were only from the
front (when sitting)and were very brief and obscured by trees when it was
flying away.  I tried to relocate it by driving the various highways at the
intersection but had no luck.  I have never seen a Red-tailed Hawk in the East
that has looked anything like this, though it is typical of _B.j.calurus_
(either a dark light morph or pale rufous morph?) I have seen out west.  In
Clark and Wheeler's (1995) photo guide it most resembled RT03 on page 85 or
perhaps a lighter version (with much reduced black on the belly) of RT43 on
page 99.

In any event, I hope any Ospreyers commuting past that interchange will keep
an eye open for this bird - it is an interesting one.  The exact spot I saw it
was the small grassy triangle formed by Rte. 97 to the north, Rte. 32 W to the
south, and the on ramp to Rte. 32 W from Rte. 3.  When it flew off, it flew to
the NW.

I am not sure whether subspecific identification of such a bird is tenable.
Red-tailed Hawks show some pretty complicated Geographic variation which I am
not very well-versed in.  I think though, that recent concern over identifying
_calurus_ in the East has primarily been that _borealis_ birds from northern
Canada also make it down here and can be similiar or indistinguishable from
light morph _calurus_.  Dark morph birds should definitely be _calurus_  (like
Todd Day's bird in VA), but I am unsure about _rufous_ birds (and whether the
one today would qualify).  Interesting though that this winter has seen three
reports of western type Red-tails - Todd Day's bird in n. VA, a dark morph in
western VA at Stuart's Draft near Chistmas by Steve Rottnborn, and this one.
If you do see the bird...try to get a photo and please call me at home
(410-269-1589) because I'd like to have another look at it.

Good birding,

Marshall Iliff
miliff@aol.com