I took these last week at Quivera National Wildlife Refuge. It was a lousy overcast day, and the hawk was quite a ways off, so these aren't great shots. When I took the shots, I thought it was a Red-tailed Hawk, but after looking at both Sibley and Peterson, I am simply confused. The only other candidate is Swainson's Hawk, which is about as common as the RTH hereabouts this time of year.
My confusion stems from discrepancies between Sibley and Peterson. This bird has a white throat, and Sibley does not show any plumage variations of RTHs with white throats. He does show Swainson's Hawk with a white throat. On the other hand, Peterson shows both Swainson's and RTHs with white throats. Also, Sibley shows immature RTHs with barred tails, as this bird has, and both authors show Swainson's with barred tails in all plumages.
It would be nice if I had a shot of the front of the bird, but this is all I have. I would appreciate any opinions at all about which species this might be.
Thanks.
| Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE |
| Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE |
