On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Hawks, and Thailand, and Orchids, oh my!
Albatrossity
I’m looking over pictures of winter birds for this OTR Monday, and I sure seem to have a lot of pictures of hawks. That makes sense, since there are a lot of them here in the winter, and unless I am confined to the house by snow and bad roads, I go looking for them as part of a longer-term project I have been working on. I could (but don’t worry, I won’t) go on for pages about winter hawks here, but since I am preparing for a week-long excursion to SE Arizona, I just picked out some of the more gorgeous ones for this post. Don’t worry about the finer points of subspecies ID for these images, just consider them to be part of the rainbow of diversity that exists in the raptor universe. For today, just enjoy the rainbow; I’ll try to keep the commentary minimal!
We’ll start off with a Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus, literally, hare-footed buzzard ), but all the rest of these images will be Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis). Rough-legged Buzzards in the Old World, Palearctic travelers of the highest degree. Most of the members of this species that I see in my patch of Flyover Country are males, but this one is a female for a change. She flew off from a roadside perch, but then circled back, closer and closer with each circle, until she flew directly overhead. She might spend her whole summer without seeing any humans, so I guess she was just curious. Click here for larger image.
Another summer resident of the far North, this is a dark-morph Harlan’s Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis harlani), showing off a fine and unique tail, the hallmark of this subspecies. Click here for larger image.
Another Harlan’s Hawk, another unique tail. Click here for larger image.
First-year dark Harlan’s Hawks come in lots of varieties as well, This youngster shows one of my favorite variations on the Harlan’s theme, lots of interspersed dark and light feathers in a sort of checkerboard array. Click here for larger image.
The Harlan’s subspecies come in lighter versions as well. This is a light-morph adult of that subspecies, looking fierce. Click here for larger image.
Another migrant from the north, this is a Northern Red-tailed Hawk (B. j. abieticola). I’m not exactly clear about the etymology of that subspecific epithet, but Abies is the plant genus that includes the firs, and these guys spend their summers in the boreal forests of North America, so perhaps that is a clue. Click here for larger image.
Another look at the pigmentation patterns of a Northern Red-tailed Hawk. Click here for larger image.
Our local summer redtails belong to the Eastern subspecies (B. j. borealis), but they don’t look much like this bird, even though they are nominally in the same subspecies. Likely a migrant from Alberta, this eastern redtail is not quite as darkly pigmented as its Northern conspecifics, and usually has a white throat and not as many dark “dribbles” from the head region onto the upper chest. Click here for larger image.
Many redtails cannot be readily classified into a tidy subspecies bin; these are usually intergrades (offspring of individuals from 2 different subspecies). This is one of those, a stunning bird that fits into no known boxes. The consensus from some hawk experts is that birds like this one come from British Columbia, where lots of subspecies overlap. All I know is that I don’t see very many like it here in Flyover Country. Click here for larger image.
The final bird is extra special. She might be the partner of my old friend Harley. He is usually quite intolerant of other redtails in his winter territory, but he flew over from an adjacent perch and sat by her one morning. This is the season when redtails re-establish their pair bonds, but very little is known about pair behavior for the long distance migrants. All I know is that she has not been here all winter, and that she and Harley seem to get along quite well. Elizabeth suggested that I name her “Honey”, and that seems quite apt. Click here for larger image.
JPL
Hawks tend to visit my little area but I haven’t seen any this year. I’m okay with that.
oldster
Sometimes birds can seem almost like mammals. And that’s very high praise from me!
Wag
The feather separation on the wing edge on the sixth photo is spectacular. It really captures the sense of motion as the bird banks into a turn.
SteveinPHX
Hawks are amazing. Enjoy your trip down this way.
stinger
I could gaze at these photos forever. The beauty and diversity is amazing.
Oops — I said a bad word. Hope they don’t get their “You’re not working up to standards” letter tomorrow.
Albatrossity
@SteveinPHX: Thanks! We didn’t get any further into AZ than the west side of the Chiricahuas, but it was a great trip. Lots of scenery, lots of critters, lots of birds (and birders), and many many pictures. Some of the pics will appear in my OTR posts in the next few weeks.
You live in a lovely part of the world.
SteveinPHX
@Albatrossity: I usually stay near Portal at the SW Research Station. Five minutes in that country and I am completely de-stressed!
Albatrossity
@SteveinPHX: We stayed at Cave Creek Ranch. Turkeys displaying on the front porch, and javelinas snoofling around on the back porch. No water in the creek; it is very dry there. But the first Elegant Trogons were arriving, so I hope that the have a good year!
MCat
FABULOUS!!! I just love hawks but of course never get close enough to see all these lovely details on their feathers. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us.
DFH
Wow, thank you for the beauty-input in the morning. Lots more hawks in recent years in Illinois, mostly red-tail from what I see. Others too. Really really good photos.
mvr
Thank you for all of these. I like raptors a lot.
munira
Beautiful birds. I love the colors and the patterns. And I also like your commentary.
Jim Appleton
Buteoful!
Madeleine
Your many red tail pictures over time have taught me to see so much more! Today’s are so distinctive and beautiful!
we have one or two in the neighborhood now. She visited the fire escape of the building next door several times lately and the male showed up once. But haven’t seen her/them since last week, sadly.
Don L
They are all Equally beautiful. Such Diversity. I’m glad you Included them all. Best wishes.
Yutsano
RAPTORS!!!
Hawks are some amazing birds. Also very effective at getting prey.