Birds and Nature

Yesterday I was walking in Florence River Park at the edge of that small south central Colorado town when I spotted this juvenile Broad-tailed Hawk fly by. Broad-tailed Hawks are most often seen in Colorado during migration with most sightings in the spring. This young hawk quickly flew out of view so I did not get very good photos. The top photo shows the profile but not features. So I used photo editing software to lighten up a second similar photo as shown below that now provides a view of field marks for this heavily marked light morph juv Broad-tailed Hawk: dark and very pointed wing tips;; black trailing edge to wings;heavily marked underparts; pale secondaries. SeEtta

I feel bad that my persistence in trying to identify and photograph this subadult Broad-winged Hawk caused it to fly off away from the riparian forest that provided good stop-over habitat and hope it flew to another section of Canon City Riverwalk. This is a photo of it in flight. It shows a moderate amount of dark streaking on it's underparts, some barring on remiges, a wide dark read edge to wings plus barring on tail as noted earlier. SeEtta

The top photo of this subadult light morph Broad-winged Hawk shows the whitish supercilium, light auriculars and dark malar stripe quite well. And the wingtips show as quite a bit shorter than the tail tip. SeEtta

This morning I spotted an unusual looking hawk mostly hidden behind tree limbs on the Canon City Riverwalk. When I would get closer to get a better view (closer is relative, always at least 150-200 feet away) it would flush but instead of flying off as Red-tailed Hawks generally do it flew further down the forest to another perch. In my binoculars I could see the distinct whitish supercillium and the bright yellow lores plus unusual looking markings on underparts (binocular view not as close-up as these photos as these are strongly cropped to enlarge the bird). Photos show additional field marks for sub-adult Broad-winged Hawk: distinct dark malar stripe; light auricular area (should be a little darker than supercilium but bird was too distant to pick up that subtlety of coloration); brown tail with several dark bands and a wider dark subterminal band; secondaries and greater coverts are darkish brown; primaries a panel paler than color of secondaries; dark markings on belly...

Wow, I spotted another Broad-winged Hawk this morning soaring over Canon City. It was a light morph, and obvious adult (tail banding),  the second of those this year. I believe the two sightings of dark morphs were different birds, first one an adult and second one a subadult--so that makes 4 Broad-winged Hawks so far this migration season. I usually only see one each year. Wish it meant the population is doing well but is more likely some other reason like winds aloft pushing them closer to the mountains (into Fremont County) or that they are coming this way to avoid the more severe drought on the southeastern plains. SeEtta

Though I did a lot just observing during that half hour+ I got to watch this rare dark morph, I also got a number of pretty good photos. This is what Birds of North America online says about dark morph plumage: "Head and underparts similar to dark morph adult but show rufous and white mottling on underparts, especially breast. Tail colors similar to those in Juvenal-plumage light morph." The rufous and white mottling on the breast can be seen in the second and forth pics here. The black bill with yellow cere, legs, and feet found on both color morphs of Broad-winged Hawks. And the bottom pic shows the whitish lores with dark brown head, including forehead, that are a field mark for dark morph. SeEtta

This morning I spotted a dark morph Broad-winged Hawk that was engaged in hunting prey. I quickly learned how to stay back far enough to not flush it so I could observe it's behavior and take more photos--in fact I was able to observe it and follow it as it worked around a forested area about a quarter mile and for just over a half hour. What fun! I watched it engage in perch and pounce hunt on one occasion (it might have scored but I didn't want to get too close and risk it dropping it's prey). I was impressed by how small this hawk really is. I learned that this is a subadult bird as it has one of the two juvenile type tails as described by Brian Wheeler in Hawks of Western North America : this one has the 'narrow banded type' tail with 4 fairly narrow dark bands plus a wider dark subterminal band (noted by Wheeler to be the same on dark morph as on light morph birds). Birds of North America online notes that female and male birds of this species be...

Photos shows the field marks for this dark morph--dark brown/blackish head, dark brown body including undertail coverts, broad white band on blackish tail, whitish secondaries on underwing with dark trailing edge. SeEtta

This beautiful Broad-winged Hawk was spotted this morning in Canon City by Rich Miller as he and I were sharing what birds we had just seen. We were both delighted when it came into better view and we could see it was a dark morph, which is said to be quite rare in this species. One more pic next. SeEtta

I refound the Broad-winged hawk I discovered in Canon City earlier this week. Glad to get some photos showing underparts as it flies. SeEtta

Broad-winged Hawks are rare visitors to the Canon City area with usually only one or two birds found each year. I spotted this one as I was driving and was able to get these good photos before it flew off. It is one of the more heavily marked birds and I find it's dense barring. And that 'pale orangish brown iris' (well described by Brian Wheeler) is unusual for adult hawks which usually have darker irises. SeEtta

Broad-winged Hawks are eastern birds but we have regular visits from them especially during migration. I spotted this one flying high above Brush Hollow State Wildlife Area today. SeEtta

The top pic shows nicely the rufous brown barring on the leg feathers on this bird. Also seen are the mostly whitish undertail coverts. Other than the light superciliary line (seen best by clicking on pic to enlarge it) above the eye, the hawk appears to have adult plumage. I am wondering if this hawk is in transition to Basic I plumage. SeEtta

I spotted this unusual hawk yesterday morning on the Canon City, CO Riverwalk. Broad-winged Hawks have become quite regular with usually one or more found in spring in the riparian forest area here. Though this hawk looks like an adult, a light supercilium can be seen in the bottom pic (only editing was cropping) which is listed as a juvenal trait by Wheeler in Hawks of Western North America and in Birds of North America online. More pics (supercilium best viewed by clicking on each pic to enlarge) in next post. SeEtta

This short video clip is not the greatest as it is difficult to hand=hold it steady at really high zoom. SeEtta

These two pics of the light morph Broad-winged Hawk I found on the Canon City, CO Riverwalk this morning show some of the traits of it's juvenal plumage. The top pic shows well the light colored supercilium. The bottom pic shows the 4 bands plus broad subterminal band found on the 'narrow-banded type' identified in Wheeler's Raptors of Western North America . SeEtta These pics enlarge nicely for close-up viewing so just double-click on each pic. SeEtta

I found this Broad-winged Hawk on the Canon City, CO Riverwalk this morning. I first spotted a Cooper's Hawk chasing what looked like a Broad-winged Hawk across the middle part of the Riverwalk but I wasn't sure as it looked a little different. Later this morning I found this hawk which is in juvenal plumage and the apparent reason that the hawk I saw earlier looked a little different. This species is a rare visitor to the Canon City Riverwalk though sightings seem to be increasing each year. These pics enlarge nicely so double-click on each one. SeEtta