Dark Phased.

[raptrlvr]

Saw this bird sitting on a telephone pole this morning. It was a long way off and I wasn't sure what type of bird it was. At first, I thought it might be a dark phased red tail, but, it was too black. Then I thought it might be a Harris Hawk, but, no reddish patches on its wings. As I said, it was a long way off and I couldn't get near it. Finally it lifted off and drifted towards me a little. I had the 300mm lens on the camera, but, the bird was still a long way off. Turned out to be a juvenile Zone-Tailed Hawk. I have seen the adults around here, but, not the juvey's. Gorgeous bird.

[Heatherg]

Beautiful Bird!!!!! How does their size compare to a redtail or HH????

[PeteJ]

Sorry Jim, it's a dark phased ad. western RT. Many of the dark western RTs have that heavy terminal bar with barring up the tail but not as wide. An immy Zone-tailed does not have the dark terminal edge to the wing. Compare it to this immy Zone-tailed and you'll notice some differences. http://www.galleryofbirds.com/costar...ast%206579.jpg
then look at this ad. rufous phase RT...note the back edge of the wing, see that dark band at the end of each feather? The Zone's don't have that.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...darkmorph4.jpg

[schwartze]

Whatever it is, it's not in a "phase", it is a dark color MORPH.

Sorry, just had to...

Regards,

Steve

P.S. Yes, it's a RTH.

[Keith Denman]

I saw a beautiful Harlans adult this morning. She was being harrassed by crow. Dark chocolate brown with a beautiful red tail.

[raptrlvr]

Pete, this thing is black as can be. I didn't see any red in its tail and the tail appeared to be on the long side for a red tail. I looked in my National Geo Filed guide and saw the markings for the juvey zone tail and thought that was what it was. I just looked at the markings again and your right, it doesn't have the dark wing markings. I have seen dark morphs { are you happy now Steve} before, but, never one this black.

[Ricko]

Whatever it is, it's not in a "phase", it is a dark color MORPH.

Sorry, just had to...

Regards,

Steve

P.S. Yes, it's a RTH.

Steve, you are correct. However, age could be defined as a phase. Nonetheless, absolutely gorgeous bird.

[canvibe]

Steve, you are correct. However, age could be defined as a phase. Nonetheless, absolutely gorgeous bird.

Wouldn't an immature Harlan's be considered to be in an imature color phase, not only does the color of their tail feathers change, they usually get darker after their first molt.

Without determining that the hawk in the picture is not a Harlan's, it is incorrect to classify it as a Dark Morph.

Morphs must occupy the same habitat at the same time: this would exclude geographical species such as the Harlan's

The term Morph in reference to color variation makes no sense as the bird is not going to morph into something else.

[RyanAnt]

I am pretty sure my tiercel Red-tail is a Harlan's. What do you guys think? Do you think he'll get darker after the moult? <-- Ok not this one....

But this one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14817634@N07/6818092881/

[PeteJ]

Usually one like that will get darker or perhaps more reddish. But best guess it will just go darker as its predominant color is dark brown rather than dark brown and reddish.

[RyanAnt]

Sweet! Thanks Pete! Looking forward to seeing how he turns out

- Ryan

[moperegrine]

Here's a Harlan's for comparison to some of the other photos... Trapped him at 955g this January and he's off the creance. Should fly next week after bunnies.



Christian Hagenlocher
St. Louis, MO

[Keith Denman]

My first redtail was a Harlan's I unfortunately lost all my photos to a hard drive crash. He was dark chocolated brown all over top and underside with yellow spots on his chest.

[canvibe]

Here's a Harlan's for comparison to some of the other photos... Trapped him at 955g this January and he's off the creance. Should fly next week after bunnies.



Christian Hagenlocher
St. Louis, MO

Are you sure your Harlan's is a male? At 995 grams it could be a female.

[RyanAnt]

Here's a Harlan's for comparison to some of the other photos... Trapped him at 955g this January and he's off the creance. Should fly next week after bunnies.



Christian Hagenlocher
St. Louis, MO

Did you keep this guy through the molt Christian? If so, post pictures. I had a RT that looked exactly the same! No kidding, the barring on wings and tail were the same. I was going to keep it through the molt but unfortunately it got stolen out of the mews. I am just curious to know what he may have looked like.

[grimmy440]

is it just me, or do the head/beak of the original pics look odd for a red tail?

[Lowachi]

is it just me, or do the head/beak of the original pics look odd for a red tail?

cause the original isn't a redtail.....

[moperegrine]

Are we talking about the first image? Right at the beginning of the thread?

If so, that bird is a dark-morph adult western red-tail. Juvenile zonies have slightly different field marks... Just wanted to re-clarify, since this was discussed at the beginning of the thread.

The beak doesn't look off to me, but maybe it's the picture angle?

[PeteJ]

cause the original isn't a redtail.....

Sorry Rich, see post #3.

[Lowachi]

Sorry Rich, see post #3.

I said yesterday my eyes were getting worse. I apologize.....again

[moperegrine]

I apologize for not signing my last post- at work all my emails have my signature on them, and being at work I forgot to sign it. I apologize for violating the rules! I can't figure out how to edit it either. bummer.

Best,

Christian
St. Louis, MO

[Lowachi]

I apologize for not signing my last post- at work all my emails have my signature on them, and being at work I forgot to sign it. I apologize for violating the rules! I can't figure out how to edit it either. bummer.

Best,

Christian
St. Louis, MO

no worries, Mario'll fix it

[grimmy440]

yes, i was talking about the VERY first pictures, that started off the thread

[RyanAnt]

Thanks Christian. I just noticed your reply. Guess we'll never know. Will have to trap another one to find out!

[moperegrine]

I plan on doing that! Learned a lot this year, and should have better success in the future. Harlan's sure are pretty birds!

Christian