Brian Sullivan passed these photos on to me of a bird found by John Mueller and photographed by Robert McMorran thinking I'd like to see them….and all I have to say is "WOW."
Check out this gorgeous juvenile Harlan's Red-tail that Robert photographed (click photos to enlarge). The topside plumage is intricate, just a great looking bird and an excellent example of another variation in the endless variation of Red-tailed Hawks! I have seen a few with heavily "spangled" topsides (below) but none with quite so much as this. Anyway, thought I'd share it with Robert's permission, thanks Robert!
12 Comments:
Wow, what a bird! Great photos too! I haven't really had much exposure to juvenile light Harlan's, so it is always good to see. Thanks for sharing!
Thought you'd like it Bryce....
I meant to clarify in the post that the in-hand bird from 1999 at the Goshutes is an intermediate bird in case anyone was wondering. Just wanted to put it in there because the topside is nice.
Beautiful bird and great photos! I didn't realize Harlan's could be so warm toned. Neat bird!
Hi Cathy - yes, they can be, but many dark birds are darker overall than Western. But the "colder tone" thing is an adult trait and doesn't really pertain to juveniles. Maybe that's what you were thinking...
Always learning new things! Thanks - I didn't know that the "cold toned" only pertained to adults. Thanks!
Thanks for the comments Cathy, and for sending me pics. I love seeing what you come up with out there!
Wow, that is one gorgeous bird!
Neat bird!!
Thanks for the recognition Jerry. I wasn't really sure what it was when I saw it on the 13th. I assumed it was either a Ferruginous Hawk or perhaps just a very light morph Red-tailed. Had no idea it was something this special. But absolutely beautiful bird. Here's my Checklist of it along with the photos I got that initially created the stir.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15951674
John Mueller
Camarillo, Ca
Thank you John!
And a neat bird....
John, the flight images seem to be taken from the same general altitude as the bird. I'm wondering if you could give us a general idea of the circumstances.
What an outstandingly beautiful bird, thank you for sharing, what a privilege. Thanks everyone.
Rich in Texas
Hey Rich and others. I wasn't the photographer on the photos posted here, but I can tell you the location it's been hanging out happens to be at eye level, if not lower so it's easy to get a perspective like this.
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