FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] Re: Close Encounter of the Krider's Kind

[<birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark & Ky-birders:

Interesting discussion. I agree this bird isn't a "typical" Krider's,
but I think that is hard to qualify in itself. The amount of red in the
tail is a lot for a Krider's, but it appears to me that basally the tail
fades to white. The wet condition and wear of the feathering makes it
somewhat hard to judge from the photos, but I do think this is a bird in
the
Krider's camp. I've had Red-tail's with extremely lightly-marked white
heads, lack of any belly band, very heavily mottled upperparts,and tail
that was white on basal half, and a red near the color of a typical
adult eastern. Although the tell-tale pinkish tale wasn't present, I
felt without a doubt the birds were Krider's, or probably intergrades.
I've always associated Krider's as the Red-tail with the heaviest
mottling on the scapulars and coverts, typically more than on our
Eastern. I don't have extensive experience with Krider's, I've probably
ran
 across a dozen or so in my rambles across west TN, with some of these
 being the nice pinkish-rufous tailed birds, and others showing a
mixture of
characters, including more red in the tail, but always white at the
base.

Timing of this bird is odd to me as well, but we witnessed a nice
migration of raptors in Memphis this past weekend, including over a
dozen Red-tailed's up at once, with an adult Krider's in the mix. I know
there are people out there who have spent a lot more time looking at
raptors than I have, but I'm yet to see a worn local Red-tail (borealis)
that approaches the look of the bird Jeff had. One thing that bothers me
with this being a local bird is that the head appears largely unmarked,
with no sign of the malar stripe that is usually present, at least to
some extent. I think the pale eye, (and possibly why this bird is here
so early) can be attributed to this being a young adult, possibly
one that didn't breed this year and migrated early? The eye darkens with
age, and I've seen several adult plumage Red-tails that still had the
paler eye associated with younger birds.

I haven't seen the Red-tail account in Birds of North America, but
looking at Wheeler & Clark it looks to me like they are still going with
Krider's being a morph of borealis, as opposed to a distinct subspecies
as thought in the past. My only other reference handy is the recent book
"Raptors of the World" by Ferguson-Lees and Christie, which also list
Krider's as a morph and not subspecies (although Wheeler & Clark
probably had a lot to do with the Red-tailed account.)

Once again, I'm sure plenty of people have spent more time looking at
Red-tailed's than I have (but this is one of my favorite fall/winter
activities, the variability of typical birds, with western birds thrown
in makes some fascinating studies). With what I have seen,  I don't have
any qualms about this bird being one of the range of Red-tailed Hawks we
call Krider's.


Good birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
Carroll Co.
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Monroe" <markmonroe1@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 8:45 PM
Subject: [birdky] Re: Close Encounter of the Krider's Kind


> Jeff and others,
>
> I'm going to go out on a limb (famous last words, I
> know) and say I do not think this bird is anything
> more than a worn Eastern Red-tail (borealis race).
> Most notably, the bird is clearly very worn yet has a
> 'very' dark red tail still from what can be seen.  I
> would think any Krider's would be virtually snow white
> in the tail with this much wear.  Additionally, no
> part that is exceptionally white on this bird cannot
> be attributed to heavy wear nor does it necessary
> point towards Krider's, and in fact, a small
> percentage of Eastern Red-taileds look like this in
> August when they are at their heaviest wear.
> Furthermore, Krider's frequently do not show that much
> white in the coverts or scapulars and the white in the
> head often does not spread to the nape. At least in my
> experience, it's generally more of a face/cap effect
> as opposed to a full hood.  All of these point to wear
> in my opinion. A separate small oddity that this bird
> has is it still possesses a very pale eye for what
> seemingly appears to be an adult bird, something that
> 'may' suggest some other factors at work in this
> bird's appearance.
>
> On a separate note, if my feeble memory serves, I
> believe Krider's is treated as an upper western
> prairie subspecies of Red-tailed in publications such
> as the Birds of North America species accounts, and
> not a simple color morph, although intergrades are
> apparently quite regular. Conversely, other
> authorities such as Wheeler/Clark may technically call
> it a morph, but in reality they treat it as a distinct
> subspecies with a distinct breeding range restricted
> to the upper Great Plains (for a detailed, but
> mind-numbing, discussion about this and Harlan's Hawk,
> consult Mengel's Birds of Kentucky).  Since Krider's
> that do show up here are migrants, and not residents,
> the date of occurrence becomes relevant as well.
> Individuals typically do not show up until
> October/November at the earliest in our region. This
> is when the majority of Red-taileds typically migrate,
> including most Western subspecies.
>
> Unfortunately, I don't have much more at hand to back
> me up at the moment other than the adult in fresh
> plumage at http://www.biology.eku.edu/KOS/photos.htm
>  (this bird may in fact not be pure Krider's as well,
> but does show some of the characters clearly). I will
> be out of town for several days, but I hope to look
> again at the Birds of North America accounts on
> Red-taileds next week and anything else helpful that I
> might find to help shed light on this.  I welcome any
> other comments, either way, as I feel this is a common
> dilemma encountered in Kentucky/Tennessee.
>
> Good birding,
>
> Mark Monroe
>
> --- OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx wrote:
> > August 17, 2003
> > Mississippi River Levee
> > TN/KY line
> >
> > Early Sunday morning, while the others had breakfast
> > at Nancy's Blue Basin B&
> > B at Reelfoot Lake, I snuck off and had an encounter
> > with a stunning but
> > injured Krider's, Red-tailed Hawk that sat for a few
> > portraits. The bird had lost
> > its hind talon on the right foot and that foot and
> > leg were not fully
> > functional. Hopefully it will survive?
> >
> > These are the rewards you get occasionally for the
> > time and effort put out in
> > the field. To see up close and personal shots of
> > this Krider's, try this site
> > and let me know what you think:
> >
> > http://hometown.aol.com/olcoot1/page1.html
> >
> >
> > Good Birding!!!
> >
> > Jeff R. Wilson
> > OL' COOT / TLBA
> > Bartlett Tenn.
> >
> >
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