[texbirds] Harlan's Hawks in Georgetown and Pflugerville - 3-01-14
- From: drbirdie@xxxxxxx
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2014 00:57:28 -0500 (EST)
Hi Texbirders,
I spent the afternoon trying to find or relocate Harlan's or other dark
red-tailed hawks east and northeast of Austin.
I dipped on a bird that had been seen earlier in eastern Travis County north of
Manor, but I relocated the two dark-morph Harlan's Hawks that are hanging out
near Berry Springs, north of Georgetown, in Williamson County.
I also located a bird that I think I glimpsed flying over the freeway about a
month ago near Pflugerville. I thought at the time that the bird was a
rufous-morph Red-tailed Hawk, but I now believe it was the bird I found today,
another dark-morph Harlan's Hawk with a rufous tail.
I relocated the dark-morph Harlan's Hawk that Marj Swies reported yesterday and
that Noreen Baker and Rich Kostecke have also seen in the area northeast of
Berry Springs Park (north of Georgetown). The bird was on the south end of CR
140 near its junction with CR 194 a couple of miles west of Weir, and a mile or
two east of Berry Springs Park. It seems to range up and down CR 140 and
possibly over into Berry Springs Park itself. This bird is very dark, almost
black on the upper parts and on the underwing linings, with scattered pale
mottling on the upper parts and several prominent white streaks on the breast.
Its tail is "standard-issue" harlani, mostly whitish above with a narrow,
ill-defined dark subterminal band and a few dark streaks that range back up
toward the base of the tail.
The other Berry Springs-area dark-morph Harlan's tends to be toward the north
end of CR 140. It is also very dark above and below, but with even more
prominent white streaks on the breast. Its tail is rufous above with a narrow
black subterminal band and wavy dark bands at the base of the tail that play
out about half-way to the tip of the tail.
The Pflugerville bird (in Travis County) is another dark-morph Harlan's with
rufous on the uppertail. It is also very dark, with scattered mottling above
and several prominent white streaks on the breast visible at rest and in
flight. This bird's tail is rufous on the distal half, with a narrow black
subterminal band, and then the rufous is replaced proximally with medium-width
black bands that alternate with brownish, then whitish bands near the base. A
very interesting bird.
All three of these Harlan's Hawks appear to be adults, or at least second year
birds, with dark eyes.
I find the variation in harlani tail patterns fascinating. They are like
Faberge eggs - you don't know what's inside until you open them.
And of course, there were quite a few regular (Eastern) Red-tails and kestrels.
In fact, at one point I watched a male kestrel hassling the white-tailed
Harlan's Hawk as it flew from one perch to another.
It was a good day to be chasing hawks on the blackland prairie in central Texas.
Good birding ya'll,
Byron Stone, Austin
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