[texbirds] Roadside Hawk at Utopia

From: mitch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2015 10:16:57 -0800
Hi all,

Normally I wouldn't put out an alert for a mega without
some pix to back it up, but after 3 sightings in 10 days
am confident of the ID and figure y'all might want to
know.  There's good news and bad news.  The good news is
there is a Roadside Hawk around Utopia.  The bad news is
I have little confidence in the bird being findable.  I
saw it once at the only public access area around, Utopia
Park at the SW corner of town, on afternoon of Jan. 30.
The other two times I have seen it (Feb. 1 & 8) were on
private property a couple miles south of town with no
open public access.

It is around, but without an inside connection there is
little to no public access to the river corridor habitat
here other than at the park and where a road crosses it.
All the land is private and no trespassing.  Yesterday
it was heading north upriver towards town/park so who
knows, that was where I first saw it.  Keep in mind
numbers of Red-shouldered, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned
Hawks are around.

It will strike you as "Coopish" just on size and brown
upperparts (like imm. fem.) but not in details of plumage,
and especially shape and structure.  The head is very
streaked dark and light, a messy coarsely streaked breast,
a thickly barred belly of horizontal bars (somewhat broken
and dis-jointed in places, particularly posteriorly),
bars appearing a centimeter or more in thickness, fairly
reddish, uneven and somewhat wavy of edges in places.
Underparts overall light buff creamy white.

Undertail is pale with thin narrow dark bars, upper tail
even width dark brown and medium gray bars, uppertail
coverts have pale edges appearing scalloped at closer
range, a broken whitish mottled area further away.  Upper
wing coverts are narrowly edged in buff.  Wing linings as
underparts, buffy cream, slightly freckled along rear edge
and more heavily so in axillaries.

It circles with tail closed, which is long for a tiny buteo,
but nowhere near as relatively long as a Cooper's.  The
arm (inner part of wing) is relatively much longer than
Cooper's as well, body is substantial, it is a tiny buteo.
Wing stroke with quick and graceful snap at wrist, not stiff
and flat as accipiter.

It is surprisingly deft and agile, only barely missing the
Louisiana Waterthrush wintering at the park.  When circling
in poor light a translucent tawny panel is present at inner
area of primaries. Some belly feathers somewhat loose when
perched, a single feather is creamy buff-white at base
(exposed part) and tip with an equal median area of a red
bar horizontally across it.  Something on the order of
3/8-1/2" of an inch of creamy buff-white on either side of
a horizontal bar 3/8-1/2" of pale reddish.  Very impressive.

Happy feathers!

Mitch Heindel
Utopia
www.utopianature.com

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[texbirds] Roadside Hawk at Utopia

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