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Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

Photo by QWMom
Published on Project Noah
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34.02, -84.58

Field Notes

Description:

The RTH with the yellow eyes ("Jasper") and white throat showed up again in my hawking spot! Once again, it was only a few (20 +/-) feet from the last place I saw it. Not far away, there was another (much larger) hawk out and about within eyesight that I think is his "girlfriend."
(http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/24322129)

Habitat:

Spotted on utility pole near an uncultivated area next to a mining operation in Kennesaw, GA

Notes:

Previous spottings:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/23050045
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/20640346

Reference Links:

Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis - Overview, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)
QWMom
Thanks! Do adults tolerate last year's juveniles hanging around the territory? I'm thinking the "girlfriend" as I thought is probably more likely to be "Mom"?
Liam
You got it - Eastern subspecies (B.j. borealis), juvenile. The belly band is a dead ringer for Red-tailed, B.j. borealis is pretty much the only subspecies we have here in Georgia. Juveniles have light eyes and drab, banded tails; adults (like the bird in your other spotting) have dark eyes.
QWMom
Hi, raptor experts! I would love some additional guidance here: would you say this is a light morph adult or a juvenile (or both!) and why?

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Birds of the Southeast U.S.
Mission
Birds of the World
Mission
Backyard Birding Southeastern USA
Mission
Raptors of North America
Mission
Southeastern raptors
Photographed
PublishedMay 20, 2013

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