Thanks Brad and Wayne !
Best Regards, Dave

http://www.nadler.com/public/Dave_and_Rupert.JPG

PS: Did you give that bird a nice neck-rub ?
The tame Golden Eagle KS used to have enjoyed
a good neck-rub, as does Rupert.

Wayne Paul wrote:
Brad,

The Western range of the Red-Shouldered hawk includes California and extends
south into Mexico. This would make a Puget Sound area sighting highly
unlikely.

In order to confirm the identification of your hawk as a Sharpie, I sent the
link (http://www.soaridaho.com/Guest_Photo..._and_Hawk.html) to Dr
Leon Powers (http://leonpowers.com/) for verification. Here is his reply:

"I do agree with the 'inmmature female Sharp-Shinned Hawk' assessment on
identification.

It is often difficult to distinguish a male Cooper's Hawk from the female
Sharpies, but the smallness of the head in proportion to the rest of the
body, and the squarish tip of the tail strongly suggests Sharpie to me. But
what the heck do I know about it Wayne, I'm just an aging naturalist!"

Don and Leon, my local expert, agree. So, it must be a Sharp-Shinned hawk.

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/


"Brad" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hey Guys, we have a new entry for the "Guess what kind of hawk it is"
mystery.
My friend Noel's mom has this to say..............

"Brad's bird is a very young Red Shouldered Hawk, not a Sharp-shinned.
The latter are very light in color, thinner and longer, with a
different tail. The streaky breast of this one, plus the clearly
black-banded (stripes) on the tail, make it a Red Shouldered (a very
common bird). My guess is that it was an inexperienced hunter, was
chasing prey, and wasn't paying attention to where it was going. We've
seen that in our back yard before. All of a sudden: SPLAT! He or she
was lucky to survive. In birds of prey, the girls are 1/3 larger than
the boys. My guess is, though it's very tricky to "sex" birds, that
this is a very young male Red Shouldered.
Thanks for sharing!"

Cheers, and thanks!
Brad