From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Fri Mar 26 21:33:00 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i2R5V3Aq014668 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 26 Mar 2004 21:31:04 -0800 (PST) Received: from harrier.mail.pas.earthlink.net (harrier.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.12]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i2R5TWpJ014607 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 26 Mar 2004 21:29:32 -0800 (PST) Received: from user-vcaulmd.dsl.mindspring.com ([216.175.86.205] helo=pavilion.earthlink.net) by harrier.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1B76Nu-00069g-00; Fri, 26 Mar 2004 21:29:31 -0800 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.1 Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 21:39:08 -0800 To: "Michael Pollack" <[[email protected]]>, <[[email protected]]> From: Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]> Subject: Re: [SBB] Hawk ID help In-Reply-To: <[[email protected]]> References: <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Cc: X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5b1 Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] At 05:21 PM 3/26/04, Michael Pollack wrote: >Hi all, > >I could use some help identifying an immature hawk that frequented my yard >in Cupertino last year. I took some pictures which can be viewed at >http://home.comcast.net/~m_pollack/HawkID/index.htm . You can click on each >thumbnail to see a larger image. Maybe when the Mikes come back from their SoCal adventure they can straighten this out. I find the tail and head proportions of not too much use on these photos and this leaves me with trying to gauge the relative eye position. In some photos it looks like an immature Sharp-shinned (more centered, larger eye in proportion to face) and in others more like a Cooper's (more forward, smaller eye in proportion to face). In the end I would leave this as imm. accipiter species. I'm not completely familiar with accipiter molt sequences, but I think that it is something like they fledge in a juvenal plumage, then molt in their first fall to 1st basic, which we call immature, then molt in their second fall (second calender year) to their definitive basic, which we call adult. There is a prealternate molt in there, but I don't know how extensive it is. As a consequence, we can have breeding birds in immature plumages. This is not uncommon for females, but much less common for males. We have one record that I can recall of two immature or 1st-year birds paired (Phyllis Browning observation?). Some of the local banders/hawk aficianados will know these plumages exactly. The other question is more easily answered (but not relevant to the id). Cooper's is a common nesting species throughout urban areas and possibly less common away from urban areas throughout the county (although the differential numbers may be all caused by observer bias). Sharpies are rare nesting species in more remote areas of the Diablo Range and the Santa Cruz Mountains and have not been found nesting on the valley floor in a hundred years. Bill Bousman Santa Clara County records compiler _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]