Pucara, Part II on Broad-wings

Before I get into this discussion about Broad-wings -

 

THE UPDATE 

 

Bill Haley was up on Saturday, 10/4/14 and reported:

 

 

14 Broad-wings

 

7 Sharp-shinned

 

2 Coopers Hawks

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Bill Haley on Sunday afternoon - 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm, report

 

  THE UPDATE

 

 

2 Broad-wings

 

2 Northern Harriers

 

4 Sharpies

 

1 Red-tailed Hawk

 

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When Pucara was released, after healing from a broken leg, we had a great opportunity to take pictures of the features of an immature Broad-winged Hawk, to share and learn from. I want to begin this discussion with the obvious - its size.  What a difference from the "arms full" size of the Red-tailed Hawk she released last year.  This bird's body isn't much larger than Alix's hand.  And the wings aren't much longer than her gloves.  Perhaps I have a pic that will demonstrate that as well.  Its feet not glaring with massive tallons, and the bill is somewhat small as well. Yet when they spread those wings, they look so big in the sky.  Very deceiving to see it up close.

Next, I should mention that Alix drew our attention to the light color of its eyes.  In the picture above and a couple of others we see the remnants of blue there, indicating that this bird is very young.  Not sure she said if "hatch-year" or first year, but I lean a bit to hatch year because of the blue.  Mature birds (below) have intensity of color in their eyes  - more golden.

http://boomchachalaca.blogspot.com/2012/05/up-close-and-personal-broad-winged-hawk.html
From Images, Comcast search - Boomchachalaca, up-close and personal, by Cory Ritter
Adult Broad-wing
Note: all pictures on this site are mine, unless otherwise noted, Like this one.
 

Secondly, I want to discuss coloration: In the adult, above, the "chocolate" head is definitely Chocolate.  In our immature the colors are more a general mix of dk brown, rusty red, gold and cream.  In the sun that red intensifies.

 







I have often noticed this redness of the feathers in the air.  We have heard others question why the birds appear so red sometimes when we are trying to teach how to recognize them from a distance.  Many would initially expect to call it a Red-shouldered when they see this red. They don't expect a Broad-wing to have any red.  I suspect that we are often viewing immature birds, after seeing this bird from a few feet away rather than 100+.  Every time Alix held this bird to the sun, the color intensified. I really expected the color to only be a "sheen" of reflected sun, but here, we see, it is actually a rusty red, among the feather's actual colors. 

 

Among other reasons, we find it best to direct people, looking to ID a bird from the distance, to step away from the things they expect to see in order to make an ID. Color for instance might be deceiving.  Instead, they must learn the other features that make identifying their hawks at distance possible. (see Part I)

 

Another feature of the Immature BW is the window in its wings.  Also known as the "Comma," the crescent shaped translucent area in the outer wing, will darken with age.*

  In Red-shouldered Hawks the "window" remains visible to the point of being a feature that helps us ID them.  But an immature BW side by side with a mature Red-shouldered will look almost identical except for size, in the sky.  The total outline of the wing with a dark band, and the shape of the wing and tail, might be the only thing that will tell them apart.  Even their tail banding at this stage looks similar. My son, and I once saw this in Winter, unusual because the BWs have migrated.  A single BW was soaring on the Christmas Bird-count along side  a Red-shouldered. We watched them intently for as long as we were able, through a scope, to make a certain ID.  My son, in fact, was the astute one to actually notice, and I was so glad to have had the unique and notable experience of seeing how easy the BW would be to over-look in the winter, next to a Red-shouldered. At first, most thought it was merely a male and female, whose sizes were strongly different.  But the difference was identifiable when we really examined them.  I feel sometimes, that BW immatures are mis-identified as Red-shouldered Hawks.

 

Tail-bands, dark from above
 

The more dominant, wide white in the bands of the Broad-winged Adult has not become evident so much on this bird yet.  It is however more visible from underneath, when the sun shines through.

 

 

Alix spread the wing a bit so we could see the window in this bird's wing. 

I was impressed at the unique beauty of the robe like cloak of feathers across the shoulders of this bird.  But something else this picture illustrates is the width of the wing compared to that little body.  The wing joins the back near the head, rather than lower on the neck nearer the body.  It makes the shoulders have a muscular look, as a more human shape. The wing also covers low on the tail, displaying none of the lower body.  Therefore, a relative broad wing.  In flight the tail seems short and shows fewer of the bands than a Red-shouldered Hawk.  This makes the wider light bands seem even bolder and wider.

 

Since, the size between Males and Females, Immature and Adult birds can differ greatly, a kettle of Broad-wings can appear to have different sized birds.  Size can not always help us tell if a small male Red-shouldered is among them.  It is hard to tell without paying close attention to the wing shape, the forwardness of the BW wings compared to the outward roll of the Red-shouldered, and the longer tail with more and narrower banding of the RS.  If close enough, a Red-Shouldered's wings may also display a checkered effect in the feathers, not present in the BW.

 

Red-shouldered for comparison, separation
between wing and body/tail makes tail look
longer

Checkered underwing, narrow white
banding in tail.



No checker board on BW.

One last note is that this immature has what is called "headlights," traditionally noted on Red-tailed Hawks.  It's the notable white patch on the forewing near the elbow.  Not great for ID on a small bird coming directly at you, I guess, but often very visible on the RT which is much larger.


The one picture that is missing in my stash at this point is one of the dark band that appears as if drawn around the entire wing of a BW.  What makes it more visible in comparison to the Red-SH for instance, is the lightness of the underwing.  Even on a much darker adult, however, the dark outline can sometimes be diagnostic when looking up at a BW in flight, when in doubt.


So we have discussed why this is an immature bird.  Primarily the light eyes and wing window are prime indicators. Lighter coloring, and the intense redness also are indicators. But would you need to count it as an immature? We usually don't make such differences notable, except in Bald Eagles, or Harriers for instance, when M/F differences are notable. But when ID takes a bit more investigation, knowing the difference can make our counts more accurate.  We miss a few, but learn every time we are confronted with the need to know.


Don't become overwhelmed.  Knowing less when you first begin to learn is much better than knowing more.  We often use the same 3 Indentifiers with BWs - paring knife wing, wide white tail band, Flashes in wing and rump when banking in the familiar figure 8. 

There is more to know about distant birds, but I've said enough for now. We WELCOME your questions.  Though we hear them again and again from each new visitor to the watch. And from many who may be skeptical that we really can tell what we see so far out.  But perhaps as we discuss the shapes, and features of the birds being released, you can see the things we look for too.

Migration is still on, soooo

Keep Looking UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!


*I dislike the general use of Comma to reference the "window" feature of transluscence, because in the Red-tailed and in the Broad-wing there appears an actual comma shaped feature on the underside of their forewings.  It looks like a comma drawn on the wing.  I think it is very confusing, but Jimmy and Harold who refer to the books as their example, prefer the word. Comma when sharing the window feature.  Jimmy often corrects me when I say window.  But there are notes in several references materials which also say "window".  And I am not sure why the difference isn't as confusing to other writers. I believe it must be due to what people have become most familiar.  So either term is correct,  if you know the difference.  But if I say "comma", in reference to a Red-Tailed Hawk, please know I actually mean a comma shaped mark on the bird.