IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE

RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

SPECIES:

Northern Hawk Owl

HOW MANY:

1

REPORTER:

Jacob Briggs
970 Plommon Circle
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
(208)-716-0785

REPORTER EMAIL:

harlequin_duck@hotmail.com

OTHER OBSERVERS:

Cliff Weisse
Daren Clark
Kit Struthers
Marvin Lambrecht and others whose names I do not know nor caught during the experience.
I do not know the name of the original finder of this bird.

DATE REPORT PREPARED:

11-11-07

DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED:

11-11-07

LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION:

Beaver Dick Park. West of Rexburg along Highway 33. Madison County. Next to the Snake River.

HABITAT:

Maintained park area with planted spruce trees; Cottonwoods and other vegitation found near rivers.

CONDITIONS:

I was able to observe the bird for about an hour. It was at sunset, 4:35pm to 5:25pm. When I got out of my car the temperature was in the low forties, and may have dropped a few degrees during the time I spent there. I used Cliff Weisse's Scope to view the Owl along with my Swarovski Binoculars and Cannon EOS 20D with an 80mm-400mm lens.

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?:

No, not at all

DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?:

WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?:

The Sibley Guide to Birds
David Allen Sibley
2000

DESCRIPTION:

The bird I saw was smaller shaped with barring across the chest and belly down towards the tail. I viewed the bird from the front for a few moments, then went behind it so as to see it in the fading sunlight. The roundish head consisted of yellow eyes with white around them and black streaking(side-burns)on the edges of the face. The top of the head was dark brown with small white speckling/dotting. The back was towards me in the fading sunlight and was a dark brown color with whitish spotting on the wings. The tail was long and had a few light whitish stripes. My description is taken from what I saw and what my photographs of the bird show.

BEHAVIOR:

I was able to view the bird perched in a tree. It was swiveling its head from side to side, perhaps looking for food? It did not seem to mind the presence of birders, but seemed more concerned of the hooting calls of a Great Horned Owl off in the distance. Right before we left the bird flew behind a dense group of trees/brush and was out of our site.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU?

I went to the park in anticipation of seeing a Northern Hawk Owl since I had seen the post about it on IBLE, and also having received a phone call from Jay Carlisle telling me that Cliff Weisse had just called him and was looking at the bird. Once I arrived I met up with the other birders who were viewing the owl in Cliff's Scope. After seeing the bird for myself I was convinced it was a Northern Hawk Owl due to the size, coloring, and the length of its tail.

HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY?

The only similar species that came to my mind was Boreal Owl, but only due to the coloring. Boreals have much of the dark brown on their bodies and the speckling on the head like the Northern Hawk Owl. However, the Boreal is smaller than the Northern Hawk Owl, does not have a long tail, and has spotting rather than barring on its breast/belly areas and a different facial pattern of the black and white. I knew it was not a Boreal Owl as soon as I was able to view it because of the differences in coloring patterns and areas and the longer tail this bird had. Also the overall shape was bigger than a Boreal Owls.

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES):

This is the first Northern Hawk Owl that I have ever encountered in the wild. I have viewed pictures of them on the internet and read about them in books. I have also only seen one Boreal Owl so far in my birding experiences, and I am positive that the bird I saw today was not a Boreal Owl and was in fact a Northern Hawk Owl. With a bird like this, I feel if you have read or seen them enough in books on other places that once you do see one the identity will come to your mind much faster since you are somewhat "familiar" with it. That at least works for me.

GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE:

I have been becoming a serious birder since about 2003. I do not consider myself an "expert", but I do feel confident with my identification skills of most birds given enough time to study them over. I have read many bird books and study over them constantly to better myself for identification of different birds when I come upon them in the field. I also try to photograph the birds I see so as to have a record of what I saw and to be sure of the identity of the bird(s) I am viewing.

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?:

The following Photographs were taken by me, Jacob Briggs, on 11-11-07, of the Northern Hawk Owl that was found at Beaver Dick Park west of Rexburg, Idaho. I used my Cannon EOS 20D with an 80mm-400mm Lens to take the photographs.