Rare Bird Report 40-B-09

IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE
RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

SPECIES: Red-shouldered Hawk
HOW MANY: one immature

REPORTER: Kyle Wright
REPORTER EMAIL: kywright@vt.edu
OTHER OBSERVERS: Erin Burke

DATE REPORT PREPARED: 1 October
DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED: 29 Sept, 2008

LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION: Idaho Bird Observatory's Lucky Peak Hawkwatch on Lucky Peak, West of Boise in Ada County

HABITAT: ridge line

CONDITIONS: Bird was seen migrating south below eye level in good lighting, and passed within a few hundred feet the observers.

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?: Yes, during the observation
DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?: No, not at all
WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?:

DESCRIPTION: The bird was pivked up to the northeast flying with a Sharp-shinned Hawk, which was noticably smaller. the white crescents in the wings jumped out at both observers right away, in addition to a flight alternating between soring and deep but rapid, choppy wing beets. The overeall shape was that of a small, lanky buteo with a long-ish tail (for a buteo anyways). Aside from the white crescents in the priamaries, the upperparts were brown and the underparts were pale creamy coloured.

BEHAVIOR: See description.
HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU? See description.

HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY? Between the above discribed flight style and shape, and the white crescents visible from both survaces of the primaries despite not being backlit, it was a pretty dead give away as a Red-shouldered Hawk. While other North American Buteos may show pale pannels in the primaries, none are of the crescent shape observed on this individual.

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES): Having spent full seasons as a hawk counter both in Idaho and in Pennsylvania, and having also spent more sparatic time at hawk watches from New York and New Jersey to California, I have a good bit of field experience with most of North America's raptors in migration.
GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE: I have been a recreational birder for about 15 years, and have been working as a field biologist on bird-related studies off and on for the past six years. The other observer (Erin Burke) has worked on raptor migration studies in Michigan and New Mexico, and is, like myself, a fairly competent birder.

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?: None