Red-tailed Hawks and rare birds

[Richard Kinney]

One of the hardest birds for most beginners to grasp is how difficult Red-tailed Hawks can be to id. They are very confusing for beginners. Too many people look for the red tail. Well heck, immatures don't have red tails, so what do you do? Well this is not a discussion on plumages. They vary so much with Red-tails. But it's more about the very few possibilities that a large hawk can be anything else. 99 out 100 hawks seen on a power pole or perched on a fence this time of year will be Red-tails. Heck it may be higher than that. Swainson's Hawks are gone now so that really leaves just 3 choices. Ferruginous which is very rare and doesn't show up, if at all, until mid-winter. Rough-legged which is also rare and also is a mid-winter bird. There are reports that Ferruginous Hawks are on the decline and besides they are very much prairie birds here. The other choice is Red-shouldered Hawk. But Red-shoulders are birds of the bottom lands and are seldom seen along a roadside unless there are deep woods around.
With all birds look at the range and remember that the words common and rare do apply. In winter Red-tails are very common and all others are very rare. With any rare bird eliminate the common first because chances are that is what it will be.