Common Black Hawk

Tail: I saw a broad white band across the tail as it flew in front of my car.  The band was wider than in the pictures I've seen of Zone-tailed Hawks and it was white from the top as well as from the bottom .There were also some white markings higher up on the tail which I didn't get a good look at.  The tail seemed to extend further beyond the back edge of the wings then the pictures in the books or than I would expect from my limited experience.  The tail feathers were tipped with white.

Head: There was a gray patch between the eyes and the bill and a small yellow cere. The tip of the beak was gray to about half way down.

Wings: When the bird flew by my car I could see a significant amount of white under the wings, (which may have been a reflection of the morning sun).  On the perched bird the wings were black and the tips on the wings came to within about a couple of inches of the tip of the tail.

Legs and feet:  The legs and feet were light yellow. The legs looked quite long relative to the length of the toes.

(See photos)

Zone-tailed Hawk: Although I saw some white higher up in the tail like a ZT Hawk, the large band near the middle of the tail was too broad and was white above and below like a CB Hawk.  The primaries didn't extend near the tip of the tail like in a ZT Hawk. The length of the tarsus looked much too longer compared to the length of the middle digit  of the foot to be a ZT Hawk.  The habitat and behavior seems better for a black hawk although some references said that Zone-tailed Hawks can be found in trees along a river.