Verification of Unusual
Sight Record
For Utah
Rec. # 2005-42
| Common name: |
Zone-tailed Hawk |
| Scientific name: | Buteo albonotatus |
| Date: | June 9, July 10 and 18, 2005 |
| Time: | |
| Length of time observed: | |
| Number: | 2 |
| Age: | Adults |
| Sex: | male and female ? |
| Location: | Kolob Creek Meadows and Lava Point, Zion NP |
| County: | Washington |
| Latilong: | 19 |
| Elevation: | ~ 2250 m |
| Distance to bird: | 50 to 100 m |
| Optical equipment: | 10 x 42 binoculars |
| Weather: | ranging from completely clear to overcast |
| Light Conditions: | various conditions throughout the summer |
| Description: Size of bird: | |
| (Description:) Basic Shape: | |
| (Description:) Overall Pattern: | |
| (Description:) Bill Type: | |
|
(Description:)
Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics: |
All dark hawk, soaring like a Turkey Vulture. Body, back, and head all dark gray / black. Cere and legs bright yellow noticeable only in very good light or at close distance. Wings long, relatively narrow with splayed primary tips in flight; upperside all dark gray/black; underside with silvery wing linings and fine barring on secondaries and primaries. Tail relatively long and with alternating light and dark banding. Wide dark and light bands towards tip and thinner alternating bands towards the tail. (see photos) |
| Song or call & method of delivery: | none heard |
| Behavior: | Strikingly similar to a Turkey in flight with tippy flight and wings held in a dihedral. Observed perched once in a large ponderosa pine on Lava Point (July 18) |
| Habitat: | Alpine meadows with cliffs, canyons, oak, aspen, ponderosa, and spruce/ fir forest nearby. |
| Similar
species and
how were they eliminated: |
Common Black-Hawk eliminated by long narrow wings, pattern of tail banding, and
length of tail relative to legs. Turkey Vulture eliminated by yellow cere and legs, tail banding, and soaring behavior. |
| Previous
experience with this & similar species: |
Very familiar with Zone-tailed Hawks |
| References consulted: | |
| Description from: | Notes taken at time of sighting |
| Observer: | Rick Fridell and Kristen Comella |
| Observer's address: | 3505 West 290 North, Hurricane, UT |
| Observer's e-mail address: | rfridell@redrock.net |
| Other observers who independently identified this bird: |
Marcus Lawson, Larry Tripp |
| Date prepared: | October 2, 2005 |
| Additional material: | Photos |
| Additional comments: | The pair of hawks were observed on three separate dates this summer: June 9, July 10, and July 18, 2005. This is third consecutive year a pair of Zone-tailed Hawks have summered in the Kolob Canyon / Lava Point area. To date, neither a nest or young hawks have been seen |