Hotline Photos
Common Black Hawk Here are some photos of a Common Black Hawk seen at about 10:00 Thursday morning, 16 Sep 2004 near Utah Lake State Park in Utah County. Although the bird was originally identified as a Zone-tailed Hawk, from the bird in flight, observable in the photos that were taken of the perched bird, are field marks that suggest that this is, instead, a Common Black Hawk. ***** "I saw what I'm pretty sure is a Zone-tailed Hawk (I've got some pictures and some of them show characteristics of a Common Black Hawk, but I this think it's a Zone-tailed -- both are pretty good birds for Utah County). It was about 50 yards downstream from the foot bridge across the Provo river on the south bank of the river in a willow tree. It was on a branch over the river, about 20 feet up. I'll post some pictures soon.. ~ Milt" E-mail to Chuck LaRue - 16 Sep 2004: I had the same thoughts when I was looking at the photos -- had some
definite marking that might indicate a Common Black Hawk, however there
were a couple of significant looks I got of the hawk that I didn't
capture with my camera. The first time I saw it, it flew right in front of
my car, as it was being chased by a male American Kestrel. I had a nice
but very quick look at the underside of the wings and the shape and
pattern of the tail. The tail was definitely too long for a Common ***** Comments from some Arizona birders suggest that this is a Common Black Hawk. Here are some of their comments: ***** (The bird was perching in a willow tree on the south bank of the Provo River about 50 yards downstream from the foot bridge (blocked to traffic) across the river coming from Utah Lake State Park -- close to where the river flows into Utah Lake). |
Front View - Notice the yellow feet as well as the white tip on the tail with more white showing just under the branch. |
Back View - Notice the length of the tail compared to the length of the wings and tertials. |
Enlarged and lightened from the above. |
Photos by Milt Moody |