I spend most of my weekends wandering around Wayne County looking for birds (or just about anything else) to photograph. There were lots of raptors in the valley this past winter, far more than in the two previous winters. There is little traffic and we usually have the roads to ourselves. Tammy Lyman is my partner in this endeavor. Upon seeing a hawk in the distance, we prepare our cameras and approach slowly trying not to startle the bird. As we get close enough, I turn the pickup and hit the brakes with the hope of finding the bird in the viewfinder before it flies. If the bird flies, we move on in search of others. Occasionally we see birds in flight and Tammy will take the wheel while I hang out the window trying to find it in the viewfinder. If I can get the bird in the viewfinder, I have a reasonably good chance of getting a photo in focus.

On March 5th of this year Tammy and I were driving south on Highway 24 between Lyman and Bicknell and saw a Red-tailed Hawk sitting on a pole. I pulled off the side of the road and Tammy said, “there’s another one coming in.” I turned my attention to the bird in flight and snapped several frames before it landed by the Red-tail. I remarked to Tammy that it was odd to see a Ferruginous and Red-tail on the same pole. Both birds took off, so I followed the Ferruginous (or so I thought) with the camera since it was closer, and in all, I was able to get 21 frames of it (two of which are above, "click" to enlarge).

They were just more in a long list of reasonably good photos, but nothing to hang on the wall. Of course, that’s the goal, to get one that begs to be printed and hung on the wall. A few of the images were good enough to post to my Flickr account and I thought nothing more about it, until Jerry Liguori contacted me on March 27th, and said, “When I saw this photo on your flickr site after reading your Turkey Vulture post, my jaw dropped!!!!! I bet you are aware of this, the bird is a Red-tail x Ferrug hybrid. I am interested to hear more about it if you'd like to share.” I was not aware of that. I just thought it was a variant of sorts.

Thank you Jerry for looking at my Flickr photos and thank you for pointing this out to me. Bottom line for me is, these rare experiences make this incredible hobby that much more incredible. Can’t wait for the weekend to get out again. Maybe I’ll find something else that is rare, and if I’m really lucky, maybe someone will even point it out to me.

Steve Christensen

Hybridization between two separate raptor species is rare, but does occur. Typically, hybrids are the result of two similar species (from the same family) breeding together. I am aware of one Ferruginous / Red-tail mated pair in Utah with nestlings, one documented Ferruginous x Red-tail hybrid (which appears to be this same bird, but lack information regarding it), and several falconry hybrids. What makes this bird a hybrid and not a pure Red-tailed Hawk or Ferruginous Hawk? Simply put, the mixed traits of both species.

Overall the bird shows rufous underwing coverts, rufous leggings, and a prominent yellow gape like a Ferruginous Hawk. However, the tail pattern is red with multiple black bands and a broad sub-terminal band like a Red-tailed Hawk. Some Ferruginous Hawks can have nearly all-red tails but they lack symmetrical bands (pg. 67 Hawks From Every Angle, pg. 90 Hawks at a Distance). The remiges (primaries and secondaries) are Red-tail-like showing obvious banding, a broad, dark sub-terminal, and prominent dark wing tips. The brown color to the head is more similar to Red-tailed Hawk as well, adult Ferruginous have a slightly paler brownish, or grayish head. The bird lacks the dark brownish-black patagial marks that Red-tailed Hawk shows. The wing shape seems a bit lengthy and slim for a Red-tail and more like a Ferruginous Hawk, but that is subjective, difficult to say from the photos, and possibly inaccurate.

Jerry Liguori

While out this afternoon, I photographed a Sandhill Crane in Benson, Cache County, Utah that was significantly smaller than its 20 or so companions. I've been under the impression that the only subspecies of Sandhill Crane expected in Utah is Greater (Grus canadensis tabida). This one looked to me like a Lesser Sandhill Crane (G. c. canadensis). However, I don't know whether I've ever seen the third migratory subspecies, Canadian Sandhill Cranes (G. c. rowani), which are intermediate in size between Greaters and Lessers. eBird is of little help here because apparently no Sandhill Crane records from Utah in eBird have been identified to subspecies. Does anyone know anything about subspecies of Sandhill Crane in Utah? Does this (left-most bird) look like a Lesser to you?

In book stores today...

“The ultimate must-have guide for identifying raptors”… I think that line from the back cover pretty much sums up how I feel about Jerry Liguori’s new book, Hawks at a Distance. It is a reference, it is a field guide, and it is as David Sibley calls it, “a gold mine of information”. If you have any interest in hawk watching you need this book.

Just picking up a copy of the book and from the front cover you are already entranced. A beautiful full frame shot of a Red-shouldered Hawk graces 2/3 of the front cover. Down the right hand side, the other 1/3 are thumbnails of 6 other wide ranging hawks and falcons. That Red-shouldered Hawk is the money-shot though. It is crisp, colorful, and makes you want to open up and see what Jerry has to say.


Pete Dunne’s foreword covers over 100 years of birding history and speaks to the advances in birding and identification over the years. He ends by saying, “Now that Hawks at a Distance is available to today’s ‘students of birds,’ the world beyond the horizon is about the only place that a raptor that aspires to remain anonymous can hope to hide.” How Poignant!

Jerry himself will tell you that you can not identify every bird you see. It is just about impossible. I agree with that. At the same time this book is providing a tool to help identify a number of distant birds that you otherwise may not have been able to identify. This leaves only the birds “beyond the horizon” from your ability to ID. But thus far these are just praises about words and the cover. What about the meat and potatoes? What about the content—the plates and the copy?

In the introduction Jerry gives some helpful hints, talks about terminology, optics, photography, and a number of other hawk watching related topics. He wraps up with a table showing the timetable of raptor migration by species in the spring and fall. It’s a helpful start for even seasoned birders—a nice refresher and a perspective specifically related to hawks. One of the key points that Jerry mentions is that in this book is that the plates are presented in a way that shows the hawks at a distance (like the title wasn’t enough). This is important because when you open to p.18 and see the first set of Sharp-shinned Hawk images you are going to see specks.

Most plates show the birds at about ¼” height or smaller. Each plate has 6 images from various angles and lighting. Each is accompanied by a paragraph explaining how these images will be helpful in identifying these birds in the field. It’s simple, it’s to the point, and it’s just about perfect. The images are like what you would see peering through your binoculars from Bountiful Peak on a crisp fall morning.

Plate from Hawks at a Distance

Despite the small size of this guide (just under 200 pages), it is packed with more than 500 color photos in the plates. The sheer volume of these images is impressive and gives such varying images that it covers most possibilities for what you might see hawk watching (in terms of species, angles, and variants).

Every set of plates is accompanied by an intro to the species with a full color image and up to a couple pages of species specific information. Read these! This book has a wealth of knowledge and these pages contain some great information.

After the plates there are 19 pages of “shapes”. Almost 900 black-and-white silhouettes were used to create what is perhaps one of the coolest features of the book. I can’t even describe how cool it is—only a sneak peak will do:

Now times that by 19 and you get the idea.

Some critics will complain that the book doesn’t cover every species of raptor in the United States. Those critics failed to read the introduction, and understand what this book is for. Others will complain about the size of the images—again the point will have been missed.

For what this book was created for I do not have anything bad to say about it. I don’t have critiques, I don’t have complaints, and I don’t see a way to improve the topic at hand. It truly is a revolutionary guide and will certainly be a tool for teaching many a hawk watcher in the coming years. I would tell even the most seasoned of birders to add this to their collection. I can’t count the times I have seen a hawk far out that I have been unsure of the ID because I didn’t understand some of the specifics of that species shape. This book is the answer.

Thank you Jerry for putting out another fantastic book, and a guide that will surely be one of, if not the most influential hawk watching guide ever. I look forward to putting it to use, and hope others follow suit!

If you didn't pre-order your copy, you can pick one up on Amazon today, and have it as soon as Monday: Hawks at a Distance

One of the tips for identifying Cooper’s Hawk from Sharp-shinned Hawk is that Sharp-shinned Hawk may cock its tails up in certain conditions, whereas Cooper’s does not exhibit this behavior. Yes, it is true that almost every accipiter you see with its tail in this posture will be a Sharp-shined Hawk, but I have mentioned several times in the past “no field mark or behavior is 100% reliable”, and “a combination of traits makes an I.D.” Note in the photo above, both the juvenile Sharp-shinned (left) and juvenile Cooper’s (right) have the tail cocked upward. This is rare on Cooper’s, but it does happen.

There are several other traits normally associated with telling Cooper’s from Sharp-shinned that are not even close to 100% reliable. Some are not worth mentioning since they are often difficult or impossible to see in the field. However, the extent of the streaking on underbody, and the shape of the tail tip are worth mentioning. It is often said that the streaking to the underbody of juvenile Sharp-shinned is more prominent than that of Cooper’s, but this is not always true. There are many Cooper’s Hawks that are more heavily marked below than typical Sharp-shinneds. Also, the tail tip on Cooper’s is usually rounded compared to the square-tipped tail on Sharp-shinned. But, many Sharp-shinned Hawks (especially juvenile females) show rounded tail tips. Both of these features are shown in Hawks From Every Angle and Hawks at a Distance so I won’t clog the blog with multiple photos.

Congratulations to Paul Barrus who was one of 17 people who correctly identified the hawk from yesterdays quiz. Paul will receive a copy of Jerry Liguori's new book, Hawks at a Distance. Thanks to everyone that participated, we will try to do another giveaway soon.

Now, as for the identification--Jerry Liguori has provided the answer below:


Our quiz bird is a juvenile dark-morph Broad-winged Hawk photographed at the Goshute Mountains, NV in late September 2011. I'd like to stress that shape is the first thing to look at in the field on dark-morph buteos, since the plumage of dark buteos is so similar to each other. Sometimes there are differences that can be obvious, but be careful. Note the overall stocky wing shape that lacks any bulges and the pointed wing tips. A tricky one to age since the tail is adult-like (but not quite), and the dark trailing edge to the wings is apparent, which many juvenile dark birds exhibit (but not as broad or defined as on adults, a bit more "smudgy"). Remember that before you jump the gun on ageing dark Broad-winged Hawks in the field, any hawk watcher could be fooled by this one...but not anymore.

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Thanks Jerry for the great answer and book; and good Hawk Watching to all!