Date: 7/10/25 11:08 am From: Ajit Antony <aiantony521...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Group of young red-tailed hawks
Hi Bill.
While a juvenile RTHA like the adult has a belly band, it does not have
streaking going up into the chest or into the lower belly. Together with a
prominent white superciliary line, I'm inclined to think in terms of
American Goshawk, which I think would be rare next to someone's house,
unless that house is somewhere in the mountains surrounded by pine woods.
I can't see the tail in any of the except for the second one from the left
and there's a suggestion of a longer tail, and theoretically they could be
juvenile Cooper's Hawk which has a white superciliary which would be
shorter and less prominent. However Cooper's Hawk juveniles have narrow
comma-shaped streaks on the breast and unmarked in the lower abdomen, which
we use at hawk watches as a distinguishing feature from juvenile
Sharp-shinned which has heavier streaks all the way to the lower abdomen,
so that species looks ‘dirty’ in front. These hawks have fairly broad
streaks.
All four hawks have feathered tarsi almost reaching their toes, suggesting
a more northern raptor like American Goshawk (the name was changed within
the past year from Northern Goshawk).
Someone may ask “Why juvenile?” Look at the yellow iris. Most juveniles
have yellow irises, compared to orange or brown in adults.
These are my thought processes. I'll be interested in other opinions I can
learn from.
Ajit Antony
Volunteer hawk watcher at Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch, CO
Volunteer doing 4 Winter Raptor Survey Routes in Colorado for HMA
Central Park, Denver
On Thu, Jul 10, 2025, 11:27 AM Bill Kosar <bill_kosar...> wrote:
> This picture was taken by a friend in New Mexico ( I know this is cobirds
> but NM is close and we have a lot of red-tailed hawks around here!)[image:
> young red tails.jpg]. I have never seen anything like it, it appears to
> be a group of young red-tailed hawks.
>
> Comments?
>
> Bill Kosar
> El Paso county
>
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