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Most of the Eastern Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo
jamaicensis
borealis)
seen at Ontario
hawkwatches can be separated
into
two
recognizable
forms:
northern and southern.
The southern form breeds south of
the
Canadian Shield and the northern form
breeds north to James
Bay.
W.E.
Clyde Todd, of Birds
of the Labrador Peninsula
fame, described the northern population of the Eastern
Red-tailed Hawk breeding in the boreal forest as B.
j.
abieticola
which means
"dweller
of the fir".
Typical adults of this proposed subspecies differ from
the
redtails
breeding
in
southern
Ontario by having
bolder and more heavily
marked belly
bands,
more streaked and darker throats,
and buffier underparts.
Juveniles often can be identified by their greatly
increased blackish belly band,
rarely almost forming a solid band.
Study the redtails breeding
in southern Ontario. They have lightly marked belly
bands (some lack them) and are very white below,
including the throat.
Southern adults are at
their nests by March.
The adult
redtails
migrating by the Niagara Peninsula
Hawkwatch near Grimsby
in April are
mainly northern
redtails.
In October and
November,
most
of the
redtails passing High Park Raptor Watch in
Toronto
are
also the more
heavily
pigmented northern birds.
Many
northern redtails
winter
in southern
Ontario.
By
studying
the
appearance
of the
redtails
breeding in southern Ontario
and
comparing
them with
the
more migratory
northern
birds,
you will
see the
difference
with
practice. |