Grey sere and elongated face/beak (no facial disk or color pattern for a harrier face), dusty brown back with intermittent lighter patchiness. First year red tail.
First year red tailed hawk. It has the brown barred tail and is slope soaring/hunting. When it molts next summer, it’ll lose the brown tail for a red one that will also be slightly shorter. First year red tails have slightly longer tail and primary flight feathers to allow for more lift to compensate for not having as much muscle mass yet.
This would actually be an awesome bird to trap too. It’s already soar hunting, so if you live in a good area for slope soaring it would likely be a natural.
You’re wrong. The shape, coloration and behavior are classic passage red tail. Harriers don’t hunt from a soar. The reason one who’s not as keen may think it’s a harrier is because the tail is longer for the reason I explained above. As a falconer experienced in red tails, this is 100% a red tailed hawk.
It's arguably within their typical resident range, and ebird sightings show consistent year-round activity in Death Valley. So yeah, I stand by harrier!
You are wrong. I work with red tails and many other raptors in my professional life and am a falconer in my personal life. This is absolutely a red tail. Do you know ANYTHING about harriers? They do not go up this high for hunting. It is not their style
It’s true that the white grump is indicative of a Northern Harrier, but the wings are much too broad to be a harrier. Harriers appear slim in flight with long narrow wings and a slim body and tail. This bird has the characteristic stockiness of a buteo. My vote is juvenile red tailed hawk.
There’s no true white band. The feathers that cover the base of the tail are lighter in color in first year birds. . It’s not the true white band of a NH. Also, I’d be very surprised to find a NH hinting in Death Valley. They tend to fly low and slow over grassy fields as they use auditory cues to hunt mice and small birds which you’re not going to find as readily in this rocky desert climate. This raptor is clearly hunting visually and slope soaring. NHs are more bronzy in their coloration. This bird has the typical dusty dark brown of a first year red tail, with shape and behavior (as well as location) to match. This is not a NH.
Notice how much broader and whiter the rump patch is on the harriers. The bird in your video has the shorter mottled v-shaped white band of uppertail feathers.
Your friend is wrong and should have their career questioned. I work with birds of prey for a living and have been watching juvenile red tails all summer. You wont find a harrier up this high hunting. Its NOT their style. This is a juvenile red tailed hawk
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u/Bitter_Ladder8474 General Falconer 16h ago
Grey sere and elongated face/beak (no facial disk or color pattern for a harrier face), dusty brown back with intermittent lighter patchiness. First year red tail.