For the fourth straight year, a Short-tailed Hawk with atypical plumage has overwintered in Tucson (bit.ly/STHA-Tucson).
In 2007, Helen and Noel Snyder, Narca Moore-Craig, Rose Ann Rowlett and I photographed and studied a Short-tailed Hawk nest (Buteo brachyurus) in the Chiricahua Mountains, a part of the Sky Islands region of the Southwest. The majority of Short-tailed Hawks observed in the Sky Islands have been light-morph birds, including the individuals at the nest we photographed. This is in contrast with Florida, where dark-morph individuals predominate. Our article on the Nesting of Short-tailed Hawks in the Southwest is currently in press (www.westernfieldornithologists.org/journal.php), with an expected publication date of early 2011.
Rich is making several large JPGs available for those interested in comparing the plumage of the typical light-morph Short-tailed Hawks with the atypical plumage of the Tucson bird. These images may not be re-posted without written authorization. The basis for the atypical plumage of the Tucson Short-tailed Hawk is currently uncertain.
Tags: Hawks, Short-tailed Hawk, taxonomy