Swainson Hawks are back
Swainson Hawks, that winter as far south as Argentina, are returning to Colorado to breed. Today I saw 5 Swainson's Hawks, mostly in Bent County, including two perched in one tree. One of those in that tree was a Rufous morph, while the other and the remainder of the birds were typical Swainson's with dark bib and whitish bellies.
The bird in the top photo is, of course, a typical Swainson. The bird in the botton pic is the Rufous-morph that I saw today. As can be seen, these have dark brown (as with this bird) or rufous breast with a lighter rufous belly. As can be seen, the undertail feathers are grayish with many darker bands with a broader sub-terminal band.
SeEtta
Labels: Rufous-morph Swainson Hawk, Swainson Hawk