Shoulders

At two back to back shows in Florida and California respectively, I was afforded great studies of one of my favorite North American raptors, the Red-shouldered Hawk! Both California and Florida have very different looking races and I'd like to share an example of each below.

adult female "Florida" Red-shouldered Hawk

digiscoped with Leica D-lux3 camera and APO Televid spotting scope

The "Florida" Red-shouldered is the "strawberry blonde" of North American buteos. It shows a faded, pale orange wash that is lighter than all other races of Red-shouldered Hawk. The head tends to be much lighter as well. This bird is actually a female which has a darker head as compared to her mate which sat nearby. The males will often show a nearly pure gray head without the brown tones. Florida birds also average lighter on the back and the black and white "checkered" pattern is more apparent.

adult (male?) "California" Red-shouldered Hawk

If the Florida race is the "strawberry blonde" then the California race is the true redhead of the bunch. Even on a gray day without sunlight you can see that this bird is very bright orange, and the orange extends up on to the head. The barring on the upper breast is so dense that it actually more of an orange collar than individual bars. I'm not as familiar with this race, but I assume that (like the Florida breeding birds I've observed) the males show the lighter heads with more orange, and the females tend to be more brown headed. As such I'd guess this to be a male as it is toward the bright extreme with much orange on the head. Perhaps some of the west coast folk could chime in here though with opinions.

At any rate, stuff like this makes the life of a travelling birder fun.