192 
The Red-tail plumage that is most common in western Canada is hardly distinguish- 
able from the eastern bird. The juvenile above is solidly dark brown, almost black, 
from crown to tail inclusive, the latter being barred regularly with still darker shades. 
All below is white, with sides of breast, flanks, and a broken area on upper abdomen striped 
with dark. Some intermixture of white or cream can be expected on crown and back. 
The adult of this juvenile is, in general, similar, but redder above, more creamy below, with 
less and ruddier streaking and almost immaculate pantaloons. The tail is an even brick 
red with more or less of a narrow, black, subterminal band and a faint, faded, or creamy tip. 
Many western birds differ from this type only by irregular mixtures of red in the tail of the 
juvenile, more heavily barred thighs or pantaloons, and the addition of more or less com- 
plete dark bars across the red tail of the adult. 
The extreme dark phase is almost entirely dark brown, nearly black (like the dark 
Swainson’s Hawk, Plate XXVI B) with a dark-barred, grey-mottled, or red tail that may 
be either barred or not. Between these two phases is every possible intergradation and 
some very peculiar piebald mixtures occur. On the other hand, some specimens run to 
an extreme of whiteness that approaches albinism. 
Figure 214 
Red-tailed Hawk; scale, t*j. 
Appearance in flight. 
There may be large amounts of white or cream mixed with the dark of the back, and 
the head may be largely white. The tail may be cream to white, with or without dark 
barring. These differences, not due to sex, age, or season, have suggested the division of 
the species into numerous subspecies, but the more the species is examined the less claim 
do these irregular variants seem to have to special treatment, any more than do those of 
Swainson’s Hawk and the Roughlegs that show similar variants but are not subspecifically 
divided on that basis. 
Distinctions. Size will separate the Red-tailed Hawk from all Hawks except Swain- 
son’s and the two Rough-legged Hawks. The bare instead of feathered tarsus will easily dis- 
tinguish it from the latter two (like Figure 211 instead of Figure 219). The birds average 
larger than Swainson’s, but there is considerable variation in size and they are best dis- 
tinguished from it by wing characters. In the Red-tailed the first four instead of the first 
three primaries are sharply emarginate and the third, fourth, and fi th are about equal in length, 
but longer than the rest, and thus form the point of the wing (Figure 213). Though both 
species are so variable in colour that some plumages are difficult or impossible to separate 
on that basis, there are certain distinctions that can usually be observed. In the Red-tailed 
the dark areas aggregate across the abdomen instead of across the breast, leaving the 
upper the lightest part of the front. In Swainson’s the converse is the case, the lightest 
spot being below the breast. This distinction is less pronounced in light juveniles and, of 
course, is absent in the extreme solidly black phase. Small juvenile Red-tails may be con- 
fused with the Red-shouldered Hawk, but that species is rare or absent in western Canada. 
Field Marks. A large Buzzard, practically the same size as the Rough-leg and Swain- 
son’s, only noticeably inferior to the Osprey and the Eagles (Figure 202-5). Wings 
round and broad. Of wide range in colour, from near-black and white, with or without 
varying amounts of cream and reddish, to solid and complete dark brown, almost black. 
A reddish tail when present is always determinative of this species. Separated from Swain- 
