Kriders Hawk

.....a Kriders Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis kriderii) flies overhead ....screaming while it hunts
.....Krider's hawks are distinctly all white underneath (belly) with no trace of a belly band ...as well they sport a rusty brown plumage about the wings and back ....this color continues onto the head. The head is reddish brown with a noticeable white appearance ...all other Redtails have flecks or streaks on there chest or belly with the exception of the dark morphs and of course the Swainsons Hawk which has a solid colored chest plate
.....So the Kriders hawk stands alone sporting an all white chest and belly and seems to be quite a rare treat to see one ....especially this individual for it is truly the epitome of its race.
.....There is very little information on the internet concerning this sub-species and descriptions are vague at best accompanied with confusing photographs.. From what I was able to surmise is that true male Kriders Hawks appear as in the photograph pictured above sporting the virgin white chest and belly ....the females have the same markings with the addition of small black round spots evenly placed about the chest. These black spotted specimens account for 99 percent of the images captured and uploaded to the internet. There is another group of Kriders hawks that sport darker almost black plumage as opposed to the reddish brown but these are probably part of the growing mixed bred populations.
.....There is some evidence of mixed breeding with a number of various but related Redtails. So true to type Kriders Hawks are actually rare with numbers reaching under 5 percent of all Red-tailed hawks according to actual bird counting statistics carried out by biologists. Yet they are not endangered as a whole but rare as seen locally.
....In short I guess seeing one is a bit like seeing the Yellow-billed Cuckoo ....many birders have heard its call ....yet most have never actually seen it ...let alone get a photograph. I am most certainly not a biologist nor scientist ....just an avid wildlife photographer who enjoys being in the outdoors. That being said the Kriders Hawk could easily be mistaken for the Ferruginous Hawk ...With the exception of the size difference because well lets face it the Ferruginous Hawk is the largest hawk in the world ...but the Kriders Hawk itself is no slouch and is quite a large hawk. ....So mistaking one for the other in the field could easily occur because they have the same rusty brown coloring and whitish head belly and wings. Actually the only distinguishing feature is the patagial bars found on the wing. Which simply put is a dark band that spans from the shoulder to the wrist and is a true marker of a Red-tailed Hawk.
..... The Ferruginous Hawk and the Kriders Red-tailed Hawk also hunt and live in the plains of North America. They like large grassy areas in which to hunt. This could account for the similar feather coloring. Their coloring is quite perfect for the plains and they blend and disappear easily and certainly aids them during hunts or at rest.
YFA_7655 Redtail 5
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