Yesterday, at 12:50pm, the Zone-tailed Hawk was seen flying over the Barano Trail at 12:50pm.
Initially my observation was a dark raptor flying away and possibly a Turkey Vulture. As the bird circled back my binoculars confirmed the lack of a whitish bill and red head. The flight pattern was slightly different than that of a Turkey Vulture and a most distinct large white band on the tail confirmed this was a Zone-tailed Hawk.
The raptor was flying solo and perhaps 1000-1200 feet above ground level.
The report submitted to eBird can be found here for January 15, 2015
An image of the Zone-tailed Hawk I took at the end of December 2014 in the same vicinity can be found below
Leave a Reply