Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!uflorida!stat!sun13!sandee
From: sandee@sun13.scri.fsu.edu (Daan Sandee)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: red tailed hawk - subspecies thereof
Keywords: buzzards, hawks, birds of prey, genetics, species
Message-ID: <399@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>
Date: 15 Aug 90 13:36:12 GMT
References: <1990Aug14.130118.20027@newcastle.ac.uk>
Organization: SCRI, Florida State University
Lines: 29

In article <1990Aug14.130118.20027@newcastle.ac.uk> J.M.Spencer@newcastle.ac.uk (J.M. Spencer) writes:
>I am researching the redtailed hawk _Buteo jamaicensis_.  
>
>My question is this, how many species of redtail are currently
>recognised, and what are they called?  

The modern taxonomic authority is the American Ornithological Union (AOU)
"Check-list of the Birds of North America", Sixth Edition, 1983.
The AOU recognizes (sic; this is how THEY spell the word) only one Red-tailed
Hawk, B. jamaicensis. The Harlan's hawk (B. (j.) harlani) was lumped with
B. jamaicensis as of the 33rd Supplement (1973) to the Fifth Edition (1957).
The 1983 Checklist does not list subspecies any more (too much work, they say).
The Fifth Edition listed,
 B.j. borealis    - the archetypical Eastern Red-tail. Dark above, light
                    below, belly-band, patagial marks, red tail in adult.
                    This is the one I saw from my office window yesterday.
 B.j. calurus     - the common Western subspecies, very variable - reddish,
                    light-colored, and very dark-colored morphs occur.
 B.j. krideri     - "Krider's Hawk", of the Plains states, very pale, often
                    confused with Ferruginous Hawk
 B.j. alascensis  - Alaska
 B.j. umbrinus    - Central and South Florida
 B.j. fuertesi    - Mexican border
 B.(j.) harlani   - "Harlan's hawk", dark, nests in Alaska and British
                    Columbia, winters in the Plains states.

Daan Sandee                                           sandee@sun16.scri.fsu.edu
Supercomputer Computations Research Institute
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052  (904) 644-7045