Category Archives: Uncategorized

Nicole and Bryce recently teamed up with a good friend of the project, Sylvain Bourdages, in Grande Prairie, Alberta for a week of exciting field work. An isolated patch of agricultural land surrounded by dense boreal forest, this area is a famous stopover for an incredible diversity and abundance of Red-tailed Hawks. At least, itContinue reading “Twelve new transmitters deployed in Grande Prairie, Alberta”

We are fortunate that three of our birds have settled in summer locations that are in range of a cellular tower, so we are receiving regular updates on their movements. Two of these individuals took an exciting spring migratory route that we haven’t seen until now. Sefi and Ja’Marr moved along the coast of BritishContinue reading “Comparing plumage, movement, and summer locations in three dark morphs”

Last month, Bryce caught this stunning dark bird just north of Lawrence, Kansas and discovered that it was already banded. After reporting the band and asking around, he learned that the individual had been captured and banded near Grand Prairie, Alberta in May 2015 by Sylvain Bourdages, an active raptor bander and friend of theContinue reading “A band recovery connecting eastern Kansas to Grand Prairie, Alberta”

Luke and Bryce recently captured this amazing juvenile Rough-legged x Red-tailed Hawk hybrid in eastern Kansas. Here is our breakdown of the identification – Note the multiple Rough-legged Hawk traits such as head coloration and pattern, including pale auriculars; subtle carpal patch; buffy base coloration to breast and underwing; pale and unpatterned base to flightContinue reading “A juvenile hybrid Red-tailed X Rough-legged Hawk captured in eastern Kansas”

One of the research goals of the Red-tailed Hawk Project is to better understand the “Krider’s” Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis kriderii). There has long been debate about the validity of this currently recognized subspecies, because of its variability and that it breeds alongside (and with) birds we consider as the subspecies borealis. The two mostContinue reading “An attempt to better understand the Krider’s Red-tailed Hawk (B. j. kriderii)”

Over the weekend, Neil Paprocki caught and outfitted this light morph harlani with a GPS/GSM transmitter in Northern Idaho. The members of our group decided that this harlani, the first bird to be tagged for the winter 2021/2022 field season, is to be named “Liggy” in honor of our mentor and friend Jerry Liguori. “Liggy”Continue reading ““Liggy” the light morph harlani”

In October, Bryce had the privilege of visiting the Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station (CGORS), a long-term fall migration monitoring station along the shore of Lake Michigan in central Wisconsin. Each year, strong winds from the west cause a large number of migrants to build up along the shore as they move south. CGORS isContinue reading “Four birds join the project, in collaboration with Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station”

As we approach mid-November there is a lot to report on as our Michigan Red-tailed Hawks head towards their wintering grounds. So far, we have gotten data from 9 of the 11, hopefully we hear from the others. Here is a quick update on 7 of our birds we have heard from. First up areContinue reading “Michigan to Kentucky: Movement Update”

Most of our birds are back on the grid as they finish their fall migration. As a result, we have breeding locations to share – perhaps the most exciting of which are the dark putative ‘non-harlani‘ birds. Below are the breeding locations for the remainder of our tagged harlani, as well as individuals we taggedContinue reading “Dark morphs tagged in Kansas breed in sympatry with harlani”

Hi, everyone! My name is Allie, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Here in Duluth, fall migration is incredible, featuring high numbers of Red-tailed Hawks showcasing different plumages. Dark morph Red-tailed Hawks migrating and wintering in Minnesota are especially beloved by the raptor community. Why is this? Well, dark morph Red-tailed HawksContinue reading “Dark Morphs in Minnesota”