Posted by Paul on July 19, 2002 at 21:54:12:
In Reply to: Re: Short tailed again posted by John Boyd on July 19, 2002 at 07:58:25:
All your comments noted and accepted. This bird is driving me crazy as I only get fleeting glimpses and always without getting the binoculars on him. Your notation about "Since a young Short-tailed may not have quite the clean white underparts of the adult light form, it could be the problem" may be the key but I'll just have to keep at it 'til I get a positive ID. My reference to the white band refers to the outer edge of the tail which is distinctly thin white band but then I could not discern the alternate bands for the rest of the tail...just a general mixed brown white that only made the tail trim stand out. The one time it made a killing pass on dove at the dove feeder I was impressed with two things: for sure it was not an osprey or red-shouldered, and 2, it had a chunky body. I was hopeful that there were other "experts" in this area of Broward that might be able to assist on watching for this bird. If this bird stays around I will try to get better field markings and hopefully a picture.