Any ideas on Bill's sighting?  

I saw a similar bird while standing in the parking lot of the Seiberling
Naturealm in Akron on March 28th.  (About 15 miles south of Bill's -- maybe
the same bird???)

Bill's description was spot on -- but I got a quick look at the underside,
which appeared lightly barred to me. My first thought, also, was that it was
a Cooper's.
It turned and I got a look at that tail, which was slightly fanned and
showing the white outer feathers on either side. Then it disappeared over
the trees.

I didn't get the impression that it was a harrier -- is there a stage where
a Cooper might show this kind of plummage? (juv-adult etc.)

Any other thoughts?

Thanks much,

Rita Schneider



Subject: Unusual Hawk, Macedonia 3/30
From: William H Fissell <whf4 AT SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 11:23:28 -0500

Birders,

Whilst getting  a title for my truck at the Macedonia title bureau--
right next to the firehouse on Valley View Road - I saw what I first
took to be a Cooper's Hawk flying across the road.   I saw it from the
back and above only, as the bird was banking in such a way I never saw
the underparts.  The bird was Coop sized or maybe a hair bigger, with
grey back and wings.  I was looking at the tail and observed that the
bird had white lateral tailfeathers on both sides, and not just the
outer feather-- the outer two or three feathers were white, with a
narrow band of grey down the middle.  I don't know if there was any
banding of that grey, as I was so startled I looked back at the body of
the bird and the wings for more clues.  I think there was a whitish rump
patch, but I am not totally sure. The overall impression was more like a
meadowlark or sandpiper tail, rather than a junco tail.   The wings were
broad and rounded, and again the overall impression was a coop.  I
probably saw the bird for 2-3 seconds as it flew across the road and
parking lot and into the woods.

AFAIK, there aren't any raptors with white lateral tail feathers, so if
any Macedonians see the bird, I'd love to know what ti really is.

Bill

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]