Buteo specific (mostly) plumage varieties

[smittyone@cox.net]

More "no photo" generic ID questions.  Please let me know if there's a more appropriate sub-forum I should be posting these types of questions in.

In an effort to stop continuously posting various birds (usually buteos) for sub-species identification here, I'm trying to research and learn them myself (it's about time).  I need clarification on the terminology that I'm encountering.  Too many big scientific words, and too many conflicting sources.

1) First of all, the terms color phases and color morphs seem to be used interchangeably, but in actuality, they're not the same thing, right?  If I understand correctly, a "phase" is more akin to adult vs. juvenile/immature plumage.  A color morph, on the other hand, is just a plumage difference between adults of the same species.  For example, light, intermediate (or rufous), and dark morph Rough-legged Hawk.  Would the distinction between, for example, an adult male and an adult female/immature Northern Harrier be because of their different phase?  Or are these field marks?

2) Also, although the topside and underside of the tail are great ID features, the PRIMARY feature I should be looking at is the underside of the wings, right?  I don't know why I still ignore that and concentrate on the body.  More of a statement than a question.

3) Eastern RTHA specific question.  One source says there are 3 color morphs, while another says there is only one color (light).  I tend to lean toward the latter.  I think you folks (a long time ago) have told me that as well.

4) What does different "forms" of a species mean?  Subspecies?  For example, from Flight Identification of Common North American Buteos, William S Clark, in reference to Red-shouldered Hawks, quote: "There are three recognizably different forms of this species. The nominate race (Buteo I. lineatus) and similar races (B.l. alleni and B.l. texanus) occupy all of North America east of the Great Plains, except the Florida Peninsula where the Florida race (B.l. extimus) occurs. There is a geographically distinct population of this species in California (B.l. elegans)." And if this actually does talk about subspecies of RSHA, are there no "common or shorthand" names associated, or just the scientific names?

5) Lastly, I'm kind of nitpicking here.  But why so much use of scientific names here?  For example, I may ask "Is this a Western RTHA?", and a response may be "Yes, looks good for calarus to me."  Why?  Now I have to go look up what a calarus is. I'm beginning to learn these out of necessity, but I certainly don't have them all memorized.  It's tough enough that I have to learn bird anatomy and field marks.  What the heck is a speculum, or a malar strip, etc.

I know many of these questions are not buteo-specific, but I lean more towards those.  Maybe because there's a lot more variety and they're more challenging to me.  Although I'm picking up a lot of terminology, I'm afraid I may be using some of it wrong.  Any help would be appreciated, and please dumb down your answers.

 

 

 

 

    

 

[Avery]

Here are my thoughts. 
 

1. I’ve never encountered phase in use with hawks, only with other birds. For example, a “Smoke Phase” turkey is a leucistic Wild Turkey, and ducks have eclipse plumages, which I’ve sometimes heard as a phase. I think that one’s a term that isn’t very specific or accurate, as it designates something as temporary, though in the Turkey example, it’s not. 
 

Morphs are used for when one species can have different morphologies. If you see a dark morph juvenile Red-tail, it’s going to become a dark morph adult. It won’t suddenly become a light morph. 

As for the harrier, that wouldn’t be an example of morph or phase (I just don’t like that word with birds I guess) as it is a difference in plumage due to sexual dimorphism (when males and females look different). You can tell it’s a harrier, but to tell if it’s a male or female you would look at field marks  

2. I would certainly give it attention, but still try to see as much of the bird as you can. It’s a tough thing to learn, especially when you don’t know exactly what marks you should be looking for. 
 

3. Borealis (Eastern) has never had a proven example of anything other than a light morph. 
 

4. Forms, race, and geographic variation usually mean they are talking about subspecies, but not always. Sometimes birds tend to look different in different environments even if they are the same subspecies. 
 

5. for accuracy. If you look at the subspecies names in Sibley, then compare them to eBird, you will see that they are different. That is insanely confusing. Scientific names are meant to be a name everyone uses, regardless of whatever common name is used wherever you are. By using the scientific name, you avoid confusion. 

[Jerry Friedman]

1) I don't see "phase" much at all in modern writing about birds.  (In older writing it seemed to be the same as modern "morph".)  Where are you seeing it?

2) I'm afraid I can't agree that there's a primary thing to look at.  A lot of light-morph buteos are identifiable just from the underbody, or the underside of the wings, or the tail, or any of the three, but you should use all the field marks you can.  And when you get to hard individuals, including lots of dark morphs, or to subspecies questions, you need to use anything you can get.

3) I feel sure that Eastern Red-tails are all light-morph.

4) I think the emphasis there is on "recognizably different".  Clark means you can (often?) tell in the field whether a Red-shouldered Hawk is from most of the East, or the Florida Peninsula, or California.  "Form" may be just a generic word that he used because he needed a noun.

5) Some people are better at learning names than others, and the people who are good at them may not realize what a barrier multiple names can be to the people who aren't good.  Incidentally, some people object to the "four-letter words" such as RTHA and RSHA for the same reason that you object to scientific subspecies names.

[Jerry Friedman]

4 minutes ago, Avery said:

Here are my thoughts. 
 

1. I’ve never encountered phase in use with hawks, only with other birds. For example, a “Smoke Phase” turkey is a leucistic Wild Turkey, and ducks have eclipse plumages, which I’ve sometimes heard as a phase. I think that one’s a term that isn’t very specific or accurate, as it designates something as temporary, though in the Turkey example, it’s not. 
 

Morphs are used for when one species can have different morphologies. If you see a dark morph juvenile Red-tail, it’s going to become a dark morph adult. It won’t suddenly become a light morph. 

...

"Phase" was used about hawks.  The Peterson I was given in the early '70s says of buteos, "Black or melanistic phases often occur in birds of this group..." and of the "American Rough-legged Hawk", "The light phase, from below, has a black belly and a conspicuous black patch at the wrist of the wing."  It also uses "phase" about the "Fulmar", the jaegers, the Reddish Egret, etc.

Why am I sure there's a bird with different morphs as a juvenile but not as an adult?

[Jerry Friedman]

9 minutes ago, Jerry Friedman said:

...

Why am I sure there's a bird with different morphs as a juvenile but not as an adult?

Well, there's the Gray-headed Kite, but I don't think that's the one I was thinking of.

[Avery]

9 minutes ago, Jerry Friedman said:

"Phase" was used about hawks.  The Peterson I was given in the early '70s says of buteos, "Black or melanistic phases often occur in birds of this group..." and of the "American Rough-legged Hawk", "The light phase, from below, has a black belly and a conspicuous black patch at the wrist of the wing."  It also uses "phase" about the "Fulmar", the jaegers, the Reddish Egret, etc.

Why am I sure there's a bird with different morphs as a juvenile but not as an adult?

I haven’t read through too many field guides, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve missed terminology. I just don’t like the use of “phase” when it comes to plumage differences or morphs, since phase makes me think it’s a temporary thing. Also when people use “morph” when describing plumage variations, it bugs me. But with all the different terminology used everywhere I completely understand how someone can get confused. I’ve had some major confusion in the past due to that. 

[Avery]

7 minutes ago, Jerry Friedman said:

Well, there's the Gray-headed Kite, but I don't think that's the one I was thinking of.

Interesting! Well, whenever there is a “rule” birds find a way to break them. 

[chipperatl]

54 minutes ago, Avery said:

 

3. Borealis (Eastern) has never had a proven example of anything other than a light morph. 
 

53 minutes ago, Jerry Friedman said:

3) I feel sure that Eastern Red-tails are all light-morph.

 

 

😛

 

2) - Not sure there is a single field mark to focus on when it comes to the ssp.  For one ssp., it may be  "x" and another it is "y".  I do not envy you birders that are in the middle of the Eastern and Western birds.  

Edited March 3 by chipperatl

[smittyone@cox.net]

I think I interpreted the underwing ID as "primary" from an excerpt from the same source above "LIGHT-PHASE SUMMARY Figure I illustrates the underside patterns of the six light-phase buteos. The diagnostic field marks for correctly identifying these buteos are mostly on the underwing and are summarized below by species: (Unless otherwise noted, remarks apply to both adults and immatures.)".  I bolded and italicized the pertinent part of the text.

Dumb, probably rhetorical question.  Since an Eastern Red-tailed Hawk has only one (light) color morph, then there's no reason to call it a light morph when describing it in my photo captions, right.

I think you guys are correct regarding "phase".  I usually see it in older publications.  Maybe the term went out of favor?  I think the term "forms" may also have a similar, no longer favored use.

I may eventually memorize the more commonly used scientific names, but you'll never hear me say "Is that a (Buteo jamaicensis borealis) sitting in that tree?

How come some folks don't like the 4 letter codes?  I find it way easier to type RTHA than spelling out Red-tailed Hawk.

If I've learned anything from this site, it's that I absolutely have to get more familiar with specific bird anatomy.  Better than 50 percent of the answers I get here lead me to look up a bird's body part, especially wing parts.