# Hawk Identification **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawk-identification/385747 "2006-12-27T15:46:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawk-identification/385747/1 "2006-12-27T15:46:57Z")
Can a bird expert please identify[this hawk](http://thehenge.marketnet.com/hawk.jpg). The picture was taken in north east Texas (near Greenville) on Dec 26. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawk-identification/385747/2 "2006-12-27T15:56:55Z")
My guess would be a red-tailed hawk. Most of these (especially in the east) have a prominent "belly band"of dark across a light breast (like [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Redtailedhawkap.jpg)). But further west this can be faint. [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Red-tailed_hawk02.jpg)’s a photo of a bird from Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawk-identification/385747/3 "2006-12-27T16:06:16Z")
Yeah, I was thinking red tail because they winter down here, but the white breast really threw me. That, and the tail doesn’t look particularly red. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawk-identification/385747/4 "2006-12-27T16:10:57Z")
[QUOTE=Turek] Can a bird expert please identify[this hawk](http://thehenge.marketnet.com/hawk.jpg). The picture was taken in north east Texas (near Greenville) on Dec 26. [/QUOTE] Nice pic. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawk-identification/385747/5 "2006-12-27T16:20:11Z")
[QUOTE=Turek] Yeah, I was thinking red tail because they winter down here, but the white breast really threw me. That, and the tail doesn’t look particularly red. [/QUOTE] IIRC, the red tail doesn’t develop until their second year. I could probably dig up a cite if one of the smart people don’t chime in soon. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawk-identification/385747/6 "2006-12-27T16:20:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Nice pic. 🆒 [/QUOTE] Thanks, it’s not as sharp as I would like and for some reason when I uploaded it to Flickr it looked even softer. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawk-identification/385747/7 "2006-12-27T16:57:49Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] … the red tail doesn’t develop until their second year. [/QUOTE] That’s right. Even then, it’s red (actually, kinda rust-colored) only on top, so it might not show well in a photo taken from the angle of the OP’s photo.