Editing Red-tailed hawk (section)

===Identification===
[[File:Red-tailed hawk in Central Park (24796).jpg|thumb|Close-up of red-tailed hawk's head]]
[[File:RedTailDisplay.jpg|thumb|Characteristic red tail]]
[[File:red-tail hawk.webm|thumb|thumbtime=14|This [[red-tailed hawk]] is an ambassador animal for the Ohio Wildlife Center]]
Although they overlap in range with most other American diurnal raptors, identifying most mature red-tailed hawks to species is relatively straightforward, particularly if viewing a typical adult at a reasonable distance. The red-tailed hawk is the only North American hawk with a rufous tail and a blackish [[patagium]] marking on the leading edge of its wing (which is obscured only on dark morph adults and Harlan's hawks by similarly dark-colored feathers).<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/> 

Other larger adult ''Buteo''&nbsp;spp. in North America usually have obvious distinct markings that are absent in red-tails, whether the rufous-brown "beard" of [[Swainson's hawk]]s (''B.&nbsp;swainsonii'') or the colorful rufous belly and shoulder markings and striking black-and-white mantle of [[red-shouldered hawk]]s (also the small "windows" seen at the end of their primaries).<ref name="Robbins">{{cite book |last1=Robbins |first1=C.S. |last2=Bruun |first2=B. |last3=Zim |first3=H.S. |year=2001 |title=Birds of North America: A guide to field identification |publisher=Macmillan }}</ref> In perched individuals, even as silhouettes, the shape of large ''Buteo''&nbsp;spp. may be distinctive, such as the wingtips overhanging the tail in several other species, but not in red-tails. North American ''Buteo''&nbsp;spp. range from the dainty, compact builds of much smaller ones, such as [[broad-winged hawk]] (''B.&nbsp;platypterus'') to the heavyset, neckless look of [[ferruginous hawk]]s or the [[rough-legged buzzard]]s, which have a compact, smaller appearance than a red-tail in perched birds due to its small bill, short neck, and much shorter tarsi, while the opposite effect occurs in flying rough-legs with their much bigger wing area.<ref name="Ferguson-Lees" /><ref name="Robbins" /> 

In flight, most other large North American ''Buteo''&nbsp;spp. are distinctly longer and more slender-winged than red-tailed hawks, with the much paler ferruginous hawk having peculiarly slender wings in relation to its massive, chunky body. Swainson's hawks are distinctly darker on the wing and ferruginous hawks are much paler-winged than typical red-tailed hawks. Pale morph adult ferruginous hawk can show mildly tawny-pink (but never truly rufous) upper tail, and like red-tails tend to have dark markings on underwing-coverts and can have a dark belly band, but compared to red-tailed hawks have a distinctly broader head, their [[Flight feathers|remiges]] are much whiter looking with very small, dark primary tips, they lack the red-tail's diagnostic patagial marks and usually also lack the dark subterminal tail-band, and ferruginous hawks have  totally feathered tarsi. With its whitish head, the ferruginous hawk is most similar to Krider's red-tailed hawks, especially in immature plumage, but the larger hawk has broader head and narrower wing shape, and the ferruginous immatures are paler underneath and on their legs.  

Several species share a belly band with the typical red-tailed hawk, but they vary from subtle (as in the ferruginous hawk) to solid blackish, the latter in most light-morph [[rough-legged buzzard]]s.<ref name="Ferguson-Lees" /><ref name="Brown" /> More difficult to identify among adult red-tails are their darkest variations, as most species of ''Buteo'' in North America also have dark morphs. Western dark morph red-tails (i.e. ''B.&nbsp;j.&nbsp;calurus'') adults, however, retain the typical distinctive brick-red tail, which other species lack, and may stand out even more against the otherwise all chocolate-brown to black bird. Standard pale juveniles when perched show a whitish patch in the outer half of the upper surface of the wing, which other juvenile ''Buteo''&nbsp;spp. lack.<ref name="CRPreston" /> 

The most difficult to identify stages and plumage types are dark morph juveniles, Harlan's hawk and some Krider's hawks (the latter mainly with typical ferruginous hawks as mentioned). Some darker juveniles are similar enough to other ''Buteo'' juveniles that they "cannot be identified to species with any confidence under various field conditions."<ref name="Palmer" /><ref name="CRPreston" /> However, field identification techniques have advanced in the last few decades and most experienced hawk-watchers can distinguish even the most vexingly plumaged immature hawks, especially as the wing shapes of each species becomes apparent after seeing many. Harlan's hawks are most similar to dark morph [[rough-legged buzzard]]s and dark morph [[ferruginous hawk]]s. Wing shape is the most reliable identification tool for distinguishing Harlan's hawks from these, but also the pale streaking on the breast of Harlan's, which tends to be conspicuous in most individuals, and is lacking in the other hawks. Also, dark morph ferruginous hawks do not have the dark subterminal band of a Harlan's hawk, but do bear a black undertail covert lacking in Harlan's.<ref name="Ferguson-Lees" /><ref name="Harlan">{{cite journal |last1=Liguori |first1=J. |last2=Sullivan |first2=B.L.|year=2010|title=Comparison of Harlan's hawk with Eastern & Western Red-tailed Hawks|journal=Birding|pages=30–37}}</ref>
[[File:Red-tailed Hawk, Fort Collins, Colorado.jpg|thumb|Characteristic brick-red tail of Red-tailed Hawk.]]
[[File:Red-tailed Hawk, Fort Collins, CO.png|thumb|Red-tailed Hawk, Fort Collins, Colorado]]