On our visit to Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area this afternoon, a friend and I encountered a Krider's hawk, a light race of the common red-tailed hawk. The whiteness of this raptor varies across its range and today's visitor was almost completely white with dark speckling on the dorsal aspect of its wings and a faint red band across the end of its tail.
Krider's red-tailed hawks breed across the Northern Plains of Canada and the U.S. and winter on the Southern Plains. Of course, migrant raptors do not adhere to State lines and these birds occasionally turn up in States that border that region. Indeed, this subspecies is named for a collector who first shot one in Philadelphia.
Since the Krider's red-tails interbreed with darker subspecies east and west of its range, they will likely disappear from the Continent over time. It was thus a special treat to observe this beautiful raptor today.
