The Rufous Redtail

Friends, this beautiful copper-colored redtail (right below) is a rufous-phase Redtail Hawk and it is estimated that the rufous phase makes up about 5% of the total population of Redtail Hawks.  So this is a rather special hawk and his light eyes mean he is a juvenile hawk as the eyes get darker as redtails mature.  You can see the difference in the chest color by comparing the rufous (right) to the more traditional redtail (left) in the images below.

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About mjspringett

Nature Photographer, searching for questions and answers

Posted on October 13, 2012, in Birds, Lake Superior, Nature, photography and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

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