ML645977264

Observation details

In the field, seeing a dark morph buteo had me thinking rough-legged, but so many things wrong for that. Many narrow tailbands without a pronounced dark subterminal band. Barred primaries (at least somewhat). Shape wrong for roughie. Habitat also better for Red-tailed (soaring over Beaver Pond). Putting this down as an abieticola. According to Birds of the World, researchers are currently exploring the strong likelihood that abieticola is polymorphic. When I posted this on the Raptor ID Facebook group, the consensus seemed to be that abieticola is most likely (presumably due to location), but that Harlan's could not be ruled out. I had no idea that there could be a dark morph abieticola, so I had a fun time trying to figure out what this bird was before I posted it on the Raptor ID group. Here are some abieticola sightings that are similar (assuming correctly identified): https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/612481282 (not as much barring on the primaries as my bird but overall very similar) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/611882251 (much darker and more prominent subterminal tail band than my bird, though this is in ebird as abieticola/calurus) I'm not sure if calurus can be safely eliminated. Here is one that looks very similar to my bird (obviously again assuming correct ID): https://ebird.org/checklist/S25840243 With respect to Harlan's, it's what I was initially considering because I wasn't aware that abieticola was polymorphic or that calurus was an option. There are plenty of Harlan's observations that look very similar to my bird. Thanks to everyone who has helped me with this ID -- the Raptor ID Facebook group and Casey Ferio in particular. I'm obviously open to any ideas on subspecies, but it seems safest to put this as an abieticola for now. Also, I wish I got better photos. Bird was distant and my heart was racing because it seemed off for rough-legged hawk. These are the best photos I got.