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The 'Harlan's hawk' is probably a race of the familiar, widely-distributed and highly variable red-tailed hawk, although it has been considered a separate species in the past and some authorities may be leaning in that direction again. The Harlan's hawk is a dark northern bird (there is also a very rare pale Harlan's form) that breeds in Alaska and northwestern Canada. It is often difficult to separate from dark morphs of the 'regular' red-tail, and I'm not 100% sure of the identification of the perched bird shown at bottom (photographed at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area near Riverside, California). The pictures of a flying bird are of a 'classic' Harlan's hawk and clearly show the pale mottled tail, blackish plumage with a few white breast spots, and standard red-tail wing shape. These photos were also taken at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, which is considerably outside of the normal winter range of Harlan's hawk. The bird in the tree was at Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge in New Mexico.
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