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Articles

Vol. 47 No. 4 (2016)

FEATURED PHOTO: COMMON BLACK HAWK × RED-SHOULDERED HAWK IN CALIFORNIA

Submitted
September 20, 2025
Published
September 21, 2025

Abstract

Since at least May 2005, a Common Black Hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus) has resided at Delta Pond, between Graton and Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California (Iliff et al. 2007). It was likely at the same location in October 2000, but that report was inadequately supported (McKee and Erickson 2002, Iliff et al. 2007). On 18 February 2009 Stan Moore banded the bird, identifying it as a female. On 21 July 2012, during a Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation field trip, I saw a juvenile hawk, closely following the adult female Common Black Hawk, with the birds calling to each other continuously. I saw the juvenile on two additional visits in summer 2012, each time with the Common Black Hawk. In 2014, Stan Moore (pers. comm.) observed the female nesting with a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus). Recordings of the juvenile and the female Common Black Hawk are available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXgU928a7Jg