Northern Red-tailed Hawk in Hyde County, North Carolina

 

All birds below are from Charles City County, VA.  The last adult bird is one from the Spring and I suspect the first bird in the series.  You will note the faint banding in the tail.

The first two adult photographs are from this Fall (2020).  The immature bird was photographed in early December (2020).  While I suspected a darker borealis initially, I noted the throat and then the spotting on the leg feathers.  Could this be their  or one the two’s young of the year?  At this time Brian Sullivan informs me we do not know enough about the immatures for positive  ID.  The last image is of an adult bird from the Spring of 2020 demonstrating the faint tail banding, heavily “splotched” belly, spotted leg feather, dark throat and rusty chest.