[TN-Bird] Shelby Co. Long-tailed duck, goshawk Sunday

From: kings4birds@xxxxxxx
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 13:21:13 -0500 (EST)
Sunday Jan. 26, in Shelby County: The female LONG-TAILED DUCK was present at 
noon at TVA Lake, sleeping in the middle of the large bunch of scaup and other 
ducks. I looked in vain for any scoter, but could pick out a few Greater Scaup 
among the predominate Lesser Scaup. Gadwall and Green-winged Teal were 
numerous, and Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Canvasbacks, American Coots, and two 
Pied-billed Grebes rounded out the mix. Only four Canada Geese were present 
there at the lake (many more over at the pits), and there were two Greater 
White-fronted Geese as well. The smaller lake had several Wood Ducks with more 
scaup and mallards. At the pits we saw only more Canadas, Killdeer, and 
overhead three Red-tailed Hawks, one of them a nice 

Earlier I spent some time at Shelby Farms looking for and this time observed 
what I believe is an immature female NORTHERN GOSHAWK. It came out of the 
bamboo (just east of the catfish pond area, on Ham Smythe Rd.), 50 or 60 feet 
away at eye level as we drove by, and the powerful wing beat and large size 
were striking. This was about 11:30, and strong sunlight from nearly straight 
overhead, plus the speed of the bird in flight made field marks hard to see. 
The back was overall dark, gray-brown, and uniformly colored, no checkering or 
hint of rufous, but with the suggestion of a buffy bar across the upper wing. I 
could see bands on the wide tail, but not any white edging to them or any white 
terminal band; glare was bad, and the bird was rapidly gaining altitude and 
going away from us. The bands were even, and not as contrasty as a 
Red-shouldered's, but I couldn't say they appeared wavy. Its head was big, but 
it had a no-necked look, not like a Cooper's turtle-head look. I could see pale 
undertail covets, but not whether there was any streaking. Going by I could see 
dark streaking along the flanks, and by the time the bird got high enough for 
me to see the whole underside it was pretty far away but streaky through the 
belly, with no rufous coloring anywhere. It landed briefly in the tree line 
across the field east of the bamboo, but flew before I could get closer, then 
caught a thermal and rose out of sight. At a distance from underneath it 
appeared uniformly pale underneath, even tail bands, no lighter or darker wing 
linings, or pale crescent.

 I have little experience with the species, having only seen two adults, out 
west in deep conifer forest, but I am comfortable that this was not an 
extra-large Cooper's hawk, and not a Red-shouldered. Did I say it was big, and 
a powerful flier? I wish someone could get a picture! In repeated trips looking 
for this bird I have seen both an immature and an adult female Cooper's in the 
area, a Red-shouldered across the way near Patriot Lake, plus several 
Red-tails. I hope to get back over there to look for it again. 

Gail King

5595 Ashley Sq. N.
Memphis, TN
kingsyo@xxxxxxx

"What is this feathered thing that lifts my heart to the heavens?" Jeff Wilson
[TN-Bird] Shelby Co. Long-tailed duck, goshawk Sunday

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