Sometimes

The light is just right. Red — well, rufus or russet or brick or… — tail, belly band, dark patagial marks on the inner half of the leading edge of the wings. To quote from Wheeler’s Raptors of Eastern North America: the patagium is the “elastic membrane on the front edge of the inner wing that unites the shoulder, elbow, and wrist areas.” All ages and sexes and subspecies of Red-tailed Hawks here in the east have dark marks here. There’s a fair amount of variety in markings in this species. The obvious difference between this yearling and the adult pictured at the top is that this one doesn’t have red tail feathers yet.
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