. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. Birds. M. A. Patten & J. C. Wilson 266 Bull. HOC. 1996 116(4) A dark-morph Sharp-shinned Hawk in California, with comments on dichromatism in raptors by Michael A. Patten & John C. Wilson Received 9 December 1995 On 12 November 1994 at hrs, Wilson studied and photographed an unusual dark raptor in Hart Park, Bakersfield, Kern County, California. The bird was an obvious Accipiter in general shape, but it was mottled chocolate brown on the underparts. An examination of photographs (Fig. 1) and of the written description suggested that
. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. Birds. M. A. Patten & J. C. Wilson 266 Bull. HOC. 1996 116(4) A dark-morph Sharp-shinned Hawk in California, with comments on dichromatism in raptors by Michael A. Patten & John C. Wilson Received 9 December 1995 On 12 November 1994 at hrs, Wilson studied and photographed an unusual dark raptor in Hart Park, Bakersfield, Kern County, California. The bird was an obvious Accipiter in general shape, but it was mottled chocolate brown on the underparts. An examination of photographs (Fig. 1) and of the written description suggested that it was a dark-morph Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus. Wilson's notes were as follows: An odd Accipiter perched in a horizontal branch of a bare Cottonwood (Populus sp.) bordering the north side of the Kern River. The sky was clear, except for slight haze; there was no wind. Initial distance to the bird was about 100 m, but it was eventually approached to within 40 m. Viewed through 8 x 42 Bausch and Lomb Elite binoculars and photographed with a Nikon N8008 camera with a Nikon 300 mm lens and 2 x teleconverter. The bird was observed in excellent light for 20 min. Size was difficult to judge, but the round-headed appearance, relatively squared tail, and thin tarsi suggested Sharp-shinned Hawk. The overall color of underparts was dark chocolate brown. The breast and belly were somewhat mottled with a darker brownish. The thighs, cap, nape, and wings were a darker brown. The underside of the tail appeared to be somewhat striated with a wide dark brown tip and at least two visible cream-colored bands about half the width of the terminal band, with each bordered by a thin dark brown band. The iris was yellow, similar in color to that of an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk. There were short golden-yellow supercilia extending. Figure 1. Dark-morph Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus at Hart Park in Bakersfield, California, , 12 November 1994. Photograph by John C. Ple
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