The only thing with Crossley's Raptor guide is that, for relative beginners, it's photograph overload. Turn to any particular page and one could quickly feel overwhelmed by intricate plumage differences that ultimately jumble together to form one big complex hawk in your memory. Kind of like a library without a card catalog. There's very little you can do other than commit some field marks, flight styles, and behavior to memory. Or, just get good pictures and ask me. :-) Although there are times I have trouble IDing a hawk myself. Depends on how good of a look I can get. I think what else may be helpful is to always know what you might be likely to see in your area. In CT, your Red-taileds are going to be easterns. They pretty much all look the same. You probably have many year-round Red-tailed residents and the guy you photographed up there probably has a mate on a nest right now. A nesting (adult) pair of Red-taileds have the rufous tails. A juvenile (last year's brood) bird will lack a rufous tail and will show brown and white tail bands instead. A clean, lightly marked underside is more indicative of an adult- juvies have more brown markings and look streaky underneath. Some adults are heavily marked too though! Adult Red-taileds will also show a thin dark rim around the back of the underwing. You can see that on the bird you photographed. I recommend Dunne/Sibley/Sutton 'Hawks in Flight, 2nd Edition'. I have to say that I bought the Crossley guide for pleasure rather than purpose. I love the photos! But when I first sat down with it, I could already score very high on the "quizzes" he embedded within it. So, I learned my skills elsewhere. Hawks in Flight was a huge help with that.

I've also seen hawks around here that look like cooper's but don't sound like them. I tried the sharp shinned and that's not it either. Books and internet need to also start noting juvenile bird calls. I've heard many odd hawk calls and no recordings verrifying ID. Maybe I'm hearing Juvy cooper's hawks too?

Unless you are in the wide open, treeless spaces of the Plains, forget it. Redtails are highly unlikely to use such a nest site. If there is a tree within 5 miles, it will be used before a lone pole. (I've bred redtails in captivity, and study their wild nesting habits.) Sorry. Thanks for thinking of these great birds, anyway. Put up some kestral nest boxes way up on the poles, and they will be used.

Thanks, I thought so, but I am not that familiar with identifying hawks, although I seem to be seeing them more and more lately! This one was back today, perched in same spot, screaming. I have read that the females are larger than the males, so I am guessing this one must be a female because it is HUGE, larger than the other ones I have seen, which I have only seen two in person. Thanks again!!!