Monotypic. Length 10–14.8". Adult: medium-size with a long, forked tail. The male’s tail is longer than the female’s. Entirely pale gray head and back; extensive white in outer tail ...

Thin and long tailed, with outer tail feathers almost entirely white (tail from below looks white). The bill is thin and pale gray. Breeding male: blue-gray above, including most of head and back.

Driving on Vermont’s Interstate highways in winter, I often notice large hawks perched in trees on woodland edges at regular intervals along the road. With the stark landscape providing better ...