This beautiful but defensive bird is an adult Red-tailed Hawk but in a color phase I've not had here before. This is a Harlan's. They have the dark streaking on their breasts, don't have a red tail but for a bit on the ends, and are overall darker but with a lighter tail. Confusing, I know.
This is a male and in excellent conditon weighing a bit over two pounds. He was found sitting on the center line of the highway just south of Laurel, MT. After watching many vehicles, including one huge semi, drive past him, Samantha, Jarred, Johnathan & Joshua Burlenson and her mom, Roxy, stopped, gathered him up and called the nature center in Red Lodge. The nature center called me with their number so I called them. They were supposed to spend the day at Zoo Montana but decided to put the bird first and drive him back to Cody. 
His name is HARLAN and he'll go into the vets on Monday for xrays. I would assume, as he was in the road, he was probably hit by a car. Hopefully if there are injuries they are minor and he'll be back in the air soon.
UPDATE: Xrays show nothing broken so perhaps it is only bruising. He's eating his rats and will go out into a flight area as soon as this weather is nicer, it's only 30 today.
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