Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Just a walk down two aisles of your local grocery store is enough to convince even the most ethno-centric person of the almost limitless variety found within humanity. Not just the basics of height and hair color, of complexion and age, but myriads of details that physically set you apart from all others. This uniqueness is so engrained in our thinking that we pause to marvel when we see two identical twins that look so much alike that only those closest to them can tell them apart. And yet, for some unexplainable reason, we assume all those of a different species must be cookie-cutter duplicates of each other when in reality, there is tremendous variation there as well. This is especially evident among the raptors, those hawks and their relatives that grace our skies. There can be light morphs and dark morphs of the same species that challenge us to even make correct identification as to the species.
Such was the challenge I faced when I came across this buteo in Eastern Washington. My initial guess was that it was a Harlan’s Hawk, a subspecies of Red-tail found primarily in the Midwest. After careful study I found I was still uncertain and so contacted the leader of Falcon Research, trusting his experience would bring about clarification. He confirmed that it was indeed a young Red-tailed Hawk but couldn’t say with absolute certainty that it was a Harlan’s, so graciously he sent my photograph on to the world’s leading expert of Harlan’s Red-tails who lives down in Texas. He quickly responded that he believed it was indeed a young Harlan’s, but couldn’t be absolutely certain without seeing a dorsal view of the tail.
Uncertainty is that unsettled reality with which we are forced to live. It may be the unanswered question as to what is causing that nagging pain in my leg, or whether or not I should sell that stock I purchased last year. Even the experts seem not know for sure. Even the Bible, which we trust is God’s word to us, and which we believe is dependable, contains parts that we still don’t understand. And so we are left with uncertainty. But that doesn’t mean we should stop looking, should stop seeking to understand. It simply means we must go forward based upon what we do know for certain.