Photo: Bill Sutherland

A Kelowna man took a picture of an unusual sight for our area and shared it with Castanet News.

Bill Sutherland snapped this photo of what appears to be a Harris's Hawk which is not native to our area.

"I took a picture of the hawk in the Lower Mission Thursday. If it is, it's a very long way from its normal range which is northern Mexico," he said. 

Sutherland also took a close up photo which seems to indicate a band of some sort on the bird's talon.

"I'm wondering if it belongs to a local falconer and got lost. The close up of its leg seems to show a band and possibly a leg harness."

Bill is concerned the bird may have gotten separated from its owner, "they are very popular with falconers, I'm wondering if it got away from them or if it was just taking a break, it was close to Gyro Beach."

The hypothesis is sound because these types of hawks are not native to the Okanagan.

According to reports, "the Harris's hawk formerly known as the bay-winged hawk or dusky hawk, is a medium-large bird of prey that breeds from the southwestern United States south to Chile, central Argentina, and Brazil."