Bird Hawks

 



Bird Hawks, the term seems redundant.  Yet, it isn’t.  A group of hawks are known to hunt and eat mainly birds, hence the term.  They will also take small mammals.  These are the Accipiters.  They typically have long tails and short, rounded wings, adaptations for hunting in wooded areas.  Their eyesight, as with many hawks, is said to be four to eight times better than humans.

Both Sharp Shined and Cooper’s Hawks will take birds from feeders.  I’ve actually seen this when a Sharpie took a Pine Siskin from my feeder after missing an American Goldfinch. 





Pictured above is a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk.  It behaved exactly as one would expect.  It perched for quite some time surveying the area.  Upon launch it swept quickly toward the ground with but a few wing beats, finally gliding less than a foot off the deck to take its prey, a small rodent.



Look What's Abroad

Enhanced View



 

Several days ago, while taking a break in the afternoon,  I watched this Broadwing fly into the back of the property.  This is one of my favorite hawks.  It's one of the smaller hawks, easily recognized by its tail and, in flight, its pointed wings.  It's diet consists of small mammals, reptiles and insects.  By the way, we have an abundance of small mammals and lizards.

 

This is a juvenal recognizable by its black moustachial streak.



Original Photograph

Breakfasting at Our Restaurant

This Cooper's Hawk visited our yard on a recent weekend morning.  I suppose it was thinking, "what to have for breakfast?  Mouse...no, lizard--that's what I'll have!"  And so it was.

On the Wing

 

This is the hawk of which I spoke in my previous post.  What a sight to see—150 to 200 hawks in a kettle!  This is a favorite hawk for me, and only one with which I’ve become familiar as an adult.  I can remember staring at Red Tailed Hawks making lazy circles over the fields in the summers of my youth. However, this one became known to me later.



The Broad-winged Hawk is unusual in size and proportion.  It doesn’t have the considerable size of some Red Tails and is not small as the American Kestrel.  Yet, what catches my eye is the breadth of its wings and the banding of its tail.  When you can find a hawk with alternating white and black stripes in equal amount on its tail, it’s a safe bet the hawk is a Broad-winged.

 

 

I really enjoy this time of year.  Migration and the crisp mornings of fall, such a perfect time to grab your binoculars and scope and head to the field. 

Photographs by Bill Ravenscroft. 

Merlins

‘Tis the season for hawks and other raptors.  This time of year, if we keep an eye out, we will often see many species of raptors not resident to our area.  Driving the highways one often is treated to displays and spectacles of hawks in good numbers and frequency.  One our trip this New Year’s Eve, I was surprised to see a pair of Red Tail Hawks side by side on the high light pole of I-35.

Photograph by Bryan Stone, copyrighted

One falcon that has become a favorite visitor for me is the Merlin.  It is slightly larger than a Kestrel.  We most frequently see the females or immatures.  They are mostly dull brown, streaked breast, lack a facial pattern of note, have broader wings than kestrels, and the long tail characteristic of falcons.  This species likes open woodlands and wooded prairies and grasslands. 

The Merlin hunts small birds and rodents.  It will also take insects.  Unlike the kestrel it does not hover-hunt.  It catches its prey with a burst of speed without diving.

Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival 2009

Again this year Kingbirdfeeders.com ventured to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival (RGV) in Harlingen, Texas. RGV is a grand event (no pun intended). This year marks its sixteenth year. Having attended last year as a vendor, I was convinced that it would be a good deal to repeat. Birders and experts come from all over the United States and Canada--some even from other parts of the globe. There are several species of birds particular to the Valley--Green and Red Crowned Parrots, Green Jays, Buff Bellied Hummingbirds, Great Kiskadees to name a few. If you want to see these, a host of opportunity is afforded you.


The trip down can be great for birding, too. The highway between Kingsville and Harlingen often is populated with hawks. It is not uncommon to see Crested Caracaras, Harris’ Hawks, Red Tails, Ferruginous Hawks, and American Kestrels.

When in need of a break from the wonderful birding, RGV offers a great trade show where all kinds of vendors offer equipment, feeders, plants, art, reading material, and information about the area and its refuges, parks, and birding centers. Organizations which support and promote conservation of birding habitats have booths at RGV, too.

When the day is done, there is always good food. One evening we closed up for the night and took the drive to South Padre Island. There we dined on the deck of Amberjack’s. The view of the bay and the cool of the evening made for a grand experience. The Oysters Rockefeller were delicious.

For five days, we talked and shared our stories, provided some good products, enjoyed hearing from where people came, marveled at some who migrate to the Valley every year for the winter. And then it was homeward bound. We had a great time; we’re looking forward to next year.