Brought on by a few recent conversations, I thought I would post this note. It is well known that Swainson's Hawks and Broad-winged Hawks migrate to Central and South America to spend the winter months. But, not all Broad-winged and Swainson's make it that far south. A small number spend the winter in southern Florida, and from southern Texas to southern California. So, don't be surprised if you are in those areas during winter and see a Broad-winged Hawk (usually juveniles are seen) or Swainson's Hawk (usually juveniles in Florida and Texas, but a mix of ages are seen in California), and I say usually for a reason. Here are a few Swainson's Hawk pics ('click' to enlarge)...they'll be everywhere in the West in a few months!
I heard long ago that birds with whitish or pale primaries and secondaries have black tips to these feathers (not all do of course) because the melanin in the dark part of the feather helps to keep the feather structurally sound so they don't break or wear quickly. It makes sense and seems to serve that function so I never thought anything different, and it is a neat adaptation. Buy is it really true? If anyone has read otherwise, please write in and let me know. Here are some pics of birds ('click' to enlarge) with black wing tips…
Today, a friend of mine (Vic Berardi) forwarded me an email he received that he thought I would enjoy. A friend of his (David McNicholas) sent him a few pictures he took of a Red-shouldered Hawk from Florida plucking a small Bullhead Catfish out of a pond. The sequence of photos (below) is just so neat to see, and I am thankful David readily agreed to let me post them here. Red-shouldered Hawks are known to feed near water on wetland prey such as frogs, crayfish, etc., or in dry fields, catching things such as mice, snakes, lizards or anything small enough to seize. I have never seen a Red-shoulder catch a fish...I have heard of it happening very infrequently, and saw one catch a frog from a small pond once, but never this. These photos really capture that drama well, it's almost like being there. David McNicholas photographed this sequence today (January 25th) at CREW Bird Rookery right near Corkscrew Swamp in southern Florida.
I just wanted to post a few tails of JUVENILE Harlan's Red-tailed Hawks since the tail can be the clinching trait for identifying juvenile Red-tails as Harlan's. However, they are not always as distinct from the other races as adults are, and can cause a bit of confusion, especially the light-morph juveniles!
What makes a Harlan's tail? Well, often the dark bands on the tail are thicker than on other races, the dark and light bands are more contrasting (but sometimes just the opposite), sometimes
the banding is wavy, and each tail feather has pale blobs on the inner part of the tips creating a "spiked" look. This is not to be confused with a thin line at the tail tip, which can look like a spike of sorts that many Westerns show. Also, some juvenile Harlan's have mottling throughout the tail similar to that of adults. This is more common on light-morph juveniles, which are often different that
dark-morph tail patterns in NOT showing the white blobs. Be aware that the tails of some juvenile Harlan's are nearly indistinguishable from other races, which makes ID tricky. Another trait to look for is the uppertail covert pattern. The uppertail coverts on light-morph juveniles is often mottled unlike the barred, spotted, or plain
upper tails of most juvenile dark Harlan's (and most juveniles of other races).
Here are some examples -- a picture is definitely worth a thousand words. I have hundreds of examples, but these photos are a good cross section, showing every one is a bit of overkill. I was going to write an article on the subject, but it's just easier to show it here, and I think this post stands alone as a good reference for birders.
Just want to post a few pics because of a recent discussion on Prairie Falcon ageing. Sometimes it's not so easy to tell the age of a Prairie Falcon since the juvenile and adult plumages are very similar to each other. Flesh parts (cere, feet, orbital ring) on the larger falcons (Prairie, Peregrine, and Gyrfalcon) turns from pale bluish to bright yellow, but the time it takes for these parts to change color varies quite a bit, and in Gyrfalcon, it takes longer to change than in Prairie and Peregrine. In fact, oddly, many juvenile Peregrines have yellow feet (but often not ceres) by early fall. Also, the flesh parts of males tend to change quicker than on females, same with eye color of accipiters, but of course this varies somewhat individually. By the way, Prairie Falcon gets its adult plumage the first time it molts in its 2nd year. There are plumage differences between juvenile and adult Prairie Falcons, and often it is easy to see, but sometimes it is extremely confusing. Juveniles typically have short streaks on the underbody, where adults have more rounded spots. The head on adults is more finely streaked than the plainer brown head of juveniles, and the pale spots on the back of the head are less white. The upperwing coverts have broader buffy tips, and the secondary and primary coverts are more heavily barred an adults than on juveniles. The tail of adults usually shows more complete bands looking paler overall than on juveniles. Here are some composites of juveniles on the left and adults on the right (note how similar the two ages appear), and a head shot of a juvenile in September that is already changing color on the cere ('click' to enlarge).
I'd like to feature photographers I appreciate every now and then on my blog. So, I wanted to share these photos by Ron Dudley ('click' to enlarge). By the way, he has too many to choose from! I love Ron's photos (and Ron the man), especially his raptors…and after all this is a raptor site mostly. Ron has amazing photos of lots of wildlife otherwise that can be seen at: http://www.featheredphotography.com
My favorite out of this bunch is the Bald Eagle feeding on the wing. I did a blog post a few years ago about this behavior on the Utahbirders blog. Its not uncommon in areas with high concentrations of raptors to see them eating on the wing. It's much safer than getting blindsided on the ground by another raptor trying to steal its food. However, my photos documenting this behavior are not nearly as spectacular as this one! I gotta say, all the photos are beautiful, but the Great Horned Owl perched and the Rough-legged Hawk preening are a close second for me. And by the way, any jackass that feels the need to tell me they are the best bird photographer in North America -- take a look at Ron's and Mia McPherson's photos!
As Shyloh Robinson would say (and I steal as my own now), "enjoy your enjoys"...
Bob Stalnaker has graciously shared photos with me over the past year or two and shared this Krider's Red-tail ('click' to enlarge) he photographed the other day with permission to post it here on the blog...thank you Bob! It's an example that shows there are birds out there that do not show the field marks typically associated with their species. I did similar blog posts in the past (links below), but just wanted to show this bird off since it lacks any bellyband at all, and has the most faint patagial marks ("bars") I think I've seen on a Red-tail.
http://jerryliguori.blogspot.com/2013/10/ferruginous-with-dark-patagials.html And, if anyone was wondering...yes, Krider's do make it to Florida and the gulf states every year in fair numbers, and in Texas and Oklahoma in large numbers. This bird has a pale head and looks to have a fully reddish tail, but within the range of what we call Krider's for sure. And check out the dark malar that many Krider's (adults and juveniles) show.
Of course, vultures and Bald Eagles scavenge dead stuff, but did you know that all raptors do this from time to time. I have seen almost every raptor do this, or steal dead prey from another raptor, it's part of survival! I have seen Golden Eagles feeding on deer carcasses, buteos feeding on roadkill, Ospreys eating clams (which technically may have been alive), and even falcons taking advantage of a food source that wasn't alive. Raptors even feed on food that you normally wouldn't associate them with, especially if they are hungry! I caught an adult Red-tail and a juvenile Golden Eagle on a salmon carcass we had laid out as bait for Bald Eagles during a telemetry project along the Skagit River in northwest Washington. My friend, Christian Nunes has images of Red-tails (including a Harlan's) eating a carcass he captured on a remote camera. And the Red-shouldered Hawk feeding on a deer carcass was sighted and photographed by Vic Berardi. All birds are opportunistic, like most animals on earth. Here are some other pics -- a Bald Eagle and Harriers eating dead fish, a Harrier eating a duck it scavenged, A Harlan's Red-tail eating a coot (Photo by Mia McPherson) and a Turkey Vulture eating a grebe washed up on a beach in CA (gross).
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