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NORTH AMERICAN

BIRDS
OF

PREY

vy

NORTH AMERICAN

BIRDS
OF

PREY
SCOTT WEIDENSAUL

LEFT Bald Eagle

SH(X:>T7A/GSmfiPRSs3

A QUANTUM BOOK
Published by Shooting Star Press,

Inc.

230 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1212

New

York,

NY

10001

USA

Copyright

1989 Quintet Pubhshing Limited

This edition printed 1996

All rights reserved.

This book

is

No

protected by copyright.

part of

it

may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any

form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing
of the Publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of
binding or cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition including this condition being

imposed on the subsequent publisher.

ISBN 1-57335-492-9
This book was produced by

Quantum Books Ltd

6 Blundell Street

London N7 9BH
Printed in China by Leefung-Asco Printers Ltd
All

phorographs supplied by

Visual Resources for Ornithology

Contents
INTRODUCTION 7
What are birds of prey? Different species
by family; threats to birds of prey;

field

guides; preservation and reintroduction

programs

OBSERVING RAPTORS
From hawks

to owls;

14

one of the fastest-

growing forms of birding; enjoyed by

thousands of enthusiasts

SPECIES DIRECTORY 22
Birds listed according to family; easy

reference information on distribution and

identification

APPENDIX 92

INDEX 94

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 96

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Raptors, such as this Swalnson's

hawk
for a

eating a vole, are adapted

life

and

of hunting

killing,

T"' or as long

as

mankind has had an

have had an exalted place

with powerful, taloned feet for

stood breathless

grabbing prey, and hooked

beaks for tearing meat.

if earth

at the sight

in

it.

imagination, birds of prey

And little wonder - who hasn

of a hawk arrowing through the

air,

't

as

and sky were at its command, or felt their hackles rise at the

midnight hoot of an unseen owl?

But what
animals;
hsh,

is

a bird

of prey? Not simply a bird

by that criteria,

would

a robin eating a

that kills other

worm, or a loon catching a

qualify. Actually, the better

term

is

"raptor,"

which

refers to those predatory birds that have evolved specialized beaks

and

talons used to catch their food.

Raptors, then, include the hawks, eagles, falcons

A young

great horned owl, out

of the nest but

still

unable to

fly,

already has the majestic mien of

its

imposing parents- Great

horneds are the most widely

distributed raptor

in

tures are usually included in the roll

even though they do not

some 52 species of raptors

kill their

and owls;

on account of close

own

vul-

relation,

food. In North America,

can be found on a regular basis - three

the

Western Hemisphere.

Mjltures,

23 hawks and eagles, seven falcons and 19 owls. They run

Introduction

Red-tailed

youngster,
tail)

hawks
still

(like this

with a brown

are buteos,

members of
hawks that

the group of soaring

ride

thermal

air

currents while

hunting or migrating.

the

gamut from the

California condor, with

its

9-foot wingspan, to

the sparrow-sized elf owl of the Southwestern deserts.

only birds,

some only fish, some onl)

mice.

Some

eat

One eats only a particular

species of snail. The great horned owl, on the other hand, will eat

almost anything from the size of a raccoon or a skunk on down.

Obviously, with such a range of

different forms, but they all share a

beak

is

invariably

hooked and

raptors

lifestyles,

few common

show many

features.

The

food into bite-sized

sharp, to tear

The golden eagle of the West

and Canada is an active hunter

chunks for swallowing. The

marmots and other

mammals. This is an immature

talons (vultures being the exception.) All have excellent eyesight,

of rabbits,

bird, which will lose the white

wing patches and tail band as

matures.

feet are strong, with sharp,

curved

with the eyes in the front of the head, affording binocular vision for
it

better depth perception

prey.

crucial for chasing

Most are good fliers, although

owls are weak

when prey is

fliers,

this trait is

Naked heads and the

condor The

lack of face

nod toward cleanliness,

time with their heads

easier to

not universal;

many

and hunt from perches, only swooping down

ability to

the three species of vultures - the turkey

ary

lively

spotted.

Vultures -

California

and capturing

soar for hours mark

\'vlture,

black vulture and

and neck featliers

is

an evolution-

since these birds spend a great deal of

.stuck in

wipe bare skin clean

some

ver}-

tlian featliers.

messy places and

it is

Their feet are relatively

weak, and instead of talons they have blunt, ineffectual claws.

Buteos are the soaring hawks, with wide

to catch rising

tails

and broad wings

columns of air called tliermals, and this group includes

INTRODUCTION

some of the most widespread and best-known of raptors.

With 12

American

kestrels are the

widespread and

North American species,

this is also

the largest group on the con-

common

most
of

North America's falcons. Only

the size of a mourning dove,

tinent,

and includes the red-tailed hawk (common

over most of the

U.S.

in

open

countr}-

and Canada,) the red-shouldered hawk of

moist forests, and the ferruginous hawk of the

Plains.

Accipiters are agile, forest-dwelling hawks that eat primarily

birds.

There are three species,

rounded wings

for short bursts of speed,

maneuverabilit}'.

crow-sized,

ver}' similar

except for

and long

tails

with

size,

for excellent

The sharp-shinned hawk is jay-sized, the goshawk

and the Cooper's hawk

The four species of kites are

in the middle.

small,

buoyant hawks, primarily

southern and western in distribution. Most are delicately built, with

long pointed wings and a diet heavy on insects and rodents, altliough
the snail kite of south Florida eats (naturally enough) snails.

The northern harrier is the only North American representative

of a genus found over
harrier drifts
facial disc

much of the

low over fields on

like that

long,

world.

A hunter of mice,

the

narrow wings. A pronounced

of an owl - allows the harrier to hunt by

ear,

for the peculiar ruff that surrounds the face funnels sound.

Although similar

in size, the continent's

and the golden - are not alike

in lifest}ie.

two eagles - the bald

The golden
9

is

built like a

the kestrel nonetheless has the

tapered wings and long

its

larger cousins.

tail

of

Introduction

Among

the owl's adaptations

gkmt

and

huteo,

is

superb hunter of rabbits and other medium-

for night hunting are large,

light-sensitive eyes, soft

wing

sized mammals. The bald eagle, while capable of hunting, prefers

feathers for silent flight, and

exceptional hearing The "ear"

tufts

on

this

to take carrion

long-eared owl are

The osprey is one of the most unusual raptors. Found throughout

simply camouflaging feathers,

however - the actual ear

or fish, and leads a rather more sedentary^ existence.

much of the

world, including

most of North America, the osprey is

openings are hidden beneath

the facial discs.

a hsh-eating specialist that dives into the water

for

its

prey. In

flight,

crooked

"gull

from below, the osprey's wings are

Eveiy line of a falcon 's body is
wings to

long

its

tail

from great heights

wing" profile

ver\'

is

distinctive;

long and narrow.

built for speed,

from

and streamlined form. There are

its

scimitar

six .species,

including the peregrine falcon, revered by falconers and the fastest

living thing

on

earth, capable

of dives of 175 mph. More

the American kestrel, a dove-sized falcon

in farmland.

tliat

common is

hunts mice and insects

The caracara of the South, although classihed with the

falcons, looks

nothing like one;

it

is

a long-legged bird more reminis-

cent of a vulture than the fleet-winged falcons.

The barn-owl,

like the osprey,

is

found almost worldwide.

Because of many anatomical differences,

it is

from the other owls, which are referred

10

classified separately

to as true owls.

This

IN

nv-zLJ^Jv

I'-'i'

A female

kestrel delivers a

morsel of food to her nest, an

abandoned woodpecker hole

in

a pine tree. Kestrels will accept

artificial

way to

nest boxes, an easy

increase the population

of these colorful hawks.

categoiy includes

all

the rest of North America's night hunters,

from the massive great gray owl on down

owls. Barn-owls

from

and

and pygmy-

true owls, even though they apparently arose

different ancestral stock,

night hunting

to the elf

have evolved similar adaptations for

- excellent hearing (enhanced by

acute night vision and near-silent

flight,

their facial ruffs,)

thanks to

downy edges on

the major flight feathers.

The Valve of Predation

People

may admire raptors for their beaut}' and grace,

but that has

never stopped us from resenting them with great enthusiasm,

Through the

centuries, birds

too.

of prey have been reviled as compet11

Introduction

While her chicks

try to

hide

food and game, as heardess butchers, even as a danger

itors for

to

from the photographer, a

female osprey delivers a
the nest,
erected

have

built

in

on

fish to

a strong recovery

along the East Coast, after

pesticides threatened their
in

life.

Only

a saltmarsh. Ospreys

made

existence

human

a platform

have we begun to understand the

in the past centun,'

valuable role that predators, including hawks

and owls, play in the

balance of nature. Far from being a threat to the species upon

the 1950s,

which they play, predators are

essential for their well-being. Pred-

ators,

because they generally take the easiest prey, weed out the

weak,

ill

and genetically

defective, leaving the strong to earn.'

the species. Large plant-eaters, like

populate their habitat

is

somewhat

vast

if not

moose and deer,

that not

which

even their predators can dent, but

that raptors are internal cogs in the

that has evolved

can even over-

controlled by predators. The situation

different for smaller animals like mice,

numbers

on

exist in

it is

clear

complex natural mechanism

over millions of years.

Legal protection for raptors was late in coming. Decades after

songbirds and otlier native species were placed the

species,

hawks and owls were

golden eagles were

began

to

change

tlie targets

after

12

still fair

list

of protected

game, and even bald and

of bounties. That lamentable situation

World War

U,

and today all raptors enjoy full

INTRODUCTION

and provincial

protection under federal, state

and jail sentences

for those that

While the threat of

kill

law, with hefty' fines

them.

shooting has not disappeared, the

illegal

hazards facing raptors today are far

more

insidious. Habitat loss is

perhaps the most pressing; from spotted owls

in the Pacific North-

west to snail kites in the Everglades, birds of prey are endangered

when

the land they

need

have also taken a heavy'

is

destroyed or altered. Chemical toxins

toll.

Widespread use of DDT and other so-

called 'hard" pesticides almost

and peregrine

wiped out the bald

falcon in the 1950s

persistent insecticides have

and

'60s,

been banned

eagle,

osprey

and although the most

in the U.S., they are

still

manufactured here and sold abroad, often contaminating the same

birds on their wintering grounds. Neither are the legal pesticides
harmless. Carbofuran,
in the deaths

There

is

commonly used on

corn, has

been implicated

of thousands of birds, including raptors.

reason for optimism, though. Education and a growing

environmental awareness have tipped the scales in the raptors'

favour, at least for now.

also help directly,

Many birders are discovering that they can

by erecting nesting boxes for

screech-owls and kestrels and

by volunteering

artificial

cavity-users like

nest platforms for ospreys,

for migration counts or censuses like the wintering

eagle survey conducted each year by the National Wildlife Federation,

by helping at raptor education centers and refuges. In

a

way ofgiving something back

beauty they can give to

a sense,

it is

to the birds for the excitement

and

us.

peregrine falcon guards

nest,

its

nothing more than a

scrape on a windswept Alaskan

river bluff.

Peregrine

populations

in

the Lower 48

plummeted due

to insecticide

contamination, and they are

only

now

returning to their

former haunts thanks to captive

breeding and reintroduction

programs.

pswa/.'*"*-

>-'.3.

Observing Raptors

Observing Raptors

V-

Ji
x>.
I

^1

^
'<

^
^^

.^
''

,\

Vt^

<

Hundreds of broad-winged
hawks wheel in a massive
thermal

In

way from

Panama, on

their

M JToni
-I.

the ridges of Pennsylvania

bluffs that

and the

New Jersey

coast to

overlook the Great Lakes and the mountains of the

the eastern US. and

Canada to their South

American wintering grounds.

American

West, watching raptors

of birding. Hawk-watching

is

one of tlie

fastest-growing forms

in particular attracts

thousands of new

converts each year, while others enjoy the challenge of tracking

down

owls.

Watching Hawks
Hawk-watching is primarily a spring and fall sport, and was pioneered
at

Hawk Mountain

Sanctuaiy, along the Kittatinny Ridge in eastern

Pennsylvania. Here, hawks, falcons

fall

and eagles heading south

in the

concentrate along the mountaintop, passing close by a rock}-

outcropping where thousands of visitors

train their binoculars

on

the passing parade. Since the sanctuary's founding in 1934, annual

migration counts have been kept, and identification techniques

have been honed.

identify a

It is

hawk when

shape and behavior.

not unusual for an experienced obser\'er to

it is still

nearly a mile away, going by color,

UBitRVING t^APTORS

Peregrine falcons are primarily

coastal migrants, so the best

places to catch a glimpse of this

endangered species are sites

like Cape May, N J., where a
peninsula jutting into Delaware

Bay concentrates the

Since the 1930s,

many

covered, usually where

the migration.

other obsen^ation points have been

some

dis-

feature of geography concentrates

One of the best is Cape May, NewJersey,

that juts south into

flight.

Delaware Bay. Hawks (and

at night,

a peninsula

owls) moving

south funnel to the Capes point before striking off across the bay,

sometimes in astounding numbers. This

is

one of the best places

to

see coastal migrants like peregrine falcons, merlins and osprey, but
the

Cape does not get the numbers of red-tailed hawks, goshawks

and golden eagles

The

fall

that inland points can expect.

migration follows a predictable schedule. Along the

inland ridges, where the migration has been studied the longest,
the flight begins in the
eagles

humid days of mid-August,

moving south; these are southern birds

that,

with a few bald

having finished
In

many

parts of the continent,

especially the West, roadside

hawk-watching can be very

profitable. Hawks, like this adult
ferruginous,

like to

use

utility

poles and isolated trees as

hunting perches, and a slow

approach
a blind)

15

in

may

a car (which acts as

allow a dose look.

Observing Raptors

breeding

in early spring, "vacationed" in the North.

week of September
eagles, ospreys

By the

the pace picks up dramatically, as

and broad-winged hawks begin

winged peak usually comes

in the

to

fly.

hrst

more baki
The broad-

second or third week of the

month, with tens of thousands of these small buteos migrating.

The broad-winged flight ends

abruptly,

and by the

September and the beginning of October, the stage

first

week

in

held by the

good numbers of sharp-shinned hawks, which peak around

the middle of October. At the

American

few

kestrels.

red-tails,

These

last

same

time, the greatest variety

- red-shouldered hawks, peregrines,

raptors are migrating

is

last

of

merlins,

Cooper's hawks, northern harriers, ospreys and

golden

eagles,

four species

move

rough-legged hawks and goshawks.

to the forefront

by November, along

with a second surge of bald eagles, this time those that breed in

New England and Canada.

Fall

hawk

migrations are closely tied to the wind. In the

both on the coast and along the ridges, the best

come a day or two after the passage of a

East,

flights usually

when

cold front,

the wind

blows strong from the northwest. The blustery winds provide

when they

updrafts

energy-saving

strike the hills

or dunes, giving the hawks

lift.

Hawk migration has been little studied in

the West,

where isolated

mountain systems make cross-country flights a more attractive option.

A

red-tailed

hawk

autumn wind
watch

many

in

rides a stiff

past a

hawk-

lookouts along the ridges

of the East, Red-tails are late

migrants, with the heaviest

coming in
and November.
flights

At the few hawk lookouts in the West, sharp-shinned and Cooper's

New Jersey, one of

late

October

hawks, kestrel and red-tailed hawks are the main migrants, and
days of southwest wind and approaching low pressure systems

seem

to

be the

During the
coast to the
front.

tion

best.

spring,

hawks and eagles do not use the ridges and

same degree as in fall, moving north

instead on a broad

Because there are few concentration points the spring migra-

is

not well understood, although there are a growing

of places,

like

Sandy Hook

in

northern

NewJersey,

number

Whitefish Point

Bird Observatory in Michigan 's Upper Peninsula, Grimsby in Ontario

and Braddock Bay

State Park in

New

York,

where organized hawk

counts are taken during the spring.

Hawk

identification can

be

difficult for

the beginner

species, like the accipiters, are confusingly alike,

involved make

guide

is

it

and the

Many

distances

hard to see conventional field marks. A good field

a help, but the best

16

way

to learn

hawk

identification is

by

going to an established lookout and talking

to those

who have

been watching hawks for years. A single day with an expert is better
than

all

the field guides in the world.

Watching Owls
Because of their nocturnal
finding
is

one

is

stack the

else.

their speciality,

odds

owls are

usually a stroke of luck that

searching for something

making owls

habits,

difficult to see,

and

comes when the birder

But more and more birders are

and are learning

that

it is

possible to

in one's favor

Migratory patterns of western

hawks,

like this

young

Swainson's, are only

studied.

It Is

now

being

an area of

ornithology to which

knowledgeable amateurs can

contnbute a great deal.

Observing Raptors

With

Its

prairie

habit of nesting

in

towns, golf courses and

woodlots, the Mississippi

kite

is

one of the easily observed

raptors on the U.S. Plains.

As hard as owls may be

of North America s 19 species have

without ever seeing the bird.

respond

hear Almost

to see, they are easy to

to a tape recording

distinct calls that

More

can be identified

importantly,

of their species

close enouth to see, thinking the recording

call,

is

most owls

will suffice.

tapes are

from

in;

fiy

an intruding owl.

among

sometimes even a good vocal imitation

tape recording

now on

will

and may even

Screech-owls, great horned owls and barred owls are

the easiest species to call

all

is

more

reliable,

the market, but for most people

however Owling
it is

easier to tape

a bird-song record, like the excellent Peterson Field

Guide

to

Bird Song, or the Guide to Bird Sounds from the National Geo-

graphic Society.
Calm, moonlit nights are the best for owling, and the hours
after

midnight seem to be somewhat better Be sure to play the

right call in the correct habitat - there

whet owls

is

no point in

farm woodlots, or for screech-owls

in

Also, play the calls

in

calling for saw-

northern bogs.

of the smallest owls first, because the sound of a

great horned or barred owl (which would gladly prey on the

smaller species) will frighten a screech-owl into silence. Play the

call several

times at
18

medium

volume, then wait tor an answer

Observing Raptors

A snowy

owl takes wing across

a northern

New Jersey field,

New York

within sight of the

City skyline. Northern owls like

snowies sometimes wander

south

in

the winter, affording

an unusual opportunity for

southern bird-watchers.

Watch the sky for the silhouette of the approaching owl: while great

horned owls rarely come close,

screech, barred and saw-whets will

often perch in the trees nearby.

Using taped

used

sparingly.

calls is disruptive to the owl's life,

During

tlie

courtship

and must be

and breeding season - roughly

FebruatT through July- tapes should be avoided completely,

.since

they draw the owls away from caring for their young, and may even

cause them to abandon their

territoix.

At other times of the year,

use restraint by not calling the same owls repeatedly, or for

more

than a few minutes.

Because owls eat their prey whole, or

must hnd

way

to void the

in large

chunks, they

bones and other indigestibles

.swallow with the meat. They

do

.so

by coughing up
19

that they

a small pellet

of

Observing Raptors

20

and bone each

fur

day.

Because they usually pass their pellets

The broad-winged hawk

some of the most

hawk-watching of the
as hundreds of thousands

provides

while on roost,

it is

possible to find large

numbers of them

in

one

exciting
year,

The presence of pellets

place.

is

obviously a tip-off that a nest or

winter roost is nearby, but the pellets themselves are an interesting

facet

pour south
migrating

in

in

September,

large flocks

known

as kettles.

of owl biology. Containing the remains of almost everything

the owl

eats,

habits. It is

the pellets provide a clear record of local owl food

impossible to identify the species of owl

strictly

from

the pellet, although large owls usually pass larger pellets, but by
carefully scouting the area

The

pellets will

Most

fur.

guide
that

was

friable,

to spot the

coming apart

possible to pinpoint the kind of vole,

eaten.

It is

owl

in a

itself

mass of

rodent bones, and with a good mammal held

mouse or shrew

a fascinating exercise in field research that

anyone can participate

Some

may be possible

be dry and

will contain

it is

it

in.

owls migrate, but because they do so

at night, the flights

are impossible to watch - with one intriguing exception. At Cape

May,

N.J.,

where migrating owls are mist-netted for banding, the

New Jersey Audubon

the base of the Cape

Society'

May

conducts night-time owl watches

at

Lighthouse. Barn-owls, long-eared owls

and saw-whet owls pass through the Cape s

as brief flashes in the revolving lightliouse

bottleneck,

beam -

and appear

a riveting natural

Crows harass
a rare

each

At least

fall,

but because the

flights take place at night,

about

21

flight.

some barn-owls migrate south

virtually

spectacle.

a barn-owl taking

daytime

nothing

this

is

known

phase of

their lives.

#f

fc

FROM BLACK VULTURE

TO BALD EAGLE

A Species Directory
OF Birds of Prey

LEFT

Northern

Goshawk

Family Cathartidae:

New World

Vultures

Black Vulture
CORAGYPS ATRATUS
Sporting
trailing

name

so short

tail

is

it

l^

almost merges with the

edges of the wings (leading to the nick-

among

"the flying wing"

vulture
its

common

hunched form

is

i*

birders), the black

scavenger in the South, where

a fixture at

garbage dumps and

farms.

But while

this species'

the Mason-Dixon line,

it

stronghold

is still

south of

has recently begun a surpris-

now breed
New Jersey, and have been spotNew England - and they show no

ing northward expansion. Black vultures

in

Pennsylvania and

ted as far north as

signs of slowing

range

shift

down. The reason

for this

many

that black vultures are declining in

their traditional
that bird

sudden

remains a mystery, especially considering

home, but

it

serves as a reminder

populations are dynamic, not

With a wingspan of about

parts of

Wz

feet,

of each wing - a handy held mark

static.

the black

pure ebony, with a wrinkled, dark gray head. In

the solid black

is

relieved by a white patch

at

but useless

the

is

smallest of North America's three vultures. At rest

it

It is

is

end

vulture's

plumage:

tail,

at a

compared with

in

Atlantic,

stay with the parents

South and lower Midwest.

hollow

logs,

through most of the following

Two eggs

are the

norm, but unfortunately they do not always hatch;

- the same pesticide-related problem

foQD: Carrion.
nest: Builds none; eggs laid

the turkey
tail.

occasionally breed in loose colonies, and the chicks

with gray head and white wing

year, learning the best areas to hunt.

Mid

its flat

dense vegetation. They

patches.
distribution:

right,

is

silhouetted bird.

in tree cavities,

stumps and on the ground

DE NTI FICATI ON

All black,

looking

pronounced dihedral and longer

Black vultures nest

I

is

the light

better to differentiate the black vulture by

soaring profile and shon

flight

the

when one

if

eggshell tliinning

on ground

that

or stump.

plagued the bald eagle and peregrine falcon -

still afflicts

eggs: 2; white with brownish scrawls and wreathing.

black vultures, a malady that

for regional declines in black \Tilture

Z4

some blame

numbers.

Family Cathartidae:

New World Vultures

Turkey Vulture
CATHARTES AURA
Drifting on
of a

up-tilted

summer

wings through the

gently from side to side as

a

sultr\' air

afternoon, a turkey vulture rocks

it

column of sun-warmed

circles inside a thermal,

from the land

air rising

below. By catching thermals, a vulture can stay

hours with scarcely a

for

flap of

aloft

nearly six-foot

its

wings, soaring over the countryside, watching for a

likely meal.

deer, or small, like a

- but
little

must be dead,

it

Known
aerial

big, like a road-killed

catfish bloating in the

for the turkey vulture has

tlie

turkey vulture

tfie

artist.

vulture

hesitation about feeding

the rankest carrion, although

vulture's

beak

is

North America's

is

Using sight and smell to locate

shows no

preference for fresh food,

if

it

does display a

a choice

offered.

is

The

strong and hooked, and although

do not have sharp

feet

sun

simply (and incorrectly) as a "buzzard" to

cleanup

food,

on

dead

truck with the living.

most people,

its

may be

That meal

make

talons, they

brace for pulling chunks of meat

its

a sturdy

Within half an

free.

tJie

Canadian border, altliough

expanding

is

empty skin - and the

make no pretense

hatch

at

skin usually goes

down

the

As repulsive as their eating habits may be, a turkey

vulture in the air

is

a creature of grace.

The wings are

held in a shallow V, showing the dark bod\' and wing

and second-

linings against the silver, -gray primaries

aries. Tlie

head

naked and red (gray

is

in

young

birds),

but that feature can be surprisingly hard to see

bird in
at

even

flight,

communal

in

good

dr>'

medieval tableau,

The turkey
U.S.,

light.

tlie

dawn they can be

branches

seen, wings

vailture

gargoyles on a cathedral.

common over most of the

New England; barely crosses

is

it

DENT! FICATION

plumage: Dark brown body,

silvery

wing

linings,

naked

red head.

distribution: Southern

Canada south

to Mexico.

food: Carrion.
nest: None;

cliff

ledge, stump,

eggs: 2; white with

the dew, presenting a vaguely

like

except for northern

on

Tlie birds congregate

roosts each night, usually in

of a large, dead tree. At

outstretched to

its

are laid directly

the end, too.

on ground.

brown spotting

it,

like tlie black vulture,

range to the north. Breeding vultures

hour, a single vulture can reduce a rabbit to a pile of

of a nest - their one or two eggs

on

a cliff ledge, the floor of a small

cave or the hollow of a rotted tree. The chicks

slowly, requiring

the nest site

is

grow

to IVi montlis to fledge. Altliough

usually inaccessible, the parents and

young have one

like a

up

final

defense should an intruder -

meddlesome bird-watcher - get too close. They

regurgitate with an

uncanny accuraq', spewing the

interloper with whatever

fed upon.

The

trick

noisome carrion they

almost always works.

lately

Family Cathartidae:

New World Vultures

California

Condor

GYMNOGYPS CALIFORNIANUS

The

largest bird in

a regal

heav\'

feet, tlie California

condor

killing the species.

wing.sp;m of nearl\' 10

ruled the skies of the continent in the post-glacial

days

t)f

the Pleistocene,

when herds

of long-horned

camels and horses provided plentiful food. But

bist)n,

changed and the great herds

as the climate

appeared, the condor

Ruind

metals and other tcjxins that were quickly

North America, with

fell

on hard
and

as far east as Florida

times.

Once,

New York,

time the whites settled America,

it

was

it

The recovery plan hinges on

captive breeding, and

the cnentual release of captive-bred condors into the

wild.

The

be slow, because condors do

proce.ss will

dis-

not breed until they are several years old, and even

was

then lay only one egg every other year.

but by the

restricted to

the western mountains and coast.

hurdle was overcome

conceived

in captivity

in 1989,

when

the

Still
first

major

condors

were born. Meanwhile, Andean

condors, a related South American species, were

Even there, the condor was not

safe.

Shot for

its

released in former condor habitat, so that

when young

ciuills

or for mindless sport, poisoned by accident

California condors are finally returned to the wild,

when

it

fed on laced carcasses set out for coyotes,

there will be experienced adults around to guide the

squeezed by agriculture and development

and smaller

areas, the

into smaller

condor faded. By 1980 only

handful survived in a remote swath of southern

fornia,

and the

extinction

was

save

fight to

in full

but the prize

is

Cali-

condor from imminent

tlie

fight

great.

is still

The

one of the most awe-inspiring

ver\'

much

California

birds

in

- immense

glossy black hackles like a feather boa. Sadly,

is

black-

it

no

longer graces the California skies in the numbers that

did in the past

1987, joining
after

it

habitat

- the

more

under consideration

is

a plan to release

last

wild condor was trapped in

than two dozen others in

was determined
had become too

that

"dirt\

'

captivit\',

the condor's

- awash

native

in pe.sticides.

condors

in

other areas, like the Grand Canyon, where they once

occurred, and where the environment

is

much

ques-

condor

and-white wings, a fien' orange head and a ruff of

it

nev^'comers to roosting and feeding locations. Also

swing.

The outcome of that

tion,

IDENTIFICATION

cleaner.

Family Cathartidae;

New World Vultures

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

OSPREY
PANDION HALIAETUS

The

osprey hunts

no other bird of

like

prey.

Hovering high above a shallow lake or pond, the

osprey pumps

its

itself stationary for

peels

off,

taking

up

long wings rhythmically, holding

a few

moments. Seeing nothing,

anotlier post, tlien anotlier. Finally,

the osprey s sharp eyes detect a

and

it

it

its

feet are

straight

down. At the

last

wings and reaches out with

fully.

Then

it

second
its

forming with the other three an

osprey

is

large,

from the

long

it

throws back

it

drags

a fish clutched firmly in

Fish are virtually

all

an osprey

later. Witli

itself into

the air

of claws, also for

with a wingspan of about

five feet.

repellent,

DE NTI FICATION

plumage: White below, brown above; dark eyestripe

and "wrist patches" on wings.
distribution: Coastal; inland through north to

Alaska, south to Colorado,

food:

Fish,

New

Mexico.

caught by diving.

nest: Large stick platform built

in

trees,

manmade

structures.

its feet.

eats. Its feathers

compact and somewhat water

that

reversible,

its

legs, talons exten-

disappears beneath the water in an

sodden, laboring wingbeats

is

better holding power. Often called a fish eagle, the

fish

explosion of spray, surfiicing a few seconds

- often with

covered with small spicules

a nonslip grip; the outer toe

drops.

surface after a long, shallow dive, the osprey plunges

oily,

it

movement below,

Unlike the bald eagle, which snatches

ded

soles of

give

are

and the

eggs: 2-4; white heavily splotched with brown.

Family Accipitradae;

Hawks and Eagles

29

Family Accipitraoae

and

crooked-wing

profile that

fliglit

makes

it

Hawks and Eagles

easy to

identify even over long distances. The plumage is

brown above and white below, with distinct, dark
"elbow" patches on the underwing. hnmatures are

speckled with white above, and the sexes are similar,

except for a

faint

necklace of flecks on the female's

chest.

The osprey's position

food chain got

^hen

it

at

the end of a long aquatic

into trouble in the 1960s

concentrations fo

DDT

and 70s,

and other chlorinated

iiN'drocarbon pesticides in the fish they ate

began

to

poison them out of existence. Thin eggshells and low

were the major symptoms, and osprey numbers plummeted, especially on the East Coast where
fertility'

common.

they had been

regulations have

Fortunately, stiffer pesticide

removed some of

and

the threat,

ospreys are returning to their former haunts, sometimes aided

b\'

reintroduction projects like the

one

in

Pennsylvania; osprey chicks from the healthy Chesa-

peake Bay population were raised on towers

Pocono Mountains, then

later, after

released.

reaching maturity',

birds returned to nest, the

bred

in the state in

Four or

some of

first

in

five

the

years

the released

time the species had

decades.

Ospreys are among the most adaptable of raptors

when

it

comes

communities,

to getting along witli

it

was once

forms - a wagon wheel

common

at

the

one's backward, a practice that

tiie

o.sprey's

to erect nest plat-

end of
is

coastal

tall

pole -

and,

in

the masts of

or

on the tops of harbour buoys,

six,

day.

wrecked ships and on high-tension

wires, as well as such natural locations as trees,

if

nothing else

saltmarshes.

again popular since

recovery started. They will build their

large, bulk\' stick nest

in

humans. In

The

is

family

available,

on the ground

may number

as high as five

requiring up to a dozen pounds of fish per

Because the osprey feeds mosth- on small rough

fish like suckers,

young carp and

sunfish, that

plent\' of fishing for the harried parents.

cliffs

50

in

means

American Swallow-tailed Kite

ELANOIDES FORFICATUS

The swallow-tailed
mon

found

for this

is

far

of

its

former range

its

more comno longer

it is

a tragedy indeed,

is

one of the most elegant

world, with

forked

was once

the eastern U.S., and that

in

much

in

kite

raptors in the

white body, black wings and deeply

tail.

A tropical

species that reaches

the South, the swallow-tailed kite

breeding bird

in

losing battle. Once,

and

nesota,

a locally

is

in

common

South Carolina, Florida and the Gulf

although even here

states,

northern limits

its

it

it

seems

was found

few overshoot

be

to

fighting a

as far north as Min-

their

breeding grounds

each spring to show up in such far-flung spots as

New

Jersey and Colorado, setting off an understandable

wave of excitement among

No

swallow-tailed kite, or

and grace. The

tailed

is

flies

almost as big as an osprey - a shock to

first

expecting a dainty bird

in

small birds form

its

on the wing. This

possible

diet,
is

many

who were somehow

keeping with

and food

its

does

on the wing, even drinking,

for a sip, or catches water

its

delicate

observed feeding on ripe

as

consumed

much

as

it

as

swoops low

beak along the surface

on

Alone among raptors,

all

often

is

a bird that

over the water and skims

it

fruit,

its

is

wing

for a mid-air

said to have

been

although by no means

ornithologists accept that contention.

The
ped

time,

Large insects, amphibians, snakes, lizards and

lines.

bath.

with such perfect ease

largest of the four kites, the swallow-

seeing the bird for the

do

bird-lovers.

other North American raptor looks like a

nest

laboriously built with small twigs, snap-

is

off in the adults' feet, then lined with

moss. The favoured

site

tree or in a mangrove,

is

the top of a

hill,

American swallow-tailed

Spanish

thin pine

and the nest-building - which

may expand on the remains of the previous year's

nest - is usually finished by mid-March, when the two

or three eggs are

weeks
I

land for

plumage: White body; black wings and long, forked

kite has

built very

its

high

The chicks spend ahout

five

two

swamps and marsh-

nesting and hunting, the swallow-tailed

strikes against

niegal shooting

Insects, small animals.

and twigs,

laid.

the nest before fledging.

it.

Such

habitats have long

been drained or timbered, destroying the areas kites

- and many other wetland species - need to survive,

distribution: Southeast; declining.

nest: Stick

in

As a bird that relies on forested

DE Nil FICATI ON

tail.

food:

kite

adult

kite's

in trees.

its

31

use, especially

on the

wintering grounds, aggravate the problem, and

only time will

eggs: 2; white splotched with brown.

and pesticide

tell if this

unfc^rtunate decline.

beautiful bird will continue

Family Accipitradae

Hawks and Eagles

Black-shouldered Kite
ELANUS CAERULEUS

What's in a name? For years, this bird was known

as the white-tailed

only Nortli American kite

name

fitted,

Elanus leucurus. As the

kite,

witli a light

same species found

known

structure, this

tail

and

in Eurasia

Africa,

because the

kite

by

first

name

scientists

was changed

given a species usually

- the name of the

Nortli

was

shooting almost eliminated the bird

and

seriously reduced

- and

is

given

American

kite

is

an

attrac-

from below, one has the overall

impression of whiteness, with

tion

- and

some

the primaries and a black patch

ditrkening toward

at

the

its

numbers

range. Illegal

its

in Texas,

and

but protec-

in California,

die conversion of land to agriculture, which

produces plenty of small rodents and

insects

- have

brought on a renaissance. Today, the black-shouldered

kite

continues to increase

again

By any name, the black-shouldered

encouraging to watch

the black-shouldered kite continue a strong rebound

from near-extirpation over much of

conform.

to

tive bird. In fiight,

first

are declining because

it is

tliat,

xs tlie black-siiouldered kite, Ekunis aienileus.

Because the Eurasian form was named

priori!)'

common

but ornithologists eventually decided

despite difference in wing and

the

tail, tlie

when many raptors

In an era

of environmental ciianges,

common

in

highway easements,
to

where

in California,

it

is

open lowlands and along unmowed

and

as well as in Texas,

it

appears

be recolonizing some of its former range along the

Gulf coast.

end of each

wing. Perched, the black shoulder patches stand out

clearK'

from the pale gray wings and back

The wingspan

is

about

3V'2 feet,

unlike the swallow-tailed

tip.

Even

at

kite's, is

and the long

squared-off

ing behaviour, for

it

its

tail,

the

at

a distance too great for field marks,

possible to identify a black-shouldered kite by

white

feathers.

it

is

hunt-

hovers energetically like a large,

kestrel.

DENTI FICATION

plumage: Adult: white undersides, gray back and

wings, black shoulder patch. Juvenile: head, breast
streaked with russet.
distribution: Texas Gulf coast, California.

food: Small mammals,

insects.

nest: Large twig cup built

eggs: 4-5; white with

in

treetops.

brown

splotches.

The black-shouldered's breeding biology

to the other

both .sexes

common

in the

kites.

The twig

uppermost brances of

tree; the pair usually picks a spot

a riparian habitat along a stream,

may

nest in loose colonies.

kite,

usually four or five eggs

in

good

clutch

all tlie

all

ians

and

insects

is

that

is

locations

large for a

more remarkable
tlie

whole nesting

as well as reptiles

- food

by

the hunting for the

mate and himself tlirough

and gophers,

similar

built

deciduous

period. Black-shouldered kites feed heavily

voles, rats

is

is

near a wetland or in

and

The
-

considering that the male does

chicks, his

nest

on mice,

and amphib-

abundant

areas and grasslands they generall)- hunt.

in the

farm

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Snail Kite
ROSTRH AMUS SOCIABILIS

For want of a snail, a hawk was almost lost - the

snail (or Everglades) kite, a tropical species that

was one of the

The most

birds to be

first

endangered species

added

to the U.S.

list.

specialized of

all

North American raptors,

the snail kite only eats snails of the genus Pomacea,

which
large,

marsh

in

southern Florida means the apple

greenish mollusc that

The

grass.

most of

lives in

among flooded

was once

snail kite

Florida, but massive drainage

of wetlands has reduced

its

down

common

over

and diversion

habitat substantially. That,

coupled with once-rampant

the kite population

snail, a

illegal

shooting, brought

to less than 20 birds

by the

early 1960s.

Protection helped stop the slide, and intensive

management

for

apple snails - as well

of baskets to hold

kites' flimsy nests

the stage for a recover)-. Today there

as

700

snail kites in the

is still

may be

- has
as

set

Everglades, although

tied to the wise use of water

and

preservation of vital funds.

Tlie snail kite

one of tlie few raptors that are sexually

color - that is, the sexes are colored

in

differently.

A male

carries a

is

slate-gray, with a

wide black terminal band;

are reddish-orange.

The female

is

white

his legs

tail

and beak

russet-brown, heavily

streaked below with buff, and has a distinct

pattern that

eyestripe

combines

and nape;

a buff

that

facial

background with a dark

she, too, has a black-banded

tail.

show

with a long, squared

to the water's surface to

Long

a broad, round-wing silhoutail

and

and toes help the

legs

bill,

which

long, thin

is

slides

kite catch snails, but

operculum, the hard plate

itself in

when danger

the muscle that holds the

the apple snail

is

when
to

The beak then

operculum

fairly large,

shut,

As

it.

snips

and the

snails go,

but a kite must

still

eat

day to survive. In drought,

snail populations are low, the kites are forced

wander beyond

their

normal range

to find suitable

wetlands. In these dry years breeding

place

and the

that the snail uses to close

and swallows

upwards of three dozen

shell

one

kite grips the snail in

threatens.

kite pulls the snail out

lifestyle is its

its

beak between the

its

snails.

and sharply curved. Once

meal has been caught, the

and

dropping

a habit of

hover as they pluck

the bird's most notable adaptation to

foot

is

dimorphic

ette,

many

wetland region from Lake

Okeechobee south towards the

their future

as the erection

of sticks

In flight, botli sexes

at all,

and the

kites

may

may not

take

gather in flocks where

food can be found. This habit of flocking, as well as

accounts in part

tendenq' to nest

in small colonies,

for the scientific

name, Rostrhamus socbhilis (Rosr-

rhamus means

"hook-billed".)

DE NT! FICATION

plumage: Male: dark gray, white tail with wide black

band. Female: dark brown, similar tail pattern.
distribution: Endangered; southcentral Florida,

food: Apple
nest: Stick

snails.

and weed platform

in

low shrub.

eggs: 3-4; white, heavily marked with brown.

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Mississippi Kite
ICTINIA MISSISSIPPIENSIS

Iierhaps
-

The

tliere is

such a thing as

l")eing

from an average person's perspective.

at least

Mississippi kite

of tliousands of

is

prime example. The planting

wooded

shelter belts across

ern Plains has created a paradise for

which

raptor,

and range.

too successful

is

this

dramatically increasing

All well

tlie soutli-

crow-sized

its

numbers

and good, but the Mississippi

kite

likes to nest in places like small towns, city parks and,

especially, golf courses

determined

ferocity.

- they defend

their nests with

golfer preparing to putt, or a

housewife hanging out the laundry, are

liable to find

themselves the target of a blistering aerial

Never mind
for

most people, having

coming

di\'ing out

more other

up on what

if

an unnerving experis

joined by a dozen

species routinely gangs

consider intruders

Although the Mississippi

of the Southeast,

is

the attacker

kites, for this

the\'

it

most

is

hawk with blood-red eyes

of the clouds

ience, particularly

or

attack.

that the attacking birds rarely strike

kite

is

sockets.

in their territoiy.

command

found over much

common on

Its

the southern

long, tapered

of the

wings and

much

are ven,-

air,

tail,

like a

Great Plains, from Kansas and Texas througli Okia

Immature birds are brown above and

homa, where oak groves and

below, with banded

At

one time

to natural

it

seems

likely that the kite

woodlands along

was

The

restricted

river .systems, but

man's

areas, for the Missi.ssippi kite likes to Inint

countn' but nest

common

even more

The

in

raptor in

small groves. Today,

its

Plains habitat

is

Mississippi kite

is

confirmed

from the

air

insect-eater,

and gra.sshoppers,

also take a few rodents, reptiles, frogs

the most

and nestling

birds.

- and becoming

may be toward humans, thengregarious among others of their own

As defensive as kites
are often

so.

silver\'

heavily streaked

cicadas and otlier large bugs from the ground; males

open

adults are strikingly colored: dark gray above,

lighter gray below, with

with

it

peregrine

tails.

snatciiing dragontlies

propensity for planting trees opened up \ast new

its

and have fooled more than one hawk-watciier.

fiilcons

treebelts dot tlie prairie.

as well as

species,

even during the breeding season.

researcher in Kansas observed

dark primaries contrasting

using a 50-acre woodlot in a

secondaries. Black feathers rim the red

rounded by grassland and

eyes, giving the bird the appearance of deep-set

are

more

.state

fields,

One

than 100 kites

park that was sur-

and smaller colonies

common.

DENTI FICATION

plumage: Adult: gray below, dark gray above with

black primaries and squared tail. Juvenile: heavily
streaked with brown.
distribution: Southeast

food:

Insects,

some

small

nest: Stick

plumage

loose colonies.

eggs: 1-3; white.

Plains.

mammals.

and twig platform

Mississippi kite: juvenile

34

and southern

in

tall

trees, often in

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Bald Eagle
HALIAEETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS

John James Audubon can be forgiven for die mistake.

In 1814, while travelling

between Missouri and

brown

eagle,

on the

Illinois,

Mississippi River

he spotted

which he declared to be

"Tlie Bird of Washington," or the

are considerably bigger than those he was used to

a huge,

new

Washington

While Audubon must have been aware

that

seeing; there

immature

to

are several years old, the bird's very large size appar-

species.

eagles

He

tliat

him

that this

simply didn't

breed

in die

was an

know

tliat

also the very

good chance that the

- like most raptors

- are noticeably larger than males.

Anyone who has watched an eagle soar can

species.

,sea-eagle.

bald eagles don't achieve their white head until they

ently convinced

is

bird was a female, for female eagles

all-

the white head and

tail

shimmering

wings and body so dark brown

entirely different

the northern bald

in the sun, the

that they

look black,

the massive yellow beak and piercing eye.

Great Lakes region and Canada

relate

Audubons excitement, however. Bald eagles have

mystique about them that rivets one's attention -

lin

may

Ben

Frank-

(jokingly) have suggested the wild turkey as

the U.S. national symbol, but few today

that the eagle

fills

would argue

that role superbly.

One would think that a bird so big and well-known

would be easy to identify, but that is not always the
case. An adult in good light is unmistakable, although
ospreys, which have lots of white

turkey vultures (which are, after

on the head, and

all,

"bald") are fre-

quently mistaken for bald eagles. The problem birds

are the

brown immature

eagles.

Only

in the last 10

years have birders sorted out the confusing plumage

changes
it

that bald eagles go

through

takes to attain adult color.

nest, the fledglings

their parents

- which

Soon

in the four years

after leaving the

are by then as large as

brown above and below,

underneath. By the next

are chocolate

with whitish wing linings

spring they molt into the "white-belly" plumage,

which they carry

for

two

white mottling on the

tail.

35

By age

three, the

years; there

belly, back,

is

a great deal of

wing

linings

and

young eagles are developing

Hawks and Eagles

Family Accipitradae:

36

Family Accipitradae

head and

the white

tail

of an adult, and gradually lose

concern

At any point in these immature stages, a

is

young bald

easy to mistake for a golden eagle. Both are

But while the golden eagle has a long

fairly

tail

in

Across

much

of Canada and Alaska, bald eagles have

The bald eagle

is

a fish-eater, catching

the surface or feeding

flat

it

dihedral.)

crippled waterfowl

These are somewhat brighter days for bald

and

dangerous pesticides

'60s,

habitat loss, illegal shooting

eliminated them from

much

the eagles that remained

that they

could not lay

DDT,

as

Many of

clutch without crushing the unnaturally thin eggshells.

its

slogans and beefed-up protection for eagles,

came

just in time.

range, are increasing

at a

in

still

most of

like

not as

congregate by the hun-

on southeast

Alaska,

up

dead and dying salmon -

truly a sight to behold.

DENTI

Fl

amounts

of white

linings.

distribution: Breeds coastally, interior Canada, Great

Lakes and West. Also winters

in

much

of mid-continent.

for peregrine falcons to return bald eagle chicks to

where they were

The bald eagle

Because
that

it

lives

is

and

on the

CATION

on body and wing

food:

Fish, carrion,

some

birds

and mammals.

eliminated.
nest: Large, bulky

not out of the woods, however.

fishes in the

same

eggs: 2; white.

water\' areas

people enjoy for recreation, there

is

growing
3'

mass of

sticks high in a tree.

On

to 4,000

to feast

New York and Mass-

achusetts have u.sed hacking techniques developed

regions

osprey

common

plumage: Adult: unmistakable white head and tail,

dark body. Immature: brown overall, with varying

their

slow but steady pace. Help-

ing the natural growth, states like

is

November

an

or

has a reputation

It

bald eagles gather each

endangered or threatened species

will capture sick

behaviour
will

to shore;

"Ban

DDT"

Today bald eagles, while

and
can.

prey near

its

washed

from smaller birds

this

once thought. Eagles

the Chilkat River

or incubate their

The growing environmental movement, with

it

fish

dreds along rivers that have heavy salmon runs.

were so loaded with toxins

fertile eggs,

when

and crows, although

and water pollution had

of the Lower 48.

on dead

also has a taste for carrion,

for piracy, stealing fish

eagles.

like

pest-

fared better, living in largely undisturbed wilderness.

tail.

soaring profile (which in goldens shows a slight

In the 1950s

Nor are

between 1985 and

chemical used mostly on cornfields.

a straight trailing

golden eagles) and a

spiral.

the bald

Chesapeake Bay region

were poisoned with carbofuran, a controversial

short head, the bald eagle's oversized beak gives

The wings are plank-shaped, with

downward

may send

1989, 23 bald eagles in the

and a

the impression of a head almost as long as the

edge (pinched inward

disturbance

icide dangers a thing of the past;

large birds, with wingspans approaching seven or eight

feet.

human

that

eagle on yet another

the light mottling elsewhere.

eagle

Hawks and Eagles

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Northern Harrier
CIRCUS CYANEUS

The

liarrier

is

hawk

apart.

Its

face,

within a circular ruff of feathers,

It

spends much of

builds
tree or

its

on

its

is

Known

with eyes set

time near or on the ground and

though

nest there, rather than in the branches of a

a cliff

Even

its

hunting

flight is

for years as the

most often found

cjuite owiisli.

unhawklike

takes

it

in

some

marsh hawk, the harrier

wetlands and grassy habitats.

songbirds, invertebrates, reptiles

and amphibians, the

vast majority of

up of small rodents,

especially

its

diet

is

made

meadow voles, those

among the most

- a slow, buoyant meander on raised wings, weaving

short-tailed "field mice" that are

only a few yards above the ground.

common
Like

is

Al-

of mammals.

many

animals, voles are subject to boom-and-

on

bust population cycles, which run

a roughly four-

year schedule. At the low point in the cycle, harriers

may

not breed

at all,

clutches of eggs. But

and those

when

tiiat

do

will

have small

the cycle peaks, and voles

are present in unbelievable numbers, the harriers

make up

for lost time

by producing batches of up to

nine or 10 chicks, and by practicing polygyny to insure

that every

mature female possible has mated.

Harriers are dimorphic in size and color; the

smaller adult males are pale gray, with black wingtips,

while the bigger females are brown above and

.stre;iked

with br(5wn below. Both sexes have a large white

rump

patch which, along with

flight,

makes them

(often seen at

fall

and

turkey vulture-like

ea.sy to identify.

Immature birds

hawk-watches) are similar to adult

females, but have a

breast

its

wash of deep cinnamon over

The female

harrier takes primaiy responsibility for

nest-building, selecting a

hummock

in

marshy ground

near low shrubs, then building a platform of

twigs and weeds. Unlike

38

tiie

belly.

many hawks,

harriers

sticks,

do not

Family Accipitradae:

mate

for

life,

or even

for.

Hawks and Eagles

the long-term. Males attract

I

NTI FICATI

ON

a mate by performing an intricate "sk\' dance" that

plumage: Male:

involves rolls, loops and a ritual passing of food from

the male to the female.

mate he

male

will

If

the male takes only

wingtips. Female

one

white rump patch.

help hunt for die chicks, but a polyg\'nous

will leave

subsequent mates to supply their

young with food - a reason why the

ous harriers are

less successful

distribution:

own

Breeds

or

winters

over

most

of

continent near grasslands or marshes.

nests of poh'gam-

than

light below, gray above with black

and juvenile: brown or rusty. All show

food: Small mammals, some

monogamous

birds, reptiles,

amphibians.

eggs: 4-6; white with faint brownish markings.

harriers.

39

Family Accipitradae

Hawks and Eagles

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Cooper's Hawk
ACCIPI TER COOPERII

larger version of the sharp-shinned hawk, the

Cooper's hawk

range, but far less

that

it

fully

may be

is

more

southerly in

common - and

breeding

its

there

is

concern

declining even further, for reasons not

understood.

Like the sharp-shinned, the immature Cooper's

carries brown-streaked

plumage

for

its first

year, tlien

gradually molts into the blue-and-russet adult coloration.

The

tail is

somewhat

longer,

and the adult has

buffy neck nape that contrasts with a dark gray crown

- a

field

mark absent

in the sharp-shinned. Size

highly variable; a small male Cooper's

15 inches long, with a

may be

is

14 or

wingspan of about 28 inches,

while a big female may be 20 inches long, with a

nearly three-foot wingspan.
In the days

when

roaming chickens,

Deciduous woods are the preferred

every farm had a flock of free-

tliis

species

was the hated "chicken

Cooper's hawks, although,

hawk." occasionally grabbing a pullet before disappearing into the

the farmer
tailed

hawk

safet>'

would

of the

woods

seek out a

again. Unfortunately,

rarely see the culprit, so the red-

circling the fields for rodents usually got

raised in barns and Cooper's

all

hawks (which

platform of sticks

is

touch lines

hunt
hunt

friction

Cooper's hawk can

between man and hawk

is

liard to

abundant, small

rels,

a short,

plumage

they rarely

like

like; if

they are

chipmunks, red squir-

are also taken.

The

kill

comes

after

head-long chase through dense cover, where

tail

allows

it

to

maneuver with

uncanny ease. This is a bird that does not give up

easily - it has been seen chasing prey into thickets on

immature plumage,
RIGHT adult

down -

The parents

fed, but oddly,

doves and the

mammals

rats

the Cooper's long

left

in flight,

mice and

alert,

of tlie nest. Medium-sized songbirds

starlings, robins, jays,

a thing of the past.

CENTER adult

The chicks are born

of the diet - woodpeckers, grackles,

make up most

by and large the

Cooper's hawk:

with large chips of

liungr\' .stomachs.

keep them

in the \'icinit\'

flat

eggs are the norm, with incubation

and with ceaselessly

and pigeon fanciers know

their flocks, but

The

with open eyes and a thick coat of white natal

are, like

with humans. They will patrol birdfeeders in winter,

wreak havoc on

five

it

may

the\'

by the female,

built primarily

taking just over a month.

raptors, fully protected) rarely get into trouble

that a

as a finishing

Four or

many hawks,

conifer to hold their nest.

tall

who
bark.

the blame - and the buckshot. Today, chickens are

like

habitat for

foot,

and an animal may be dunked

into a

handy

creek and drowned.

DE NT! FICATION

plumage: Same as sharp-shinned hawk.

distribution:

Uncommon

over most of U.S. and

southern Canada.

food: Primarily

birds,

some

small

mammals.

nest: Large stick platform, lined with chips of bark.

eggs: 4-5; off-white.

'iJ.

Family Accipitradae

Hawks and Eagles

Goshawk
ACCIPITER GENTILIS

As

beautiful

and mysterious

.ern forests

is

hkd

that

where

most common,

is

it

must be st)ught

hawk-watches, so a day

as tiie trackless north-

out.

when two

big, gra\' birds are sighted

is

Few

goshawk

pass

tlie fall

or three of these

a day to

be treasured

in

The goshawk
tail,

is

in flight

it

resembles

buteo more than a sharp-

shinned or a Cooper's hawk. The wingbeats are slow

and deep -

evervtliing about

Coniferous forests

in

tliis

bird bespeaks power.

Canada, the northern states

and the i^estern nnuintains are home

for the

goshawk,

other two accipiters. In

human intrusion than the

many respects this is a wilder-

ness bird, although

regeneration of mature forests

in

is

is

far different.

The back and wings

far less tolerant

tlie

of

the Appalachians has brought increased reports of

breeding goshawks from more southerly locations

like Pennsylvania.

are a rich

gray with a touch of blue, while the undersides are

finely

barred with gray, giving a

tail is

silver)'

appearance

at

crossed by four heavy.

the biggest and rarest of the accip-

Larger than a crow, with a thick body and wide

which

ever,

any distance. The gray

memor\'.

iters.

Immature goshawks have the standard accipiter

brown back and streaked undersides. The adult, how-

IDENTIFICATION

Family Accipitradae

Hawks and Eagles

dark bands, and a white eyestripe cuts through the

and prey

The goshawk
surprise that

is
it

so big and strong

it

comes

no

as

deciduous

takes fairly large prey. In the north

in a

woods, snowshoe hares, spruce and ruffed grouse,

cottontail rabbits

and large songbirds are most

range, crows and red .squirrels

were found

to

priman' importance. Because of their fancied

prey populations.

signirtcant impact

Of far more importance -

to

preser\'ation of qualit)' habitat.

ne.st is

tree, a

must climb

usually high in a coniferous or

bulky cup of twigs and sticks placed

The parents -

especially the

to the nest to

coats

who

band the chicks routinely

and helmets

to

ward

off tlie frenzied

attacks.

on

Ever)'

game animals, goshawks were subjected to bounties

for many years. This archaic practice is a thing of the
past, thankfully, and biologists now realize that predgoshawks have no

is

crotch of the tree.

wear heavy

its

be of

toll

female - are ferocious defenders, and biologists

fre-

quently eaten; in mixed forests to the south of

ators like

alike

A goshawk's

dark head.

10 years or so, northern

goshawks stage

"invasions" into the south, presumably in response

to a

low point

in the

Such irruptions

on

population q'cle of their prey.

(as they are correctly

exciting times for birders,

hawk

who may

known)

find this

boreal of birds as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.

Goshawk:

"^
44

adult

are

most

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Common Black-hawk
BUTEOGALLUS ANTHRACINUS

The common black-hawk

one of five buteos

is

that

are largely tropical in their distribution, and only

enter the U.S. in the extreme Southwest.

Rare and
is,

local, this is a

woodlands and

thickets that

grow along streams or

West such habitat

In the

rivers.

bird of riparian habitat, that

from increasing human

under pressure

is

use, for recreation, cattle-

ranching and housing, and the wildlife that depends

upon

- like the black-hawk -

it

is

caught

in the

squeeze.

During the breeding season, small numbers of

black-hawks can be found in soutliern Arizona, south-

New Mexico and

western
Texas.
largely

They
on

Little is

that

rarely stray

from water, because they feed

crawfish, frogs, fish, crabs,

known about

Bend region of

the Big

its

snakes and

lizards.

breeding biology; the nests

have been found were

in tall trees

such as pines

and cypress, and the usual number of eggs seems

to

be one or two.
In flight,

is

it

easy to mistake a black-hawk for a

black vulture, since both species have wide, dark wings

and very short

tails.

The black-hawk's

banded with three black-and-white

tail,

bars,

however,

and

it

is

lacks

the black vulture's prominent white wing patches,

although

it

does show some white

primaries. Immatures are dark

buff breast heavily streaked in
light

eye

down

stripe;

off

there

is

at

the base of the

brown above, with

brown

iuid a noticeable

also a ckirk malar stripe

plumage: Adult: black overall, with white tail band

and white patches under wings. Juvenile: brown,

coming

each corner of the mouth. The legs

at

heavily streaked, with thin

any

age are rather long, a feature most apparent when the

bird

is

DENTI FICATION

tail

bands.

distribution: Southern Arizona,

New

Mexico, Big Bend

region of Texas,

perched.

food: Crayfish, frogs, snakes,

Black-hawks hunt by perching over water, watching

patiently for prey to

show

itself

below, by walking

lizards, fish.

nest: Stick structure lined with green leaves,

along banks and mudbars, hoping to surprise a crab

near water.

away from

eggs: 1-2; white with fine brown spotting.

its

burrow, or find

a fish

caught in shallow

water.

Common

black-hawk: adult

45

in

tree

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Harris'

Hawk

PARABUTEO UNICINCTUS

An
.

inliabitant of

in Texas,

semiarid brushland aid dry forests

New Mexico and

Arizona, the Harris'

hawk is notable not just for its physical beauty - this

is one of the prettiest buteos - but also for its unusual
life

history,

which

scientists are just

beginning to

unravel.

Roughly the

In the hot, dry lands

where

common mammals.

hawk lives,
among the most

this large

But a rabbit

is

and

.swift

hawk, the

larris'

chocolate brown, with reddish shoulders, underwing

linings

base.

desert cottontails and jackrabbits are

size of a red-tailed

hawk has a proportionately longer tail and long legs.

The adult plumage is a handsome combination of
and

thighs; the

tail is

The immature has

black, with a

broad white

a streaked breast,

seen from below, die primaries are

much

and when

lighter than

in the adult.

agile,

hard work for any hawk to chase and capture. Harris'

hawks have solved

problem with an approach

- cooperative hunting involving

this

rarely seen in raptors

more

than two birds.

Mexico discovered

A team

rabbits might

to flush the rabbit,

hawks

that Harris'

groups of up to a half-dozen

where

of researchers in

birds,

will

its

hunt

in

surrounding cover

be hiding. One hawk rushes

which

bolts, leaving

its

behind. Ordinarily this gambit would work, but

makes

New

break, the rabbit finds

it.self .set

in

attacker

when

upon by

it

the

Once the kill is made, the hunters share

among themselves - another very unusual

other hawks.
the meal

behaviour for a hawk. Other

common

prey items

include birds, reptiles and large insects.

The

oddities don't

end

there.

Many

Harris'

pairs have "nest helpers,"

unmated birds

rearing the chicks. This

was once thought

form of polyandry, but closer study revealed

lielpers

hawk

that assist in

to

be

that the

do not mate with the reproducing female.

Althougii group nests experience a higher rate of

nest failure than nests cared for

by pairs, the nestlings

from group nests grew to a larger

that the

young

in

size,

suggesting

such situations are better

fed.

Nesting takes place in cactus or small trees like

mesquite and soapberry'. The nest

itself is fairly large,

with a lining of soft grass, leaves or bark.

three eggs

make up

or even third broods have been recorded

Two

in Arizona.

DENTI FICATI ON

plumage: Adult: chocolate-brown body with chestnut

wing linings, shoulder patches, thighs; white tail with
wide black band. Imnnature; paler, streaked breast.
distribution:

West

Texas,

southeast

New

Mexico,

southern Arizona.

food: Rabbits, jackrabbits,

nest: Stick platfornn

eggs: 2-3; white.

or

the average clutch, and second

in

low

birds, reptiles.

tree, lined

with green leaves.

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Gray Hawk
BUTEO NITIDUS
T'he gray hawk is a buteo that tliinks
iter

- or

at least

how this Mexican

it

seems

an accip-

it's

that way, judging

border species

from

flies.

Flashy and quick, using rapid wingbeats and short

hawk hunts mostly

glides, the gray

it

for lizards,

which

snatches as they scurry for cover; small birds, snakes,

rodents, insects and even fish are also taken, with the

hawk hunting from

In size

perch or while soaring.

and shape, the gray hawk

the broad-winged hawk, a far

quite similar to

is

more common

species.

The wings are wide and somewhat pointed, the

tail

bit longer, in

proportion, than in most buteos. The

solid above, barred below, with a black-

adult

gra\'

is

and-white banded

tail,

a pattern that explains

one of

names, the Mexican goshawk. The immature

its

like

so

many young

below, with a
for

all

ages

tail

is

buteos,

The gray hawk

brown

bars.

under three

feet.

of fine

little
is

member

is,

brown above and streaked

The wingspan

of the United States'

avifauna by the scantest margin.

tropical bird,

it

barely enters the U.S. as a breeding species in southeastern Arizona,

where

it

is

uncommon

water, and in the lower Rio

few pairs

Grande

near running

where

valley,

As with the black-hawk,

year-round.

live

Tlie small nest

is

built

gray hawk's

near the top of a cottonwood

life history'.

for about 30 days,

little is

known about

and the young spend another four

known

or other streamside tree, and lined with green leaves.

or

Many hawks follow

of bringing greenery

capable of rearing the young

believe

something not even' species of hawk

to the nest,

and

this practice

now

biologists

practicing a natural

form of pest

control.

tlie

birds are

five

some,

Cherry leaves,

weeks

like the

in the nest.

to bring

they wilt - not

small pieces and present

enough

enough

to drive

This behavior

is

to

harm

away

the birds, but appar-

parasites

and

are

insect pests.

especially apt to occur in

hawks

still

whole food

if

that the

the female
is

is

in the

same

it

banded

tail.

fine gray barring

b\'

food.

on

Immature: brown above, brown

breast streaking.
distribution: Mexican border.

food:

Lizards, snakes, small birds, small

nest: Small twig bowl concealed

in

mammals.
Gray hawk: adult

high treetop.

eggs: 2-3; white.

47

is

to the chicks. If the babies

IDENTIFICATION
breast,

killed,

too small to handle whole prey, they will die

season.

plumage: Adult: gray upperparts,

is

able to do; in

reuse their nests from year to year, or to raise a second

brood

male

to the nest, but not to tear into

of starvation surrounded

that

It is

northern harrier, the male's instinct

for example, emit a small quantity of cyanide gas as

ently

the

The two eggs are incubated

b.

^' JIB

Ace ipitradae: Hawks and Eagles

Family

Broad-winged Hawk
BUTEO PLATYPTERUS

is

living

hawk

the red-shouldered, the broad-winged

Like

are frequently seen perched along the edge of inter-

through hardwood

a bird of mature eastern and northern forests,

states that cut

among

exceptionally tame, and

trees that have

grown

tall

enough

close off the canopy and shade the ground.

The broad-winged

is

a small

raptor,

when

the most

away

finally flaps

wingspan of about 34 or 35 inches.

high, descending whistle as

at rest

and

are wide and pointed, the

small.

An

tail

tail

chunky

very broad and

adult broad-winged will have a

and head, chestnut barred breast and

banded

is

It

Soon

wings

in flight; in the air, the

tlie

head

streaking and a

common

Broad-wingeds are

and

band from Quebec

in a

brown-banded

over most of the

in a

in

done

is

quietly

prey, as long as

it

fairly

is

insects. Clearings like

from

tied to

voles,

tail.

raised

many

is

Eastern birders.

when

head

the high

The

flight

cold fronts from

soutli.

Broad-wingeds

down New England

them

as rigidly as are other hawks,

and

a day

mountain

flyway.

is

filled

Hawk Mountain

when

14,

1979

is still

with swirling masses of

Sanctuary in Pennsylvania,
referred to as "the miracle

21,000 broad-wingeds

were

tallied. Totals

are vastly higher furtlier south, in Texas and especially

in

amphibians, small mammals, insects.

feet or less

for

trigger the urge to

September

southern Canada.

50

autumn

good day the sky

day,"

nest: Small stick bowl

may be

four

broad-winged hawk migration

fall

birds. At

distribution: Eastern woodlands, west through

Reptiles,

many as

Two

The numbers can be astounding. Broad-wingeds

regularly fly in large flocks (known as kettles,) and on

plumage: Adult: brown upperparts, chestnut-barred

breast, wide black-and-white tail bands. Immature:

food:

subdivision, or along a busy road).

trating along a

IDENTIFICATION
brown-banded

hard-

when good thermals beckon in the valleys, the flight

will move south in a broad front, rather than concen-

power-line corridors

streaks below,

and along the Appalachians, although they are not

are favoured hunting locations, and broad-wingeds

brown above, brown

is built.

hidden away from disturb-

site,

follow the mountain ridge systems

shrews, snakes, frogs, lizards, young birds, crayfish

and large

in the spring, nesting

and a new nest

the usual

begins in early September,

Canada

in their

- mice and

small

goes.

an exceptional year.

point of

forests are found. Al-

low perches. Broad-wingeds are nonselective

wooded

The

East,

though they are often seen soaring high over the

canopy, most of their hunting

is

chicks are average, but as

tail.

to Alberta in Ca"ida,

wherever diciduous and mixed

tree

it

hawks return

ance (although broad-wingeds will occasionally nest

a ver>' boldly

of black and white. First-year birds are

brown

into the

territories are set up,

wood

brown back

confusingly similar to red-shouldered hawks, with

plenty of

after the

flushed

woods, complaining with a

diminutive of the buteos, only 16 inches long with a

hawk both

They are

forests.

may only fly a

short distance before landing again; this may be
repeated a dozen or more times before the hawk

to

Panama, where a continent's worth of broad-

wingeds

from ground.

flinnel

destination

where they

eggs: 2-3; white with buffy blotches.

is

through a

tiny area. Their ultimate

northern and central South America,

will pass the

winter until

reverse the trip in early spring.

48

it

is

time to

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Family

Red

Ace iPiTR A DAE Hawks and Eagles

:

Family Accipitradae;

Hawks and Eagles

Short-tailed

Hawk

BUTEO BRACHYURUS
are white, although the

tail in this

phase, too,

is

light

gray with fine black bands. Dark-phase and light-phase

birds will interbreed, but the chicks will be either

dark or

- there are no intergrades,

light

as with

some

raptor morphs.

The

short-tailed

hawk

is

larger than a broad-winged.

what unusual

a small buteo, not

much

a bird hunter,

some-

It is

for a buteo, since the

group

as a

whole

tends to take mostly rodents and cold-blooded prey.

A shon-tail on
in

the

the hunt "kites," holding

wind high above the ground,

the savannah or forest below.

into the open, the

Details of
is

built

green

Another

jiorthern limit in the

is

U.S.,

its

extreme

the short-tailed

With most

birds, there

is

in a

leaves.

in Januar\',

hawk

complete

a rare bird of south Florida.

a single

plumage pattern

stages, but a

few

A phase

has

birds exliibit color phases, or morphs.

same

nest of babies.

a light

swamp, and

tliis

case. In Florida,

less

The

clutch.

dark birds are somewhat

adult

above and below, with

gray, barred

banded

different that
species; the

it

tail.

The

is

light

in Florida

begins

is

known about how

lasts, much

solid,

plumage: Light phase: white underparts, brown upperparts,

banded

tail.

phase

is

back and wings are brown,

distribution: Central

linings

food: Pnnnarily

and

so completely

tlie

Dark phase: all-brown body, banded

and secondaries.

more

brownish-black

wing

the chicks are reliant on

IDENTIFICATION

nest: Twig

was, for years, considered a separate

Short-tailed

Almost nothing

how many more weeks

short-tailed

phase and a dark phase,

common. A dark phase

a finely

large nest

adorned with sprigs of

The breeding season

light primaries

in

is

The

baldcypress or

their parents for food.

of several North American raptors that

ha\e colors phases -

are sketchy.

tree, often a

with two eggs most often making up the

nothing to do with sex or age, and different phases

the

quickly to the attack.

long the incubation and nestling period

each for the immature and adult

may occur in
hawk is one

histor}'

stationary

When a small bird bolts

hawk drops

near the top of a

mangrove
tropical species that reaches

its life

itself

carefully scanning

and

and southern

Florida.

birds.

leaf nest built in treetop

near water.

eggs: 2-3; white, often spotted with brown.

undersides

hawk: adult

*i^
51

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

SwAiNSON's

Hawk

BUTEO SWAINSONI
Although
.

it

hawk

from central Alaska

laiid

Plains,

the Swainson's

is

a raptor that

is

found

open

in

to the eastern Great

most people associate with

the sagebrush country of the West, where

common

sight

on fenceposts and

wheeling

in the

shimmering heat of midday.

utility

it

is

poles, or

flocks.

like the

It is

broad-winged

another important

in

hawk is highly migratory,

open pampas of Argentina for the aust-

sense, for the Swainson's

moving

to the

summer.

ral

There are two color phases, the

common.

the most

light

being by

the back and wings, with a brownish

hood

far

brown on

Light-phase birds are

that

merges

with a distinct bib unlike any other buteo, and white

underparts and wing linings. The dark phase

brown,
tails

under the

lighter

body color

the

is

Some

ver)'

which

in

way

to

In flight

its

easiest

on the wing.

flight is light

the bird did not have to

in

is

The

long and ven' pointed, carried in a

shallow dihedral. Tlie

Even

chestnut.

hawk

Swainson's

identify' a

wings are

authorities

morph, the rufous phase,

deep

solid

Both phases have gray

tail.

with a half-dozen dark bands.

differentiate a third

is

work

and

air\',

as

though

to stay aloft.

wide-open grasslands, the Swainson's

hawk seeks out

trees in

which

to nest, usually picking

an isolated tree or windbreak to hold the sloppy,

made mass

of twigs, thistles and grass stems. Like the

mourning dove, which

construction
lost

ill-

skills,

suffers

because of

many Swainson's hawk

its

lack of

nests are

each year to high winds and bad weatlier. Perhaps

for that reason, roughly half of the nesting

hawks take

over the abandoned nests of other birds, especially

This

is

in areas

a big,

where

tame
it

bird, easily

approachable even

has been needlessly persecuted for

generations. As large as a red-tailed hawk, the Swainson's

with

is

its

less

powerful and has smaller

diet of grasshoppers, crickets,

feet, in

keeping

mice and occa-

sional small birds. In a sense, the Swainson's

Plains counterpart to

is

the

the woodland broad-wing -

trusting hunter of small animals that travels in large

magpies.

black-billed
chicks,
Life

which

is

normal

for

they are

still

many

two

is

most buteos.

can be hard for Swainson's hawks.

percent of the nests

kill

The average brood

may be

lost to

Up

to

30

weather damage,

widely shot despite legal protection, cars

hunt along highways, and

that attempt to

untold thousands succumb to the rigors of a migrator^'

round-trip of 17,000 miles.

IDENTI FICATION
belly, brown head and
banded tail, brown upperparts. Dark phase: dark
brown body and wings.

plumage: Light phase: white

chest,

distribution: Western Plains

from Texas to southern

Yukon.
food:

Snnall

nest: Large,
built

mammals and

insects.

messy assemblage of

sticks

and weeds,

near ground.

eggs: 2-3; white, sometimes flecked with brown.

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

White-tailed

Hawk

BUTEO ALBICAUDATUS
T'he white-tailed hawk is fairly common within
on the grassy

restricted range,

south Texas Gulf coast.

It is

its

prairies of the

much more common and

widespread to the south, tlirough Mexico, Central and

South America - another example of a tropical hawk

that reaches

One of the

in the U.S.

North American buteos, the white-

birds, spotted while soaring

fast dive.

fires

northern terminus

largest

hunts for rabbits, small mammals, snakes, lizards

tailed

and

its

Over

are a

smudge

after a

time, this species has learned that grass

boon

of white

for

hungry hawks, and

smoke on

attract white-tailed

gatlier

and caught

the horizon

is

widening

enough

to

hawks from miles around. They

near the advancing edge of the blaze, snatching

panicked animals racing to escape the flames. At such

times, large

numbers of these

beautiful

hawks may

be feeding together, sharing the bount)' of a

chest that

wildfire.

- gray upperparts with

and

band and

a bit shorter

chestnut shoulder patches and

a white

tail

thin gray bars.

hawk

first-year birds are

is

dark gray, with a white blotch in the middle of the

quite

when

displays that involve

to female. In the white-tailed

from

hawk, the pair may

grip talons in midair as they reaffirm their bond.

IDE Nil FICATION

nest

plumage: Gray upperparts, white breast with

barring, rufous shoulder patches, white

tail

the

flat

ground

often

distribution: Extreme southern Texas.

food: Small mammals,

reptiles,

platform built

in

big, bulk)'

the addition of

fine

with dark

terminal band.

nest: Large,

is

on

the

tail.

ritualized flight, calls or the passage of prey

male

In

perched, for the wingtips actually extend

Many hawks have courtship

very

tail is

a fact especially easy to see

beyond the end of the

with a thick black terminal

The

young buteo.

profile are similar to a Swainson's, but the

back feathers, a white belly scored with fine gray

barring,

quite unlike any other

the adult's very long, pointed wings and dihedral

flight,

Adult white-tails have an attractive plumage pattern

is

in

and

new

The

untidy, bolstered each year with

material. Nests are built near to

low-growing bushes or short

trees, but

a rise that allows the bird to see over long

distances.

White-tailed

amphibians, insects.

hawks suffered badly from pesticide

contamination of their food, and the resultant eggshell

low shrub with good

view of surroundings.

thinning. Just as bad, this bird prefers undisturbed

eggs: 2-3; whitish, usually marked with brown.

areas of chapparal and grassland, and

have steadily whittled away

White-tailed hawk: adult

53

human

at its habitat.

aciivities

Family Accipitradae;

Hawks and Eagles

Hawk

Zone-tailed

BUTEO ALBONOTATUS
Mimicry,

common among

so

and

insects

birds, except for

fish,

is

reptiles,

song imitations

mockingbird. Burrowing owls

amphibians,

unknown among

almost

those of the

like

will imitate the

buzz

of a rattlesnake to frighten predators from their nest

holes, but surely the finest
in

North America

the zone-tailed hawk.

is

A medium-sized buteo
tailed

hawk

of the Southwest, the zone-

dark, sooty gray, with a

is

and long,

tail

example of bird mimicry

narrow wings.

fairly

banded white

In flight,

carries

it

those wings in a shallow dihedral and rocks back and

fortli.

and

Tlie color

flight

behaviour are a dead-ringer

for a turkey vulture.

Turkey vultures, being carrion eaters, present no

danger to small animals. By imitating a vulture's

appearance, the zone-tailed hawk
to

approach

its

away, and to

prey with

end

tliat

it

less

is

presumably able

chance of frightening

will often soar

it

with groups of

turkey vultures, peeling out of the flock and into a

dive

when

Mimiciy

it

is

spots a snake, lizard or mouse.

not a conscious decision on the part of

the species; zone-tailed hawks did not "decide" to

impersonate vultures. But over time, natural selection

exerts pressure in favor of those zone-tailed

look aild act

that

like

be more successful
that

do not mimic

Tlie zone-tailed

at

hunting than zone-tailed hawks

vultures.

hawk

and canyons, especially

Its

is

uncommon

in

wooded

in riparian habitat

range overlaps that of the

zone-tailed

!ia.s

common

much narrower

hills

near water.
black-hawk,
in the air;

wings, a

tail tliat

appears proportionately longer and primary feathers

that, like a

The black-hawk

linings.

and the two species can be very confusing

tlie

hawks

turkey vultures, since they would

turkey vulture's, look lighter than the wing

also soars with

flat

wings,

rather than a dihedral. Perched, the black-hawk's

tail

has a single white band, instead of several thinner

bands as

in the zone-tailed.

Nesting occurs in

woods. The nest

is

tall,

streamside trees like cotton-

large,

eggs

is

two.

Little

hawk's breeding

defend

its

else

is

biolog\',

made
number of

deeply hollowed and

of branches and sticks, and the average

known about
except

tliat

it

the zone-tailed
will aggressively

nest against intruders.

DE Nil FICATION

plumage: Black overall, with white-banded tail and

wing feathers, resembles turkey vulture in flight.
distribution: Texas,

food: Snakes and

nest:

Deep cup

New

Mexico and Arizona,

lizards, small

mammals,

of sticks, built high

in

frogs.

tree along water

eggs: 2; whitish, often flecked with brown or lavender.

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Red-tailed

Hawk

BUTEO AM AICEN5IS
J

By
as a

far

hawk

the most abundant and widespread

North America, the red-tailed hawk

breeding species only from

Everywhere

else,

from the arid Southwest

descending

iiigh,

absent

is

the arctic tundra.

farmland and the conifer forests of Canada,

form and

in

is

wide variety of prey, from mice, birds and

reptiles to

woodchucks and muskrats.

Size differs

according to sex and geographic region; a southern

male may weigh only two pounds, while

may

tip

the scales

at

nearly twice

a boreal
that.

On

average, red-tails are roughly two feet long, with a

four-foot wingspan.

most variably plumaged of

Red-tails are also the

North American raptors, with seven different subspecies or color phases (not to mention immature

plumages and

partial albinism) greatly

identification.

The

form; adults are

"standard" red-tail

brown with

light

complicating

is

the eastern

mottling above and

white below, with a variable band of dark streaks

across the belly and a

pattern, but

is

brick-red above and

red-tails

have the same basic

tail

pinkish below. Western

that

show more rufous on

dark barring on the

tail

Buick automobile ads

is

the belly and fine

- the famous hawk in the

a western red-tail.

Immatures

of both forms look similar to adults, but have brown

tails

with fine dark bands. Because the reddish

the adult
reh'

is

on the

present),

belly

and dark

Red-tailed

of

band (which may not always be

strips

along the leading edge of

make an

hawk; center adult

in flight; left

tail

tail

only visible from above, hawk-watchers

the wing underside, to

tail;

tail;

top view of adult

RIGHT top view of immature

there

is

also a rufous-phase that

is

the "Krider's," "Fuertes"' and "Harlan's" red-tails,

for taking a

female

chestnut

are

ke-e-e-r-r-r-r call

powerful buteo, adapted

a robust,

a dark-

phase bird, with a solid brown body and a dark

chestnut over

once thought

red-tail

be

much of the body. In the Plains and

Southwest there occur three confusing subspecies -

common.
The

red-tail in 10 will

soaring

to eastern
its

Roughly one western

identification.

palest of die

to

be separate species. Krider's

lot, witli

is

the

an almost white head and whitish

FamilyAccipitradae: Hawks and Eagles

because almost nothing, from rabbits to earthworms,

scorned. For the most part, however, they hunt

is

small

medium-sized mammals

to

chipmunks, squirrels,

some

squirrels, with

captured.

rats,

and frogs also

birds, snakes

hawks tend

Individual

mice,

like

gophers and ground

rabbits,

specialize

to

in

depending on what is most

territory - a red-tail that hunts

certain kinds of prey,

abundant

in their

farmland will have the greatest opportunity' to catch

mice and

rabbits,

may

area

while one that

and other

grackles, blue jays

Northern

do they

all

wooded

birds.

red-tails migrate,

do

and many

so,

although by no means

pairs stay

on

their terri-

perhaps shifting the boundaries a

tories year-round,
bit to

lives in a

concentrate on squirrels, woodpeckers,

encompass areas

that are better

the cold months. They mate,

if

hunting tlirough

not for

life,

then for

remember their mate despite a

An albino red-tail in eastern Pennsyl-

long periods, and will

long separation.
vania,

which spent

facility'

recovering from a wing injury, was released

her old territory

the

at

She was immediately

and

his

new

months

five

start

set

in a rehabilitation
in

of the breeding season.

upon by her former mate

female but within minutes observers

noticed that the battle shifted

ently recognized her. In the

when her mate

appar-

end the new female was

driven out, and the albino and her old mate settled
tail.

Fuertes" looks

lacks the belly

much

an eastern-red

like

tail,

down

but

band and white mottling on the back.

The

to rai.se another family.

nest

is

large

Harlan's red-tails are dark, often solid black, with

on

white streaks on the breast and black

year after year,

tails that

are

mottled or striped with white.

Red-tails can adapt to a

are usually found in

owl, which has

wide range of

open

and bulky,

if it is

tlie

habitats, but

ments

as the red-tail.

country. In the East they

about

five

weeks

in

first

the\- will kite far

is

emblematic of hawks,

and head down, watching

for voles

prey

may

call for a stealthy

mask

operatively,

so

it

coming

at tlie

nist,

the red-tail

hawk

DE NT! FICATION
variable. Adult light phase:

Immature:

similar,

brown

with brown, dark-banded

food: Small mammals,

tail.

birds,

reptiles,

amphibians,

insects.

kite,

whicii eats
nest: Large,

a generalist, an opportu-

taking whatever fortune brings

red-tailed

misguided humans, but the

distribution: All of North America except arctic.

animal from opposite sides

is

high percentage die in their

to hunt squirrels co-

Unlike the highly specialized snail

tiling,

exercising their wings

upperparts, white breast with dark belly band, rufous

can't use the tree as a shield.

only one

part of

plumage: Highly
tail.

been known

on the

in

a ground-level

attack until the last possible second. Red-tailed

pairs have even

ne.st,

species as a whole seems stable.

more wan-

approach, and adults

particular will use the terrain to

habitat require-

and mice, which

they capture after a vertical dive. Other,

its

way.

list

flat

and well-made of

sticks,

high

in tree.

eggs: 2-4; white with often heavy brown spotting.

of

hawk prey items would be long indeed.

56

(or

year from accidents, starvation and deliberate

killing

above the ground, wings motionless

in a tree

may be used

The two or three chicks spend

the

before finally fledging.

Witli the excellent eyesight that

nest

not usurped by a great horned

and meadows but nesting

woodloLs and forest edges.

high

The

same ecological and

are a fixture of rolling farmland, soaring over fields

in

built

a cactus or cliff in the West.)

Family Accipitradae:

Hawks and Eagles

Ferruginous Hawk
BUTEO REGALIS

T'he biggest and

most powerful of the buteos, the

hawk of the West is as regal as its

Latin name implies. An adult of the normal light-phase
is a striking bird - white below, reddish-brown, with
ferruginous

rufous thighs that appear as a dark

tail

of mixed white, gray and russet. There

combines a

and

in flight

also a

is

their

primary food sunply, the number of successful

ferruginous

hawk

nests rises

and

with the predia-

falls

able population cycle of the hares.

The

nest

large

is

and

eas\' to spot,

tree or, just as often, along the

gully.

be

it

in

an isolated

edge of a mesa or

For some unexplained reason, ferruginous

body

hawks often include chunks of dried horse or cow

"reddish") hawks

are birds of the arid Plains, shortgrass prairies and

when bison herds roamed these same plains.

As with some other Western species, this hawk suffers

New

frequently severe losses of eggs and chicks to the

rare dark phase that

solid rufous

with white underwing feathers and

Ferruginous (the

name means

manure

tail.

semi-desea badlands, breeding from Arizona and

Mexico nonh

to Alberta

and Saskatchewan;

in

winter

in their nests,

presumably

holdover from

the days

high winds spawned by ferocious thunderstorms.

they retreat from the northern half of their range,

migrating into California, the border region, Texas

and Mexico. They are

fairly

in recent years, possibly

In

many

between

common,

due

but have declined

to illegal shooting.

respects, the ferruginous

red-tails

hawk

and golden eagles

is

in

and

behaviour. While only marginally longer than a redtail,

it

is

substantially heavier,

and

it

hunts with the

same rush and vitalit)' that a golden eagle displays.

When not on the wing, the ferruginous hawk will
often simply sit on the ground, the only buteo to
routinely do so.
It

is

mammal

hunter for the most

pair's territory' will usually

ground

squirrel

include one or

colonies.

part,

and

more

large

ground
- they hiber-

Unfortunately,

squirrels are not a constant food source

nate in winter and estivate during the hottest part of

summer -

so the ferruginous

alternative pre\'. Jackrabbits

hawk must switch

and

DE Nil FICATION

plumage: Rusty upperparts, white underparts, bright

midway

size

to

cottontails are often

taken, as are prairie dogs, gopiiers, snakes, sage grouse

and prairie chickens. In areas where jackrabbits are

rufous thighs. Whitish

tail

with rusty

tip.

distribution: Western Plains.

food: Hares,

rabbits,

nest: Very large

dried dung.

In

ground

and messy,
on diff.

squirrels,

some

birds.

of sticks, weeds, often

tree or

eggs: 3-5; white background heavily splotched with

brown.

Family Accipitradae

Hawks and Eagles

Rough-legged
BUTEO LAGOPUS

Family Accipitradae

Hawks and Eagles

Golden Eagle
AQUILA CHRYSAETOS
T'he golden eagle
em

have been drawn to

Roman

is

found over most of the Nortii

Hemisphere, and wherever

it.

Its

it

image, cast

legions to conquest.

Mongol

eagles have conspicuous patches of white at the base

occurs, people

of the

the

in metal, led

lords used trained

its tail

feathers

on warriors

symbol of wilderness

in

common

where

rimrock and
hunt.

Its

West,

hills,

North America.
it

It

flying out into

is

is

food, the golden eagle

most

at that. Its

most

is

a hunter

common

open country

to

breeding range extends from the Mexican

border and California north

in

to Alaska

and

east to the
still

England, and an unknown numlier

in

occurs
eastern

Canada.

Golden eagles are

fluid lines as the

large birds, built along the

bigger buteos,

ratlier tlian

same

the chunky

shape of the bald eagle. The wings are broad and

long, stretching roughly 7 feet fn^n tip to
is

tail is

gray, with heav>' dark bands.

mountains,

iniiabits

Great Plains; a small remnant poptilation

New

in si7,e as

Unlike the bald eagle, which largely scavenges for

and aggressive, the golden eagle

in the

the base of the

adulthood, the wing patches disappear and the

as the ultimate

accolade of bravery.
Big, strong

at

The patches diminish

the bird ages, and by the time the eagle reaches

eagles to hunt wolves and deer, and Native Americans

bestowed

and under the wings

tail

central flight feathers.

wide and fan-shaped, and the head

compact. The overall color

with brassy gold on

tiie

is

a ricii

tip.

fairly

The

tail

small and

brown, tinged

Golden eagle:

head and nape. Immature

RIGHT adult

59

left

immature,

- and a superb one

prey are ground squirrels

Family Ac ciPiTRADAE

and

jackrabbits, the latter usually caught at the

a spirited, low-level chase, but a

mammals,

birds

and

wide

variety'

natural prey

eagles,

which

carca,sses set out for coyotes.

feed

We.st,

East
at

on poisoned

And because

Although a few lambs do die from

it

migrates south

Pennsylvania's

rarest

and most treasured migrants;

Hawk Mountain

Sanctuan' (where

in

the 1930s,)

fall totals

in the bitter

until

late

rarely

first

docu-

exceed 50 or

migrants, not appearing

October, and reaching their peak

winds of November.

DE Nil FICATION

plumage: Adult: brown overall, with golden neck

hackles. Immature: similar, but with white underwing
patches and white tail base.

illegal

effect.

are the preferred nest

site,

distribution: Western

with an annual

tion in eastern

refurbishing of the stick structure adding to a nests

already considerable bulk. Riirely are tliere

two or three eggs

at different

east,

Along the ridge hawk-watches of the

one of tlie

along the ridges

shootings and poisonings continued long after the

Cliffs

and the

60 goldens. They are

numbers are too small to justify the

slaughter that went on in the Southwest, even after
golden eagles were granted legal protection in the
1960s. As many as 20,000 were killed in Texas and

law went into

is

mented

eagles will

a reputation

alone between 1940 and 1962, and

it

a year-round resident in the

is

arctic,

the presence of eastern golden eagles was

eagle attacks, the

New Mexico

but in the

for the winter.

if

caused untold deaths

will feed

on dead sheep, they have gained

for stock-killing.

The golden eagle

end of

reptiles are also taken. Neither

scarce. This has

is

Hawks AND Eagles

of small

are golden eagles above eating carrion, especially

among golden

laid,

more

species

than

New

U.S.; small popula-

England. Rare wintering

in East.

food: Small to medium mammals,

and because the chicks hatch

times, the youngest stands a

Canada and

Canada,

birds, reptiles,

some

carrion.

poor chance

nest: Large stick

mass on

cliff

face.

of surviving the trampling and aggressive behaviour

eggs: 2; one egg usually more heavily marked with

of the oldest chick - the so-called "Cain and Abel

brown

svndrome."

60

splotching.

Family Falconidae: The Falcons

hAMILY hALCONIDAE: iHEhALCONS

American Kestrel
FALCO SPARVERIUS

Next

hawk,

to the red-tailed

fala)n has

tlie

this tiny, ailorful

widest Nortli American breeding

range of any of the diurnal raptors. Except for the

arctic

and

few pockets

in

anci the Pacific Nt)rthwest,

it

southern Fk)rida, Texas

is

found

\irtualiy every-

where.

What

is

human

more,

this

is

a bird very

much at home with

beings, hunting from telephone wires along'

countr>' lanes, or snatching grasshoppers scared uji

by farm machinery. Many nest

in

abandoned

silos

Most, however,

or

some

and

still

in specially built nesting

prefer an old

other natural tree

Only the
retains the

size of a

in the eaves of barns,

cavity.

mourning dove, the

kestrel

aerodynamic shape of the larger

The wings are slim and

boxes.

woodpecker hole

tapered, the

tail

still

falcons.

long and

narrow, the head quite round. Like the northern harexhibits

rier, tlie kestrel

profound plumage differences

between males and females. Both sexes have

plicated

fiicial

com-

pattern of blue-gray, russet and white,

with two heavy "moustache" stripes, but where the

female

is

reasons.

tail,

orange

with a black terminal band. Further, the

tail

female's breast

the male has bluish wings and an

is

streaked with

rust,

kestrel

was known

trel's

while the male's

this

main food

man\' years as the

sparrow hawk, an unfortunate name

for

the

European

its

several

birds,

it

suggests that the kes-

which

and other large

diet year-round

shrews.

62

is

like the

it

is

not. In

summer,

diminutive hawk feeds largely on grasshoppers,

crickets, beetles

for

with

confusion

sharp-shinned hawk. Worse,

has small black spots.

The

invites

sparrowhawk, actualh' an accipiter ven- much

reddish-brown with dark bars on the back,

wings and

It

It

will take a

is

made up

few small

insects,

and much of

of voles, mice and

birds,

its

well as snakes,

FAMILY TALLUNIUAt

IMbPALLUNb

hovering on rapidly beating wings before dropping

to the

tall

range, the
fall

grass for a mouse. In

Ea,st in particular,

migration

some

for

its

winter road counts and

tallies indicate that kestrel

may be dropping

parts of

unknown

populations

reasons, although

it

remains the most visible hawk on the continent.

Clutches are large - anywhere from three to seven

eggs - indicating

that mortality

the average

expectancy

years,

and

life

is

is

equally high. Indeed,

destroy nests, they are

kestrel:

collisions, eat

top female;

BOTTOM male

frogs, lizards

and even bats or earthworms. Hunting

done from perches or while hovering,

Canada and other

and foremost

ularly farmland.

greatly

It

forest openings, the kestrel

a bird of the
is

abundant today than

it

was

Almo.st every farm child

in

it

is

is

facial stripes.

distribution:

that benefited

familiar with

Virtually

food: Small mammals,

food chain.

all

of U.S.

and Canada except

insects,

some

birds, reptiles,

amphibians.

presettlement times.

call,

window

arctic.

undoubtedly more

grew up

high klee-klee-klee-klee

die in

DE NTI FICATI ON

partic-

from the changes agriculture wrought on the

North American continent, and

fast,

open country,

one of the birds

cars, shot,

plumage: Male: blue-gray wings, rusty back and tail,

spotted breast. Female: rusty wings, back and tail,
barred with black. Both sexes have prominent black

Although they may be found around spruce bogs

in

by

a kestrel

speciality'.

first

hit

and snakes, which

poisoned mice and suffer from the

effects of pesticides in the

is

than \Vi

kestrels face a host of dangers. Besides

natural predators like raccoons

American

more

rarely

nest: Tree cavity or artifical nest box.

its

eggs: 3-5; buffy, with light brown flecking.

or the sight of one

63

Family Falconidae: The Falcons

Merlin
FALCO COLUMBARIUS

Not much larger than

a kestrel, the merlin (for-

merly known as the pigeon hawk)

more

aggressive hunter, chasing

what can be spectacular

The merlin

is

down

much

is

songbirds

in

aerial contests.

primarily a northern breeder, occur-

ring near forest openings across Canada, the northern

Rockies, Pacific Northwest and Alaska, in

(and a few towns

prairies

The

like

and on the

tiaga merlin,

Saskatoon) on the Canadian

tundra near pockets of

arctic

which

forests of the north,

is

woodlands

is

found

in the

trees.

coniferous

the most widespread form;

males are dark blue-gray above and streaked with

ator until

brown below, while

flushes, the merlin lays

the females are

Merlins have banded

tails,

and

browner

overall.

lins

merlin drops

mer-

are lighter in color, and the so-called "black"

merlin of the Northwest

is

their

Immatures are almost

own

observed

identical to females.

train

When

late.

its

prey.

six merlins,

If

one

is

it

trying to close
successful, the

ending the chase.

known

have been

advantage; in

the flock panics and

on the speed,

in a short stoop,

estingly, merlins

very dark, appearing black

in all but the best lighting.

too

with and rise above

lack the distinct facial

stripes of the kestrel or peregrine falcon. Prairie

is

it

to use

mankind

case, naturalists in

wintering

and catching the birds

it

Inter-

in the area,

to

Mexico

pacing a

flushed.

Although a merlin may take prey as large as a pigeon

or a small duck, most of

its

to mid-sized songbirds

diet

like

is

composed

of small-

sandpipers, warblers,

sparrows, blackbirds, jays and woodpeckers. Small

mammals,

insects (especially dragonflies), reptiles,

amphibians and bats are also taken.

Merlins are the mo.st adaptable of North American
falcons

when

it

comes

to nesting sites.

abandoned crow or magpie

a further lining of

nesters,

still

where

known

bark and feathers. Others are cavity

to

others have nested

make

merlin

is

the falcon equivalent of the sharpagile,

high, as

does the

It

will fly

low through

a forest clearing

along the edge of marsh, rising and

may be

and

on the ground.

DENTI FICATION

and Alaska, south

Winters

or

in

in

Canada
Oregon and Wyoming.

boreal forest across

in prairies

to

South, Southwest.

food: Primarily songbirds.

falling in a flight

pattern similar to a woodpecker's. Tliis

In tundra

even been

a shallow scrape in the dirt

distribution: Breeds

peregrine, but rather relies on surprise, as with

accipiters.

cliffs.

plumage: Male; blue-gray upperparts, heavily streaked

buffy breast. Female: similar but browner.

bold hunter of small birds.

The merlin does not dive from on

on

trees are scarce, they have

their eggs directly

shinned hawk - an

Most pairs use

sometimes adding

choosing appropriately sized woodpecker

holes, while

areas

nests,

form

nest:

of behavioral mimicry, because the merlin's prey

Abandoned hawk

nest or tree cavity.

eggs: 3-5; heavily spotted with brown.

might not recognize the approaching bird as a pred-

64

lay

Family Falconidae: The Falcons

Aplomado Falcon
FALCO FEMORALIS

This beautifully colored tropical species was once a

common
but

it

there

has

all

now

breeding bird of the

U.S.

Southwest,

but vanished from the area, occurring

only as an accidental

it

is

an active bird-hunter - but largely

dusk,

when humans

merlin

hunts

it

at

an accipiter-like fashion, using a

in

low-level approach and cover to surprise

visitor.

dawn and

are least likely to notice. Like the

its

prey

at

many other
been known to hunt

close range. Also like the merlin (and

hawks) the aplomado falcon has

in pairs.

In northern

and raven

Mexico and the Southwest, old hawk

nests are used by breeding

Three seems

falcons.

aplomado

be the normal number of

to

eggs in a clutch.

An

officially listed

aplomado

endangered species

in the U.S.,

falcons are being reintroduced to the wild

in Texas, a project

begun

in 1985. Initial results

were

four hacked out, two

not encouraging; of the

first

were immediately

by great horned owls, and

killed

the other two so badly harassed by scissor-tailed

catchers that they had to be recaptured.

fly-

Between 1985

and 1988, 17 captive-bred falcons were released,

however, and plans for a similar project

The aplomado

midway between

is

medium-sized

falcon, roughly

a merlin and a peregrine.

to the bat falcon of

It is

related

beginning

in 1991, raise the

will return to

has a black "waistcoat" that

I

separates the white chest from the rufous thighs and

An

adult has a dark

mark, with a
field

head and single moustache

light eyestripe that

makes

a very

good

its

little

hope

that this lovely bird

habitat.

DENTI FICATION

plumage: Rusty underparts with black "waistcoat",

bold facial pattern, dark underparts.
distribution: Reintroduced to Texas; formerly Arizona.

mark.

As might be expected, the aplomado falcon has

been

former

Mexico and Central America, and

like that smaller species

belly.

its

in Arizona,

studied. Biologists

primary

diet;

many

early observers in

Central America considered

reptile eater, while

were long divided about

more

it

Mexico and

sluggish, a lizard

and

recent studies suggest that

food:
nest:

Birds,

some

small animals.

Abandoned hawk

or

crow nest

shrub.

eggs: 3; white blotched with chestnut.

in

low tree or

Family Falconidae; The Falcons

Peregrine Falcon
FALCO PEREGRINUS

It

is

easy to

wax

poetic about the peregrine falcon -

the bird of kings, the fastest creature

peregrine

is all

of

that,

and

good

on

earth.

deal more.

predation and starvation, were

Peregrine falcons again nest in

many

superb mating of form and function, of beaut>' and

states

where they had been absent

for

adaptation - and to watch a peregrine in the air

years,

and the population appears

to

is

to

see magic on the wing.

creasing.

on

Unfortunately, finding a peregrine to watch can be

difficult.

More than any other

raptor, the peregrine

suffered catastrophic losses after World

War

II,

it

all

the West. Even the

shown
on

and declined

much

of the pairs have taken

grounds

handy supply of pigeons

to eat

up

and South

America. By 1970, the peregrine was considered

extinct as a breeding species in the East,

and an

endangered species elsewhere.

In response, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornitholog\''s

Peregrine Fund started breeding peregrines

captivity,

then releasing the chicks to the wild

up residence
(and with

).

Adults are slate-gray above, with a black head, large

significantly in

in Central

in-

skyscrapers or beneath giant bridges, replica-

larger arctic population has

signs of pesticide contamination, picked

their wintering

Many

be quickly

Peregrines are large falcons, bigger than crows.

but disappeared from traditional eyries

east of the Mississippi,

cit)'

Northea,stern

more than 30

ting their traditional nesting habitat of cliffs

when

chemical pesticides came into wider use. Never

common,

but over

the years the project's value has been demonstrated.

The

It is

cjuite high,

in

in a

Peregrine falcon: adult

modification of an old falconry technique called

hacking. Losses of hacked chicks, to accidents, owl

66

Family Falconidae: The Falcons

facial

are

sometimes almost punching

"mustache" and barred underparts. Immatures

brown on

brown-streaked breast. Peale's falcon, the peregrine

will also

subspecies of the Northwest coast,

very dark, while

chase, matching

commonly seen

sandpiper or duck from die

is

the tundra birds of the north, most

along the East coast, are quite a

bit lighter.

The peregrine was prized by medieval

falconers

in migration

for

its

simply out-fly

its

move

for

duck or other large bird -

flushed.

is

sideslips into a dive, gaining

beats, finally

drawing

its

Then the

it

distribution:

plummets. Special

prey

in
it

sharp focus; special baffles

its

spectacle leaves

and weak knees.

flock.

air.

Endangered

in

East,

food: Small to medium

birds.

or

in the nostril

to breathe despite the rush of

extended, the falcon slams into

The

a slack jaw

in arctic.

nest:

decreasing distance, allowing the peregrine to keep

its

in a level, flat-out

move, cutting the slowest

mountains. Widespread

corneal muscles in the eye compensate for the rapidly

permit

prey

A peregrine

with dark barring, banded

speed with quick wing-

as

passes, then flips

plumage: Adult: dark gray upperparts, buffy breast

tail. Heavy "mustache"
nnarks on face. Innnnature: similar but browner.

falcon

primaries back to form a

mph

it

usually a grouse,

teardrop shape. The falcon drops like a bolt, hitting

speeds of up to 17S

as

DE Nil FICATION

it

human with

an earthbound

willingness to "wait on," circling high above

the falconer and his dogs until prey

it)

out of the dive and grabs the falling bird.

the back, wings and head, with a

None

built;

no skyscraper

scrape on a

cliff

rare

in

Western

ledge, under bridge

ledge.

eggs: Usually 4; heavily blotched and spotted with

Talons

rusty

prey, ripping (or

67

brown.

Family Falconidae: The Falcons

Prairie Falcon
FALCO MEXICANUS
same

the

arid scrublands of the West

where

Inferruginous and Swainson's hawks live, the prairie

and rocky

falcon haunts the

cliffs

birds and small

mammals

bravado

The

that the

hunting for

hills,

with almost the same

peregrine exhibits.

prairie falcon belongs to the so-called "desert

group" of

falcons, hot-climate birds that include the

lanner falcon of Africa and the saker of the Middle

East

and

Asia.

It is

nearly as large as the better-known

peregrine, with a slimmer

From below,

body and brown plumage.

mark

a flying prairie falcon's best field

are the very dark patches that stretch from the axillars
(or "wingpits") out along the wing linings.

From

above, the wings appear dark and the

much

lighter, a

combination not found

in

tail

brown, immature
are almost strictly

falcons

Prairie

peregrines.

choosing a ledge

tliat

from the weather,

out, a

offers

an overhang for proteaion

floor so the eggs won't roll

flat

commanding view

reliable source of

nesters,

cliff

of the surroundings and a

food nearby. The female makes a

small scrape in the dirt of the ledge floor and lays her

four or five eggs with

no

further preparation.

Although the prairie falcon remains a

species, there are concerns about

the areas

it

During the breeding season,

found from

British

human

east to the Plains, west

bound to have a
some areas home

where

it

although

habitation has had

little

Many of

for mineral

hunts and breeds

in

other locations,

effect.

Fortunately,

and

wildlife agencies

now keep

Mexico. They winter over most of the same

falcon numbers,

and their well-being - and that of

- is routinely considered on public

to the coastal

New

Columbia

has caused

prairie falcons are

in the foothills

local declines,

common

is

negative effect on the falcons. In

construaion

fairly

future.

opened

inhabits are being

production, and the disturbance

Prairie falcon: adult

its

territory,

mountains and south

although

some

down

chosen habitat

Mexico. Within

its

with buttes,

and badlands -

into Texas

dry,

raptor.
flight,

is

flushing. If rodents are

falcon has

no

on ground

that

it

can

allowed.

startle into

suddenly

more common, however,

DE Nil FICATION

plumage: Pale brown above, buffy breast streaked with

brown. Long banded tail. Prominent dark wing linings.

especially larks, doves, sparrows, quail and other

ground-dwelling birds

is

open land

Prairie falcons excel at catching birds in

it

lands befo'-e habitat disturbance

and

common

cliffs

watch on prairie

wildlife in general

from the extreme

retreat

northern fringe and others drop

to Arizona

a close

distribution:

the

Western

prairies

and badlands

fronn

southern Canada to Mexican border.

hesitation about concentrating

its

efforts

squirrels or prairie dogs. In the

Snake

River Birds of Prey Area in Idaho,

200 pairs of prairie falcons

live

canyon, their breeding cycle

where more than

along
is

food:

tlie

rugged

Birds, snnall

mammals, some

reptiles

and

insects.

nest: Cliff ledge.

river

eggs: 4-5; white, very heavily marked with light

brown.

timed to coincide

with the peak abundance of young ground squirrels.

68

Family Falconidae: The Falcons

Gyrfalcon
FALCO RUSTICOLIS
According

and the

to the legendary protocol of ancient

^falconry, the merlin

was flown by

islands of the Arctic Ocean, the dark birds in

ladies, the

the western half of the range, and gray gyrfalcons

peregrine by lords - but the gyrfalcon, especially the

almost everywhere. Birds of different colors freely

white gyr, was reserved for a king or emperor.

interbreed, which further confuses the issue.

While
strictly
its

in real life that hierarchy

attended

place

to,

the top.

at

not have been

With the treeless tundra presenting

vistas that

the gyrfalcon certainly deserves

on

for miles, the gyrfalcon usually hunts

Nonh

on

a high, rocky

It is

the biggest falcon in

and noble bearing. A large female may

go

by perching

outcropping and watching for move-

ment below. Far and away the

a bird of circumpolar

America (indeed the world,)

distribution

may

favorite

ptarmigan, which change from

prey

brown

to

is

willow

white in

be two feet long, with wings that stretch across four

feet - an imposing predator, especially when matched

winter to mask their presence from the falcon's sharp

with typical falcon speed and maneuverability.

air,

The gyrfalcon
it

of

is

is

a bird of the arctic. In North

eyes. If the ruse

America

than a

across the High Arctic islands, the North-

west Territories, the Yukon and Alaska.

on

treeless tundra, nesting

canyons and hunting the

gulls, shorebirds,

flat

cliffs

It

its

ap-

The capture comes after a long chase, rather

single, overwhelming stoop as with the pere-

grine.

inhabits the

and eroded

muskeg

dropping low to use the terrain to hide

proach.

found from Labrador and the Ungava peninsula

Quebec

unsuccessful, the gyr takes to the

is

river

for ptarmigan,

waterfowl and the occasional small

rodent.

While gyrfalcons come

pure white

in a

range of colors, from

to very dark gray, there are too

many

intergrades for these variations to be considered true

group has its own area of abundance white gyrs are most common in Greenland
"phases." Each color

white gyrfalcon

The gyrfalcon
wander

far

making

it

south of their breeding range each year,

where

at

hawk lookout

magnitude;

first

not migratory, although a few

the rarest wintering

appearance
the

is

fall

at

hawk
is

in the U.S. Its

a red-letter day of

Hawk Mountain

Sanctuary,

counts have been conducted since 1934,

only six have been sighted.

IDE Nil FICATION

plumage: Many gradations from almost pure white to
solid,

sooty gray.

distribution: Arctic tundra near

cliffs,

river

canyons,

bluffs.

food:

Medium

birds,

especially

ptarmigan,

some

mammals.
nest: Old

hawk

or raven nest, or

cliff

ledge.

eggs: Usually 4; whitish, lightly spotted with brown.

69

Family Tytoni DAE

The Barn Owls

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

Flammulated Owl
OTUS FLAMM EOLUS
T'iny

and rareh' seen, the flammulated owl of the

West

is

a ghost of the ponderosa pine forests,

tantalizing birders with

its

but only infre-

faint hoot,

For years, bird-watchers and experts alike con-

more

sidered the flammulated owl a rare bird, but

show

raptors within
at

avoiding

may be

too precise a word, since flam-

in

good

may be found

habitat

pairs per square mile.

quently seen.

recent studies

"Territon"

mulated owls sometimes nest

its

it

be one of the most common

- just one that is ver\- good

to

habitat

human

eyes.

A member

of the screech-

owl complex of species, the flammulated

is

a Lilliputian

on

pillars,

tufts

and mottled plumage

that

provide excellent

camouflage against the peeling bark of a pine

There are two color phases, gray and

with a bright

rust)' facial disc

and

tree.

red, the latter

row of reddish

spots along die scapulars, or back feadiers; this explains

the

name

It is

flammulated, which means "flame-bearer."

unusual to find a flammulated owl outside the

ponderosa pine

forests of die

western mountains, from

the Southwest up through Idaho, Washington and

extreme southern
species, the

British

Columbia.

owl arrives from

American wintering grounds

territon- diat includes

its

A highly

niigraton-

Mexican and Central

in

May and

sets

one or more woodpecker

up

holes.

are

moths and

cater-

but also beetles, crickets and even scorpions.

Although

it

apparently

is

more common than once

thought, the flammulated owl's future

Ponderosa pine

is

a vulnerable

lumber

is

cloud\'.

species,

and

heavily logged in man\- parts of the West. Because

is

ear

a rate of five or six

insects, especially

breeds almost completely

has small

and

incubated for about 3V2 weeks, and the chicks, once

hatched, are fed

hunter, scarcely sLx inches long, with doll-sized talons

it

at

The three or four eggs

and dark

eyes. Like die otlier screech-owls

in loose colonies,

v\elfare of the

in

ponderosa

flammulated owl

management of the

forests.

will

it

stands, die

hinge on wise

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

Eastern Screech
OTUS ASIO

Owl

Family Strigidae; The Typical

Western Screech-owl and Whiskered Screech-owl

ASIO KENNECOTI AND ASIO TRICHOPSIS

Superficially,

three species of screech-owls -

all

the eastern, western and whiskered - look alike.

All

have shon ear

and yellow

tufts, cryptically

eyes; in

fact,

colored plumage

the eastern and western can-

not safely be separated by appearance. But

have markedly different

all

three

and because they do

calls,

not interbreed with each other, they have been

accorded

status as distinct species.

series of accelerating notes

short, then long,

biology

is

the

ern as one species until a few years ago,

the parlance of birders.

"split," in

the

same

sort of habitat as

its

It

when

east-

it

was

much

occupies

eastern cousin, especially

oak woodlands, orchards and deciduous groves. There

is

less variation in color,

with most birds being gray,

except for the Northwest coast, where brown

is

the

most prevalent hue.

The western

call is

very different from

the eastern's whinnv. There are two

common

calls, a

is

marginally smaller

than the western, with abundant bristles around the

mouth -

the "whiskers" of

its

name. Unlike the wide-

spread western screech-owl, the whiskered

in

is

restriaed

the U.S. to southeastern Arizona and southwest

New

Mexico, in mountain oak forests up to about

4,000 feet in elevation.

screech-owl has been

likely that its life

screech-owl's

A cavit)'

little

history

is

nester, the

whiskered

studied, although

similar to

counterparts. As with the western,

its

it

seems

more commc^i

its call is

the best

identif>'ing clue, a long string of short hoots or a

"Morse Code" series of irregularly spaced notes.

IDENTIFICATION
plumage: Almost

identical

to

screech-owl, but with different

distribution:

West from

food: Small mammals,

Plains to Pacific, Pacific North-

insects, reptiles,

nest: Tree or cactus cavity.

eggs: 2-5; white.

DE NTIFICATION

plumage: Almost

identical to

with abundant mouth

western screech-owl, but

bristles,

greenish

best distinguishing mark.

west south to Mexican border.

small birds.

gray-phase eastern

call.

amphibians,

as the eastern screech-owl.

The whiskered screech-owl

The western screech-owl was lumped with the

and

pitch,

In most respects the breeding

trill.

same

on the same

distribution: Southeastern Arizona.

food:

Insects.

nest: Tree cavity.

eggs: 3-4; white.

bill

base. Call

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

THE TYPICAL
FAMILY STRIGIDAE:

OWL

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Snowy Owl
NYCTEA SCANDIAC A

wv^-.

An

airport

would seem

to

be an unlikely place

they

to

look for rare owls, but each winter, snowy owls

wander south from the

that
in

Northeastern

times by

tlie

cities like

dozen. The

arctic

end up

airports

at

no jumbo

jets

grassy taxiways apparently

on the muskeg, they seem

potshot

beyond

plain of the Arctic Ocean,

summer
It

is

tlie

which

sunlight in

than a smaller body.

feet.

It is

down

to the toes

no

more

arctic hares, are subject to the

common among
is

the older,
tories,

more entrenched

soutli. Tliey

prey,

in thick

may wind up

When

the low

food to go around,

be forced to wander

New

situation.

down-range

as

Alabama

food: Small mammals, hares,

nest: Depression

England or southern Canada.

barring;

in

birds.

low hummock, sometimes

with feathers.

They pass the winter on open grassland, farm country

or along the coast, areas similar to the

DENTIFICATION

distribution: Arctic coastal plain, treeless tundra.

or even Bermuda, but most go no further than the

upper Midwest,

good

plumage: White with varying amounts of black

males whitest, juveniles most heavily marked.

birds hold the best terri-

as far

is

a raised

lemmings and

population cycles so

will

of barring and

eggs have been recorded in a single nest - clearly a

is little

and the younger owls

Adult males are the

fair bit

snowy

northern herbivores.

reached and there

it.

showing a

it

and the pads of the

terrors for the

Its

hordes

so universally recognized that

to describe

case of making the best of a

Starvation does, however.

changing,

is

likely to attract

hummock, above the soggy

tundra, with little or no lining. The lemming population directly determines the number of eggs; if food
is scarce the owls might not come into breeding condition at all, but during a lemming peak as many as 13
on

a depression

owl.

point

is

immatures the most heavily marked of all. The nest

to live, but the

completely encased

Winter's cold holds

is

whitest, with females

owl has adapted to it well. It is large - up to four

pounds - because a large body retains heat better
feathers, right

attentions. Fortunately, that

snowy owl today

A snowy owl

alternates with 24-hour darkness in winter.

a brutal environment in

can't resist taking a

it was thought
none of the wintering snowies survived

seems redundant

rolling coastal

where constant

threat of prosecution

still

of excited birders than a .22 slug.

mankind's pale, with caribou, muskoxen and polar

bears for neighbours. Tliey breed on

who

tele-

such a big bird. At one time,

man's unkind

undis-

and

lives far

at

that virtually

turbed by the constant roar of turbines.

Most of the time, the snowy owl

and even the

does not deter some

remind the owls of the tundra - and although there

are

behind. They can be absolutely fearless around

vision antennas,

Boston and Toronto, some-

flat,

left

humans, perching nonchalantly on barn roofs or

eggs:

open tundra

76

13,

depending on food supply; white.

lined

Family Strigidae: The Typical

77

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

Northern Hawk-owl
SURNIA ULULA

If

the harrier

this

is

hawk

that tliinks

north-woods species

is

it

is

an owl, then

an owl that

tliinks

it's

hawk. The hawk-owl has no qualms about hunting

daylight,

perched

at

the top of a

wagging, watching for a mouse.

it

does not swoop

down with

of owls, but attacks with a

an

like

accipiter's.

obviously relies
prey.

It is

for

it

one

also

will

more on

all in all,

It is,

It

that

of spruce and

though

it

is

The hawk
Its

When

it

spots

its

flapping glide

hover

prey

to

is

it

not unusual to be able to walk

is

up underneath one, drawing only a

from the unconcerned

its

half-curious glance

bird. Unlike the

snowy owl,

range, and

see,

when one does show up

in

New

England

or die Great Lakes region, serious birders from around

the countn' drop what they're doing to see the

in the

tail is

facial discs.
it

is

it

is

not

common,

rarit)-.

al-

open.

bit

shorter for

plumage:

the most reliable field mark,

The eyes and beak are

silent,

except for a

trill

DENT! FICATION
Horizontal

barring

on

dark

undersides,

upperparts spotted with white, very long, barred

square head and black

facial

disc borders.

No

tail,

ear

tufts.

yellow.
distribution: Boreal forests across Canada, Alaska,

on the

food: Small mammals

breeding grounds and an angry keek-keek-keek-keek

similar to the alarm call of ... a hawk.

nest: Tree cavities or

Mice and lemmings make up the bulk of the hawkowl's diet in

is

of Canada and Alaska, where

about 16 inches long (a

Most of the year

is

medium

Like most of the northern owls, the hawk-owl

beguilingly tame;

along with the barred breast and very dark border

that

only

grouse and other hefty

burns mix with dense stands

Even there

perch

tapering

around the

its

it

hawk-owls rarely wander south of their breeding

few birders get the chance to

fire

In winter,

beneath the snow,

forest birds, in addition to smaller songbirds.

and

sight than hearing to find

safely

size will tackle ptarmigan,

more

like a kestrel,

burrow

switches over to birds, and despite

in

tail

the fluttery flight typical

fast,

the rodents

conspicuous because of its diurnal habits

and tendency

males).

fir.

spruce, long

a ven,- unusual owl.

lives in the forests

open bogs and old

tall

chipmunks and other mammals.

slioe hares,

when

eggs: 4-7; white.

summer, along with the young of snow-

78

in

summer, more

abandoned hawk

birds

or

in

winter.

crow

nests.

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Northern Pygmy-owl
GLAUCIDIUM GNOMA

Even for an aggressive predator like the northern

the eastern slopes of the Rockies to British Columbia

pygmy-owl, the woods hold dangers. Only 7

inches long, this western owl

is

at

risk

and west

even from

other owls, like the great horned, which would not

hesitate to

So

make

meal of

breast; the

to fool potential predators, the

eyes in the back of

its

head -

literally.

pygmy-owl has

On

the neck, the owl has two black spots,

white, that

common
it

brown above with

it.

the nape of

to

rimmed with

plumage

basic

justifv'

calling

is

rust}'

and

a heavily streaked

long and banded.

Some individuals
may be too slight

light spots,

it

a color phase.

The

call is

a series of

whistled hoots.

may serve to unnerve attackers. This is a

among moths, butterflies and hsh, and

The pygmy-owl

is

a cavity-nester, usually taking over

an old woodpecker hole 15 or 20 feet up the

apparently works well for the pygmy-owl as well.

tlian a

tail is

The

are grayer, although the differences

ruse

Hardly bigger

between 5,000 and

to the Pacific, usually

10,000 feet of elevation.

tree.

As

the female incubates her clutch, and later as the three

sparrow, the pygmy-owl never-

or four chicks grow, the male has responsibility for

songbirds its own size and even larger,

much of its diet is mammalian, primarily
summer large beetles and grasshoppers are

tlieless tackles

supplying the food.

If

although

makes

larger than the family can eat at

mice. In

kill that is

he gets

a lucky streak, or

may be cached

once, the leftovers

if

for later eating.

also eagerly hunted.

Often described as diurnal, the pygmy-owl

is

more

properly a crepuscular hunter, most active in the

twilight of

dawn and

dusk.

lacks an important

It

DE Nil FICATION

plumage: Reddish or gray phases; both have long,

adaptation for night-time hunting that most other

light-barred

owls possess -

black "eye spots" on nape of neck.

of

flight

catch

its

soft

- because

it

relies

to muffle the

on speed and

sound

distribution:

agility to

Tlie nortliern

pygmy-owl

is fairly

forests in the

tuftless heads, streaked breasts

Mountain

food: Small mammals,

prey, instead of surprise.

uous and mixed

from

wing feathers

tails,

common

in decid-

mountains and

New Mexico, Arizona and California,

nest:

hills

north from

79

forests fronn Rockies west.

insects, small birds.

Woodpecker hole within 20

eggs: 3-4; white.

and

feet of ground.

he

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Ferruginous Pygmy-owl
GLAUCIDIUM BRASILIANUM
the rarest of North America's owls, the

Probably

ferruginous pygmy-owl
in

only a few locations

It

was not always so

common

over a

zona, and was

much

in

found

is

in small

numbers

Arizona and south Texas.

rare. In the

1800s

it

was

the Rio

fairly

Grande

notes, unlike the northern's

Insects, scorpions,

owl's diet.

larger portion of southern Ari-

numerous along

puk-puk

in

Its

It is

hard to say what the future holds for the ferrug-

hinges on

have been largely cleared for agriculture and water

ing to protect

management. Most researchers believe the handful

that

of ferruginous pygmy-owls

chance.

and are
tions.
is

in

in

substandard habitat,

danger from further brush-clearing opera-

Even

its

status in the core of

its

range, Mexico,

uncertain.

The ferruginous pygmy-owl looks ver)' much like

its more widespread relative tlie nortliern pygmy-owl.
Both have round,

tuftless heads,

yellow eyes, black

"eye" spots on the back of the neck, and long

But while the northern's

tail

and white, the ferruginous'

call is

is

is

tails.

banded with brown

brown and

black.

the most diagnostic feature, a series of

The

puk

this

similar to the north-

large cactus being used, often in successive years.

of mesquite, cottonwood and catclaw acacia, which

Mexican border are doing so

is

ern pygmy-owl's, with a woodpecker hole in a tree or

inous pygmy-owl, but

living north of the

mice and small birds form

nesting behavior

Texas. But this subtropical raptor needs riparian forests

still

low hoots.

still

human

its

survival in the U.S. obviously

concern. Wildlife managers are

and expand the fragments of

try-

habitat

remain, to give the surviving few owls a

Its fate is

a lesson in basic conservation, for

no animal can survive without the proper habitat.

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Elf

Owl

Owl

MICRATHENE WHITNEYI

At

V^

L-of
It is

ounces, the elf owl

is

the songbirds with which

it

migratory species that winters

and Texas (where

is

it

now

rare);

drastically in the California desert,

tion project

common sound
The

elf

owls by

owl

its

as

is

its

tail.

a mottling of buff

Although the

and oak-pine

and

elf

forests

In keeping with

it

The head

up

is

found

it

a nimble bite to the

is

parts, short

The males, which return from Mexico

up

holes, tlien call

mates.

Once

southwest

such

nest:

from the entrances to lure prospeaive

is

selected there

elf

owl

is

tail

is

It
it

stinger before

an insea

known

is

no

New

it

eats them.

tuftless head, buffy under-

Mexico and Texas.

Woodpecker hole

eggs: 2-3; white.

further

81

in

cactus or tree.

for

disarms with

tail.

food: Insects and arthropods.

first in

territories that include several

a hole

tlie

distribution: Deserts, canyons and foothills of Arizona,

providing second-hand housing for the

the spring, set

size,

plumage: Sparrow-sized;

most closely

Here, gila woodpeckers and flickers excavate cavities

owls.

its

face.

IDE NTIFICATION

associated with the desert "forests" of saguaro cactus.

in the cacti,

carefully scrutinizing every

and the body

in riparian thickets

to 7,000 feet,

one of the best ways

catching dangerous scorpions, which

gray.

owl

by

is

fact,

large moths, beetles and crickets.

round and

is

fledged,

hunter, taking a wide array of invertebrates, especially

from both pygmy-

lacks ear tufts, the large eyes are yellow

opening. In

of spotting an elf owl

to the desert.

easily separated

very short

is

its

hole in a saguaro for a small, round

a reintroduc-

shockingly loud yip

dusk comes

desert from

has declined

it

where

young are nearly

until the

the female will roost in the hole, often watching the

Mexico

underway. In Arizona, however,

is

remains abundant, and

and continuing

feeds.

it

in central

on

the floor of the cavity. Even before the eggs hatch,

shares the desert.

the smallest owl in the world, less than 6 inches

long - as small as the moths on which

modification; the female simply lays her 2-4 eggs

outweighed by most

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Burrowing Owl
ATHENE CUNICULARIA

On

the Plains and through the Southwest, the

summer

ing; the

can be a season of vicious, grinding

heat for anything unlucky

enough

to

be caught

prairie

long,

nortli tlirough

tlieir

lack ear tufts

Florida that

on

is

particularly

There

largest

normal broods of

make up

diet.

DENTI FICATION

plumage: Long

and near airports

regular contact with people.

legs, short tail, tuftless

on undersides, back
has unmarked, buffy breast.
barring

They are

head. Chestnut

heavily spotted. Juvenile

fond of prairie dog colonies, an association

that stretches far

back

in time. Prairie

distribution:

dogs - aaually

Open country from Canadian

California, Texas. Small population in

rodents - dig extensive networks of tunnels

Plains to

southern Florida.

that, in

food: Insects and arthropods, small mammals,

presettlement times, covered hundreds of square

lizards,

birds.

The tunnels, in turn, provided homes and food

many other animals, including prairie rattlesnakes,
black-footed ferrets and burrowing owls. An old mytli
miles.

nest:

for

holds that the prairie dogs, rattlesnakes and owls

in perfect

harmony, but the truth

is

much

le.ss

is

in a disturbing decline.

bulk of the bird's

in

prairies.

dark bib.

Although chiefly nocturnal, burrowing owls are

brings them

to California,

any North American owl, often 8 or 9 chicks, some-

frequently active in the daytime, and their habit of

living in vacant lots, golf courses

eat.

times up to a dozen. Insects and rodents

and brown backs and wings; juveniles fresh out of the

a broad,

the ferrets

young

western Washington, die nortliern Plains

Burrowing owls have the

very rounded heads, have rust-barred underparts

nest have buffy underparts and

is all

kill

also a separate, nonmigratory population in southern

most of their time on or near the ground, explaining

They

that

and southern fringe of the Canadian

burrowing owls spend

their longer-than-normal legs.

dogs - and

Burrowing owls are found from Texas

in the

sun. Many animals find relief by escaping underground

- and that's exactly the tactic used by the burrowing
owl, one of the more unusual raptors in Nortli America.

About 9 or 10 inches

snakes and the owls will gladly

Abandoned burrow

of prairie dog,

gopher, tortoise, other digger.

dug

live

entirely

May be

badger,

enlarged or

by owl,

eggs: 6-8, often more; white.

charm-

^"'"I

v->^.

NSSaiS**'^.
82

the

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

Spotted Owl
STRIX OCCIDENTALIS

With

gentle

its

brown eyes and

plumage, the

soft

spotted owl hardly looks like a candidate for

controversy. But this beautiful bird of the western

mountains has generated

storm of protest, setting

environmentalists against loggers in the battle for

forest

its

home.

Spotted owls are found only in old-growth forests,

stands of ancient trees,

500 years

old.

some

of which are

more than

Such trees are prized by timbering

and the remaining old-growth stands are

interests,

disappearing rapidly - and with them, the owl. In the

Pacific

Northwest, the spotted owl has landed

at

the

center of the battle for these magnificent woodlands.

Bowing

to industry' pressures, the

to

the spotted owl as threatened under the

list

Endangered Species
the owl

is

government

Act, despite clear

in trouble; to

reftised

evidence that

do so would mean severe

curtailment of timber sales

on public

land,

which

includes most of the remaining old-growth. Only after

environmental groups took court action did the U.S.

Fish

and Wildlife Service reverse

decide to

list

itself in

The spotted owl

is

rather large, very similar to the

more widespread barred owl except

than vertical barring, on the belly.
Pacific

1989 and

the owl.

Northwest,

it is

found

for spots, rather

In addition the

in disjunct distribution

through the Sierras, southern Rockies and South-

DENTI FICATION
western mountains. Because of logging,

plumage: Brown above, heavily spotted with white,

undersides barred and spotted with brown. No ear
tufts,

brown

eyes.

that

distribution: Old-growth forests on Pacific coast, Sierras

abandoned hawk

nests,

mammals.

cliff

habitat

is

lack the genetic viability for survival.

mammals make up most

flying squirrels, mice,

Flying squirrels, tree voles, other small

nest: Tree cavities,

may

Small

and Southwestern mountains.

food:

its

increasingly fragmented, isolating small populations

vole,

which spends

in the

ledges.

its

wood

entire

of

rats

life far

its

diet, especially

and the red

above

tlie

tree

ground

lichen-covered branches of the great trees. The

spotted owl nests in tree cavities and old raptor nests,

eggs: 2-3; white.

usually raising just two chicks a season.

83

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

Great Gray Owl

STRIX

Huge

in

appearance, the great gray owl

compared

lightweight

snowy owls - but

it

is

30 inches long, with a

The

great gray

deep conifer

tlie

and

is

to the great

horned and

impressive nonetheless, nearly

five-foot

wingspan.

confirmed northerner, found

from central Alaska

forests

Rockies, Cascades and Sierras

occurs

it

actually a

in

to Ontario,

numbers down through the northern

in small

where

is

NEBULOSA

it

at

high elevations. Even

a hard bird to see

is

fading,

wraithlike, into the forest.

Tastes vary, but the great gray

most attraaive of
black, white

on

its

The

Nortli America's night hunters. Gray,

and brown blend with watercolor softness

plumage, forming

break up
face

streaks, swirls

and bars

that

outline against the backdrop of trees.

its

is

owl may well be the

enormous, with concentric dark rings on

the facial discs framing two bright yellow eyes that

seem dwarfed

in

comparison.

Two thin white strips at

the chin look like a high Victorian collar.

quite long, but the overall impression
is

The

tail is

that the

owl

mostly head.

For

and

its

size, the great

restricts itself

although
It

is

it

at

is

not a strong hunter,

mostly to rodents and squirrels,

will capture

often hunts

gray

snowshoe hares and

dawn and

chicks to feed the adults

dusk, and

may

when

rabbits.

there are

forage off and on

throughout the day. Old hawk, crow and raven nests

are taken over and

deepened

to

accommodate the

owl's two or three eggs, although the rotted top of a

broken tree trunk may also be used.

IDENTI FICATION

Great gray owls do not migrate, but a few wander

south each year, and major irruptions occur on a

plumage: Cryptic blend of grays, browns and white.

Large, round head, no ear tufts, concentric rings on
facial discs,

long

to 15-year schedule.

tail.

may be

distribution: Boreal forests from Alaska to Ontario,

south

in

northern Rockies, Cascades, Sierras.

Abandoned hawk

that winter

so harassed by birders that they are unable to

a bribe. Wildlife photographers frequently release

and voles near the owls, hoping

nest or

snapped

10-

near towns

hunt - although the visiting humans sometimes bring

food: Small mammals.

nets:

Those

for action shots.

mice

The

owls are so completely fearless of humans, however,

off tree trunk.

that

eggs: 3-5; white.

it is

not

uncommon

for the bird to try to take the

rodent from a person's hand as soon as

84

it

sees food.

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

87

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Long

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Owl

Short-eared Owl
ASIO FLAMMEUS

Owls

as a

group are woodland

south for the winter,

birds, but the

the grasslands and tundra,

beneath the wide open

Because
eared

it

lives

where

it

on freshwater and

hunts for mice

around large

sky.

where

and

trees are scarce, the short-

an active hunter, eschewing the quiet wait on

is

a perch that

most owls

practice.

It is

seen flying low over

fields

buoyant and mothlike, with

and marshes.
fluttering

spersed with long glides. In the

air,

it

The

guish

it

its

round, neckless head,

from the northern harriers

that

them

common

rodents are especially

or

and

winter they are gregarious,

more

nest

it

is

not unusual

in a small area, roosting

a crude, grass-lined scrape in thick

is

sometimes

as part of a small

most often alone. Like the

inter-

and clutch

the owl's buffy

color and dark "wrist" patches on the undersides of

the wings, as well as

if

vegetation,

Its flight is

wingbeats

drops through

companionably on haystacks or muskrat lodges.

often

is

their range

coastal marshes, fallow fields

airports. In

to find flocks of 20

up and around

before dusk, and hunts past sunrise, so

when

the Southwest, Gulf states and South. Watch for

short-eared owl has abandoned the forests for

harrier,

its

size are tied with the rise

colony but

nesting success

and

fall

of vole

populations.

distin-

hunt the same

I

DE Nil FICATION

terrain.

The short-eared owl

streaked with

plumage: Buffy

about 15 inches long,

is

brown and ocher

to

overall,

with vertical breast streaking,

mottled back.

blend with dead

distribution: Breeds near grasslands or marshes from

grass.

The ear

tufts

of more than a few

that

may

cause

it

to

are

vet)' small, invisible at a

feet,

giving the owl a

range

arctic

smooth head

be confused with the much whiter

New Jersey,

Midwest, Colorado, winters

in East.

barn owl.

food: Small mammals, some

Short-eared owls are found in every state and province, but their distribution

are most

south to

south to Florida and Mexican border. Spotty distribution

common

and much

less

is

spotty

in the West,

so in the

East.

and

local.

nest: Depression

They

on ground among heavy grass and

weeds.

Midwest and Canada,

eggs: B-7; white.

Northern birds migrate

89

birds, insects.

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Boreal Owl
AEGOLIUS FUNEREUS
Sharing

the

woods with

owl, the boreal owl

species,
in

found

in Alaska,

the great gray and liawk-

is

back, and the breast

another tame northern

Canada and

similar

in alpine forests

The boreal

that
is

with a

hea\'\'

facial discs

black line, there

is

is

more square

are surioLinded

of spruce,

white spotting on the

fir

and

It

is

southerly saw-whet owl,

and a head

bill

than round.

The boreal owl's preferred

a small owl, about 9 or 10 inches

The

streaked with brown.

more

but has a yellow (rather than black)

the Rockies.

long, with a large head.

is

the smaller,

tt)

habitat

where

birch,

it

dense

is

forests

hunts around bogs

and other openings. Da>time roosts are usually deep

of branches, or even inside a building.

in a tangle

They are

said to have sheltered in old igloos in the

Far North, but since the building of ice houses

skill

is

rareh' practiced in this day of prefab shelters,

it

seems

likely

few boreal owls have the chance anymore.

Mice and other rodents comprise most of

its

food,

with songbirds in the winter and, in summer,

some

insects.

The boreal owl

for nesting. Tlie

up

is

dependent on woodpecker holes

brood

size

is fairly

large, occasionally

to 10, indicating a high juvenile mortality' rate. Tlie

call is

a series of low, fast hoots.

Because

tlie

boreal owl

overlooked. Onl\' within

ered

in die central Rockies,

now found
shy bird

it

in

New

lives in otlier

past 15 years

;md

Mexico.

it

was

is
it

easily

discov-

diligent searchers

It

seems

have

likely tliat

- of humans.

DE Nil FICATION

plumage: Squarish,
around light facial

tuftless head,
discs,

heavy black borders

white breast streaked with

brown, brown back spotted with white.

Bill

yellow or

white.
distribution: Boreal forests from Canadian
to Alaska, south

in

in

food: Small

mammals and

mountains.

eggs: 4-6; white.

90

Rockies; presumably to

and Arizona

nest: Tree cavities.

tliis

pockets of alpine forest habitat,

out of sight - and knowledge

so secretive,

is

tlie

birds.

Mantimes

New

Mexico

Owl

Family Strigidae: The Typical

Saw-whet Owl
AEGOLIUS ACADICUS
T'he saw-whet's unusual
its

name comes from one of

one sharpening
so suffice

it

on a saw. In this modern

may only confuse most people,

to say that the call

is

series

year-round resident in most of

short and raspy - and

not heard as often as the saw-whet's

a

over the 'West except for the most arid deserts.

the teeth

age such a rural simile

note,

Canada, along the Pacific coast from Alaska south, and

equally unusual calls which sounds like some-

more common

of endlessly repeated

birds (probably juveniles) migrate into the

Plains

and the South. A separate population

mechanical

In the U.S.

the southern counterpart to the

forests,

in habitat choice,

pure hardwood stands.

has a

up the Appalachians

also

and Canada, the saw-whet inhabits con-

smaller in size, with a rustier cast overall.

strange distribution pattern -

is

woods and mixed deciduous-coniferous

altliough it has shown a fair degree of flexibility

boreal owl, very similar in appearance but a shade

It

range, although

some

iferous
is

resident in the highlands of central Mexico.

whistles.

The saw-whet

its

It is

The saw-whet

to

the Northeast and upper Midwest, across southern

and has been found breeding

is

bird's small size (about

is

mouser, and considering

in

this

8 inches) a white-footed mouse

formidable game. The owl's talons are tiny but

extremely sharp, however, and

and small birds

like

do

tliey

the job. Insects

chickadees are also taken, which

vehemence with which songbirds

explains the

will

scold a saw-whet they find roosting during the day.

Tlie smaller birds are safe, for the

when

at night,

owl does

its

hunting

has the advantage of silence and

it

surprise.

Saw-whets take over old woodpecker holes for

nesting,

and

like

screech-owls they respond well to

the offer of artificial nest boxes; for either species the

box should be about 16 inches deep, with

a three-

inch entrance hole and a layer of sawdust in the

bottom. Juvenile saw-whets are dark brown above

and solid chestnut below, with prominent white

eyebrows.

DENTI FICATION

plumage: Reddish
reddish streaking

facial discs

on

breast,

without black borders,

back rusty brown with

white large white spots.

distribution:

Mixed or coniferous

forests in West,

southern Canada, Northeast and Appalachians; also

winters

in Plains

woodlands, parts of South.

food: Small mammals, some birds and

nest: Tree cavity or

eggs: 4-6; white.

91

artificial

nest box.

insects.

Appendix

Appendix
Selected Refuges and Organizations
Most hawk-watches are known to rekuively few
people, but
recognition.

Some

some have achieved

international

watching, particularly for red-shouldered hawks in

March. Braddock Bay Raptor Research, 432 Manitou

Beach

of the best:

Rd., Hilton, N.Y. 14468, is a private organization

that

conducts the counts.

Tlie

Golden Gate Raptor Observatory

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Tlie world's first refuge

was

for birds of prey

establisiied in 1934 along eastern

Pennsylvania's Kittatinny Ridge. Peak

is

September-November,

owned

sanctuary

a visitors

c\)nducts spring

and

Headlands near San

Ft.

fall

iiawk-watches

Franci.sco.

Mason, San Francisco,

GGRO,

in California

the Marin

in

Building 204,

Calif, 94123.

and educational programs. For

center, hiking trails

Association, Route

but the 2,000-acre, privateh-

open year-round, with

is

more information

hawk migration

contact
2,

Hawk Mountain

Kempton,

Sanctuar>'

Tlie

Snake River Birds of Prey Area, 30 miles soutli

more than 600 breeding pairs

of Boise, Idaho, holds

Pa, 19529.

of 15 species of raptors, a denser concentration than

Cape May Bird Observatory. Cape May is a magnet

for migrants of
to owls,

all t\'pes,

near the lighthouse

the

fall,

from songbirds and hawks

herons and shorebirds.

is

A hawk-w-atch

manned by the

CMBO through

many
South Cape May Meadows (a

but the migration can be observed

locations, including the

platform

at

Nature Conservanq- property) and Higbee Beach.

Cape May Bird Observatory,

P.O.

Box

3,

Cape May

anywhere else

in the

world. The 480,000-acre refuge

owned by the federal Bureau of Land Management

BLM For more information, write: Snake River Birds

is
(

).

of Prey Area, BUVI, 3948

Development

Ave., Boise,

The

Hawk

America

is

Migration

Association

of North

a coalition of serious hawk-watchers

biologists that tabulates migratory' data

Point, N.J. 08212.

is

one of the

Lake Ontario shoreline

at

Box

51, 'W'ashington,

Conn. 06793.

best spots in the East for spring hawk-

RIGHT Eastern Screech-Owl

and

from across

the U.S. and Canada. For information, write

Braddock Bay on New York's

ID

83705.

RIGHT Gyrfalcon

HMANA

Appendix

Selected Reading

T'here

are

many

field

some

guides on the market,

Hawks, by William

good, some not so good. Two of the best for

Wheeler,

is

S.

Clark and illustrated by Brian K.

one of the Peterson

Field

general birding, which include excellent sections on

covers

raptors, are:

detail,

with excellent paintings that

color

phases,

Field Guide to the Birds (Eastern and Western

editions),

Roger Ton' Peterson, Houghton

Houghton

Guide

to the Birds

more advanced

The Audubon

in Flight,

by Pete Dunne, with

A.

text.

illustrations

is

Knopf Co. Devotes two or more pages

by

not a field guide, but a thoughtful,

identifS'ing

hawks through

the subtle clues of behaviour and form.

Master Guide to Birding three

volumes), edited by John Farrandjr. and published

by Alfred

in great

ages and

Mifflin Co., 1987.

Mifflin 1988)

Societ)'.

birders:

Societ}-

all

and extensive accompanying

eminently readable work on

For

show

It

David Sibley and photos by Clay Sutton (Houghton

of North America, published

by the National Geographic

North American diurnal raptors

series.

Mifflin Co.

Hawks
Field

all

Guide

to

each species, with good coverage of raptors.

93

INDEX

Index
Bold type indicates

names
Page numbers

Bubo virginianus, 74

Latin

in italic refer to

captions.

DDT: and bird populations,

Burrowing Owl, 82
Buteo albicaudatus, 53
Buteo albonotatus, 54

13,30,37

AegoUus fiinereus, 90

Buteogallus anthracinus,

Accipiter striatus, 40
accipiters, 9, 16

Accipitradae, 28 60

Aegolius acadicus, 91
Kestrel, 9, 10, 16,

62-3
Kite,

31

15-16,28,35-7

snails,

artificial

nest boxes, 13, 91

artificial

nest platforms, 13, 30

7 9-10

Grim.sby, Ontario, 16

Elanoides forficatus, 31

82

10, 12, 13,15-16,

28, 35-7

Common, 70

Barn-owls, 10, 11, 21, 21, 70

19,50,86

endangered species:

Condor,

California
calls

8,

14, 21

"hawk, chicken

Cathartidae, 24-7
chemical toxins: and bird

Falcon, Peregrine, 10, 13, 13,

"chicken hawk"

Cooper's

.see

15,75,16,66-7,69

"Bird of Washington" see Bald

Condor, Andean, 26
Condor, California,

8,

Common,

45

Cooper's Hawk,

9, 16, 40,

Kite,

32

45

"blue darter" see Sharp-

Cornell Laboratory of

State Park, 16

'crazy

16, 27,

Flammulated Owl, 71
"flying wing" see Black
Vulture

40

"Fuertes'" red-tail, 55, 56

owl"

.see

Barred Owl

"darter, blue

"

.see

Hawk

Sharp-

Black, 45,
40, 42
15,

Harris',

46

"hawk, marsh" see Northern

Harrier

hawk, pigeon, see Merlin

Hawk, Red-bellied, 50
Hawk, Red-shouldered,

9, 16,

50

Hawk,

Red-tailed, 8, 9, 16, 16,

55-6

Hawk, Rough-legged, 16, 58

Hawk, Sharp-shinned, 9, 16,
40

Hawk,

Short-tailed, 51

hawk, sparrow

.see

American

Kestrel

Glaucidium brasilianum.

Crested Caracara, 61

shinned

and Wildlife Service, 83

Owls, 19

season: Owls, 19

Broad-winged hawks,

57

eagle .see Osprey

forest hawks,

Fund, 66

.season:

Breeding and courtship

fish

Ornithology': Peregrine

courtship and breeding

Hawk

Boreal Owl, 90

48

42

Coragyps atratus, 24

"Black" Merlin, 64

19, 21

9, 15,

(Peterson), 18
Fish

birds, 46, 56, 65

19,86

migration, 15-16,48

Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, 80

cooperative hunting between

Common

Hawk,

Hawk,

Field guide to bird .song

26

Cooper's

Hawk, Gray, 47

7 10,61-9

Ferruginous Hawk,

.see

57

Falconidae, 61-9
Falcons,

"

Hawk, Cooper's, 9, 16,

Hawk, Ferruginous, 9,

Falcon, Prairie, 68

also pesticides

16, 21,

Hawk

Falcon, Peale's, 67

populations, 13, 26, 37; .see

Hawk, 46

Hawk, Broad-winged,

Falcon, Lanner, 68

Common Barn-owl, 70
Common Black-hawk, 45

bird sounds: tape recordings

Harris'

48

bird mimicr>', 54, 64

Eagle

Harrier, Northern, 9, 16, 38-9

Aplomado, 65

feeding habits: owls,

54,64

35-7

Falcon, Bat, 65

Carbofuran, 13, 37
Cathartes aura, 25

80

"Harlan's" red-tail, 55, 56

Falco rusticolis, 69
Falco sparverius, 62-3
Falcon,

53,

Haliaeetus leucocephalus,

Falco femoralis, 65
Falco mexicanus, 68
Falco peregrinus, 66-7

Caracara, Guadalupe, 61

37

hacking, 66

Falco columbarius, 64

of species, 18

Cape May, New Jersey,

Habitat loss: and bird

populations, 13,

fall

Braddock Bay

listed

Everglades Kite see Snail Kite

Circus cyaneus, 38-9

behavioral mimicr>' by birds,

shinned

26

26

Hawk

Bat Falcon, 65

8, 24,

18

"buzzard" see Turkey Vulture

Caracara, Crested, 61

Audubon, John James, 35

Black Vulture,

Societ>'),

Gyrfalcon, 69

Condor, 26

Athene cunicularia.

Black-shouldered

to bird sounds

National Geographic

Elf Owl, 8, 11,81

Caracara, 10

of, 18,

buteos, 8-9

Asio otus, 88
Asio trichopsis, 73

Black-hawk,

Guide

Eastern .Screech-owl, 72

Gymnogyps califomianus,

captive breeding: California

18,

8, 18,

Elanus caeruleus, 32
Elanus leucurus, 32

Asio flammeus, 89
Asio kennecoti, 73

Barred Owl,

7,

19,74

Eagles and Hawks, 28-60

"Cain and Abel" syndrome, 60

Aquila chrysaetos, 59 60

Barn-owl,

Great Horned Owl,

eagle fish see Osprey

Eagles,

Great Gray Owl, 11,84

birds, 12-13,65,66,83

33

BaldEagle,9,

37

59-60

Andean Condor, 26
Aplomado Falcon, 65
apple

Goshawk, Northern, 23
Gray Hawk, 47

Eagle, Golden, 8, 9-10, 16,

45

American Swallow-tailed

16,43-4

Hawk

American

Accipiter gentilis, 43-4

9,

Goshawk, Mexican see Gray

Eagle, Bald, 9, 10, 12, 13,

Buteo brachyurus, 51
Buteo jamaicensis, 55-6
Buteo lagopus, 58
Buteo lineatus, 50
Buteo nitidus, 47
Buteo platypterus, 48
Buteo regalis, 57
Buteo swainsoni, 52

Accipiter cooperii, 42

Goshawk,

80

Hawk, Swainson's,
Hawk,

7,

17,52

White-tailed, 53

Glaucidium gnoma. 79

Hawk, Zone-tailed, 54

Golden

Hawk Mountain

Eagle, 8, 9-10, 12, 16,

37 59-60

^-

60,69

Sanctuary', 14,

Index

91

Hawk-owl, Nonhern, 78

nest boxes,

Hawk-watching, 14-15

"nest helpers",

Hawks,

nest platforms, anificial, 13. 30

12,

15;

1-i,

migration, 16, 48

New

Hawks
Horned Owl,

Great,

7, 8,

18,

15, i

World Vultures, 24-7

Spotted Owl, 13,83

16,66-7,69

pesticides:

.spring migration, 16

Northern Harrier,

Strigidae, ^1 91

and bird

Strix nebulosa, 84

populations, 13, 24, 26, 30,

9, 16,

38-9

Strix occidentalis, 83

31,37,50,53,63,66
Peterson: Field guide to bird

Strix varia, 86

Sumia ulula, 78

song, 18

Northern P\'gmy-owl, 79
Ictinia mississippiensis, 34

5,

Peregrine Fund, 66

Nonhern Hawk-owl, 78

19,74

.species calls, 18

Peregrine Falcon, 10, 13, 13,

Nonhern Goshawk, 23

and Eagles, 28-60

Kestrel

83

atlas,

21

40

forest,

sparrow hawk see American

Pennsylvania breeding bird

46

New Jersey Audubon Societ\',

identification, 16-17;

hawks,

artificial, 13,

Swainson's hawk,

pigeon hawk see Merlin

Nyctea scandiaca, 76

and the Bald

pollution, water:

Identification of hawks, 16-17

Kestrel,

American,

9, 10, 16,

Kestrels, ii, 13, 16

of hawks), 21,

American Swallow-tailed,

Kite,

Black-shouldered, 32

Everglades

.see Snail Kite

Kite, Mississippi, 18,

Kite, Snail, 9, 13,

33
32

Kite, White-tailed,

Kites, 9

"Kriders"

red-tail,

55-6

predators, role

Long-eared Owl,

iO, 21,

"marsh hawk" see Nonhern

Harrier
Merlin, 64, 69
Merlin, "Black", 64

Merlin, Prairie, 64
Merlin, Tiaga, 64
Merlins, 15, 16

Mexican Goshawk see Gray

Hawk
Mexican national bird, 61
Micrathene whitneyi, 81
migration: of hawks, 15-16, 48;

of owls, 21
mimicr>', behavioral, by birds,

54,64
Mississippi Kite, 18, 34

Owl

Guide to bird sounds, 18

National Wildlife Federation,
13

11-12

"toe-du.sting",

Elf, 8,

Turkey Vulture,
raptors, 7-8

Owl, Flammulated, 71

recordings of bird sounds, 18

Owl, Great Gray, 11,84

Red-bellied Hawk, 50

Owl, Great Horned,

Red-.shouldered Hawk,

8, 18,

9, 16,

50
;0,

21,88

Red-tailed

Owl, Nonhern Hawk, 78

Hawk,

8, 9, 16, 16,

Rostrhamus sociabilis, 33
Rough-legged Hawk,

19

Owl, Shon-eared, 89
Owl, Snowy, 19, 76

Owl

pellets,

19,21

'Washington, Bird of" .see

Bald Eagle

13, 18,

19

Eagle, 37

Washington" see

Western Screech-owl, 73

Bald Eagle

Sharp-shinned Hawk,

9, 16,

40

"sharpie" .see Sharp-shinned

illegal, 31, 32, 37,

Short-tailed
.Snail Kite, 9,

SnowyOwl,

67

J9,

"wing, flying" see Black

Vulture

76

songs, bird: guides

95

hawk migration,

16

13,33

Area, Idaho, 68

owl, 19,21

Whitefish Point Bird

winds: and

Hawk, 51

Snake River Birds of Prey

Parabuteo unicintus, 46

76

Obser\'ator>', 16

Short-eared Owl, 89

28-30

Whiskered Screech-owl, 73
White-tailed Hawk, 53
White-tailed Kite, 32

Hawk

true, 10-11

Pellets,

16

19,21,91

Bald Eagle
water pollution: and the Bald

shooting,

Owls, Barn,10,ll, 21,27,70

Pandion haliaetus,

18,

Screech-owl, Whiskered, 73

19, 21; migration, 21;

.species calls, 18

24-7

Screech-owl, Western, 73

"sea-eagle,

sea.son, 19, feeding habits,

7, 8,

"Wjishington sea-eagle" .see

Owls,7,8, 10-11,12, 15,71-9;

Peale's Falcon,

Vulture, Black, 8, 24, 45

58

New Jersey,

Screech-owls,

courtship and breeding

national bird, 35

Vultures,

Owl-watching, 17-19,21

Owls,

16,

Screech-owl, Eastern, 72

Owl, Whiskered Screech, 73

and Wildlife Service,

Saker, 68

Saw-whetOwl,

Owl, Western Screech, 73

Fish

Vulture, Turkey, 8, 25, 35, 54

Sandy Hook,

Owl, Spotted, 13,83

US
US

18, 19, 21, 91

13, 18,

54

55-6

Owl, Pygmy,

Owl,Screech,

8, 25, 35,

Tyto alba, 70
Tytonidae, 70

83

Owl, Northern Pygmy, 79

11

and bird

true owls, 10-11

Owl, Ferruginous Pygmy, 80

Owl, Saw-whet,

70

also pesticides

11,81

7;

86

populations, 13, 26, 37; .see

Pygmy-owl, Nonhern, 79
Pygmy-owls,

19,

toxins, chemical:

Owl, Eastern Screech, 72

national birds, 35, 61

National Geographic Society:

of,

Pygmy-owl, Ferruginous, 80

Common Barn, 70

Owl, Long-eared,
88

sounds, 18,

Tiaga Merlin, 64

Protection of species, 12-13

19,74

Lanner Falcon, 68

tape recordings: of bird

68

86

18, 19, 50,

"owl, crazy" see Barred

Owl,

34

61

Prairie Merlin, 64

Owl, Burrowing, 82

Owl,

31
Kite,

O^l, Barred,

Polyborus plancus,
Pomacea, 33
Prairie Falcon,

71

Owl, Boreal, 90

48
Kite,

28-30, 35

Otus asio. 72
Otus flamineolus,

62-3

"kettles" (flocks

10, 12, 13, 15, 16,

J7 52

31

Eagle, 37

Osprey,

?:

Swallow-tailed Kite, American,

to,

18

Zone-tailed Hawk, 54

Acknowledgments
AND Picture Credits
The author and publishers would like to thank Doug
Wechsler at VIREO for organizing the provision of the
photographs in the book, including the work of the
following:

R Woodward: pp

7,

63, 72 right;

B K Wheeler: pp

8, 9,

15 bottom, 17, 18, 21, 24, 25, 31, 38, 41, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51,
52, 53, 54, 58, 60, 64, 68, 75; F

Schleicher:

pp

8, 16, 19;

D & M Zimmerman: pp 10, 71, 73 left, 74, 79, 81, 83, 91;
H Cruikshank: pp 11, 28, 33, 39, 70, 72 left; P McLain:
pl2; D Roby: pp 13, 15 top, 78, 90; N G Smith: pl4; A
Morris: p20; S Lafrance: p27;
55;

56;

pp

p62

57, 82;

R Herr: p44;
Greene: p49; R
S Clark: p59; C Munn: p61 C R Sams

Ericsson: p42;

Ballou:
11:

N Abel: p29; S J Lane: pp 30,

A Carey: pp 35, 36, 37,

Melliger: p32; S Holt: p34;

top; J Oakley:

p62 bottom;

P Kahl: p65; J

Olsen: p66; F Lantins: p67; J Ruos: p69; S Fried: p73

right;

Fitzharris: p76;

Henr\': p77; J

Dunning: p80; T

Zurowski: pp 84, 85; B Lipschutz: p86; S Bahrt: p87;

Sadsby: p88;J P Myers: p89.

96

BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED

WITHTHE MOST SPECTACULAR

BIRDS OF PREY TO BE FOUND ON

THE North American continent

Concise information on location,

nesting habits, feeding

and identification

tribute to the immense variety of

American bird

life,

FROM THE Golden Eagle to

THE Black Vulture

ISBN 1-57335-A92-9

9 '781573"354929' >