Species Profile: Rough-legged Hawk

One of the reasons I look forward to Winter in Ohio
(and really, wintering raptors are the only reason to go birding when it's cold):


Rough-legged Hawk
Buteo lagopus

This large buteo species (hawk with long wings and short tail) is a denizen of the tundra and taiga regions around the Northern Hemisphere, with nearly holarctic distribution.


Armleder Park, December 2007, by me
Light morph

Description:

• Large buteo
• Long and broad wings
• Two distinct color morphs with multiple variations in between
  
• Flight feathers pale, with dark trailing edges on wings
• Obvious black marks at wrists

Length: 19-24 inches
Wing span: 4-4.5 feet
Weight: 2-2.5 pounds
The female is typically larger than the male.

Rough-legged hawks have eight different morphs that vary between sex, age, and location. Both sexes exhibit both light and dark morphs; and coloration varies between juveniles and adults:

• All adult morphs have a black band that goes along the edges of the underside of their lesser coverts. Adults also all have dark colored eyes. Juveniles have light colored eyes and a dark band along the underside of their wings.

• Light morphs of adult females have brown backs and a pattern of increased markings from breast to belly. They have one dark tail band and heavily marked leg feathers. Light-morph adult males have grayish backs. Their breasts are more heavily marked than the belly and there are multiple bands on the tail. A light-morph adult male has heavily-marked leg feathers.

Habitat:
The rough-legged hawk spends its breeding season in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of North America, Europe and Asia. A bird who prefers wide open spaces with little or no tree cover, it migrates south in Winter.


Feeding:
Mostly small mammals like lemmings, occasionally reptiles, amphibians, small birds and carrion.
This hawk (the osprey is another) is one of the few raptors who routinely hover while hunting.

(See below...I took this photo while the hawk was actively hunting, "kiting" directly over me on strong cold winds...
...the bird was not moving...and was staring directly into my eyes)



Call:
Drawn-out, downward "kaaaar."

Reproduction:
Rough-legged hawks build their bowl-like stick nests on cliffs and sometimes trees. They sometimes incorporate caribou bones into their nest structure.

Clutch size: 1-7 eggs (Incubation begins with the first egg, so hatching times are staggered. In years of low lemming population, only the oldest chicks survive)
















Photo by BirdGirl
Look at that face. I want to knit a cozy for it.



My first and only rough-legged hawk was seen at Armleder Park. The grace of these birds lifts my heart. Come on, Winter!!!

Species Profile: The number one Raptor species I want to see before I die

Species Profile:
Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja)

Description:
The harpy eagle is a very large bird of prey with a body length of 35 to 41 inches, a 6 1/2 foot wingspan and can weigh between 10 to 20 pounds. As with most birds of prey, the female is much larger, sometimes twice as heavy as the male.
The name of this bird comes from the Greek myth of the harpies, wind spirits who took the dead to Hades. The Harpies had the face of a woman and the body of a vulture or eagle.
The upperside of a harpy eagle is slate-gray, with white underparts. The chest is crossed with a black band that reaches the neck. The head is dark gray with a double crest that can be raised or lowered at will.
The feet of a harpy eagle are as large as an adult human hand, and the talons reach lengths of up to 5 inches. That's the length of a bear claw.
This is the largest raptor of the Americas, and among the largest extant eagle species in the world.
It is the only member of the genus harpia.


Habitat:
The harpy eagle's range covers the tropical lowland rainforests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, in the upper canopy layer.

Diet:
Harpy eagles are active-hunting carnivores, with their diet consisting of tree-dwelling mammals like monkeys, coutis and sloths. They will also occasionally attack other birds like macaws, and will eat snakes, porcupines and iguanas. They can lift more than three-quarters of their body weight.

Reproduction:
Harpy eagles build large stick nests high in trees, usually the kapok tree, one of the tallest trees in South America. They lay 2 eggs, but once the first egg is hatched, the other is ignored and does not hatch. It can be aggressive to humans who approach the nest.
In many South American cultures, it is bad luck to cut down a kapok tree, which may aid the conservation efforts of this species.

Conservation status:
The harpy eagle is listed as Near-Threatened by the IUCN, and Threatened with Extinction by CITES. The Harpy Eagle is threatened primarily by habitat loss provoked by the expansion of logging, cattle ranching, agriculture and prospecting; secondarily by being hunted as an actual threat to livestock and an imagined one to human life, due to its great size.

Cool facts:

• The harpy eagle is the National Bird of Panama and depicted on the Panamanian Coat of Arms.

• Recently, a chick from the all but extinct population in the Brazilian state of Paraná was hatched in captivity at the preserve kept by the Brazilian/Paraguayan state-owned company Itaipu Binacional.
• The feathers on the face may act as a facial disc, similar to those in owls, to help the eagle detect prey.
• The San Diego Zoo is the only zoo in the United States to breed harpy eagles.
• If you want a chilling account of a face-to-face meeting with a harpy eagle, go to Julie Zickefoose's post here.
• If I am ever blessed enough to actually see one (either in the wild or in captivity), those of you with me will witness me peeing my pants, crying and fainting. All at once.
  

Species Profile: Osprey

I haven't been birding in, well, forever.
That means, it's time for a species profile!





Osprey
(Pandion haliaetus)

As its common name (fish eagle) suggests, the Osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It has evolved specialized physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviors to assist in hunting and catching prey. Because of its unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Four subspecies are usually recognized.









Description:

• Large raptor.
• White breast and belly.
• Black back and wings.
• Long wings, held with wingtips angled slightly backwards.(Flying "M")
  
• Dark eyestripe.
• Crown and forehead white.

• Size: 21-26 inches
• Wingspan: 59-71 inches
• Weight: 2.2 to 4 pounds
  

(Female is larger than male)





Voice:
Short, chirping whistles (kip kip kip kip...up to 20 calls in six seconds)

Habitat:
Breeds in variety of habitats with shallow water and large fish, including boreal forest ponds, desert salt-flat lagoons, temperate lakes, and tropical coasts. Winters along large bodies of water containing fish.
Osprey migrate for the winter. European osprey go to Africa, American and Canadian osprey go to South America (though some may only go as far as Florida and California), and Australasian osprey do not migrate at all.

Hunting:
Osprey dive into water feet-first to catch fish. Will often hover before taking the plunge.
(Osprey have no downy feathers, to help them dry off faster after fishing...another reason they migrate for the winter. Can't keep warm if you don't have downy feathers)
They have sharp spicules on the undersides of their feet, to better grab and hold onto slippery fish. Osprey have "closable" nostrils to keep water out of their lungs, and a special polarized lens in their eyes to aid them in looking into deep water.

When a fish is caught and the bird is flying to perch and eat, they will turn the fish so that it is facing forward, to make them more aerodynamic and reducing drag...smart birds)

Reproduction:
Osprey build a large stick nest, either on a man-made platform specifically built for that purpose, or will use telephone poles, highway signs, channel markers, etc. Nesting materials have included brush wood, sea wood, corn stalks, shingles, small floats, toy boat, eggs of sharks, old brooms, old shoes, fishing line, cans, doormats, sheep bones (especially skulls), sod with the grass still growing.

It usually takes an osprey three years to reach breeding maturity.
One to four eggs are laid and incubation lasts for about 5 weeks. Young will fledge in eight to ten weeks.






Interesting facts:

The osprey suffered greatly from the wide-spread use of DDT from the 50's through the 70's.
Through the banning of DDT, their numbers have risen, though they are still listed as endangered or threatened in some states, especially in inland states where populations were extirpated during the pesticide years.
Also detrimental to their population was the stealing of eggs by collectors and poaching.

Nisos, a king in Greek mythology, became an osprey to attack his daughter after she fell in love with Minos, the king of Crete.

Pliny the Elder wrote that adult osprey forced their young to fly into the sun, and killed the ones that failed.

There was a medieval belief that fish were so mesmerized by osprey that they would turn belly-up in surrender.

Yeats used a gray wandering osprey as a representation of sorrow in The Wandering of Oision and Other Poems.

And finally....
Susan would very much like to have an education osprey for programs.

Species Profile: Great Horned Owl

As their nesting season draws nigh, I think it's time for a species profile about my favorite owl.

GREAT HORNED OWL
Bubo virginianus

(Junior, the owl who thought I would make a good mate)

The great horned owl is found in just about any habitat you could name in North America, from the Arctic tundra to tropical rainforest, from desert to suburban backyards.
Though adaptable to many habitats, they prefer open and secondary growth forest, and agricultural areas.
It is estimated that this owl nests in EVERY COUNTY in the US.
Though they can be easily mistaken for Magellanic Horned Owls and other eagle-owls, they are allopatric.
There are a number of sub-species that have been named:
Click here for a list.

Description:

• Size: 46-63 cm (18-25 in)
• Wingspan: 101-145 cm (40-57 in)
• Weight: 910-2500 g (32.12-88.25 ounces)
• The female is larger than the male.
  

• Large owl.
• Prominent ear tufts widely spaced on head (called plumicorns).

• Body brown and gray with dark barring.
• Throat white.
• Orange facial disk outlined in black.
• Eyes yellow.
• Bill dark.
• Some forms pale gray to white.

Nesting:
Great horned owls do not build a nest of their own. They will use the nests of hawks, eagles, and crows. They will also use broken snags of trees, and will readily use man-made "nest cans".
Courtship begins in mid-December, and egg-laying begins in mid-January. So if you have local GHOW's, start listening now for their courtship hoots!
Voice: ho-ho-hoo, hoo hoo
Male's voice is deeper than the female's.

(Very ATYPICAL nest can...two owlets, half of a mallard, a whole cardinal, and half of a red-shouldered hawk, complete with band. The best band recovery I have heard yet.)

Number of eggs laid can be 1-5, with the norm being 3. (5 is very rare)
Incubation lasts from 27 to 33 days.
Either the male or female will brood almost continuously for 2 weeks, until the chicks can thermo-regulate themselves.

(Brancher....when the babies are strong enough to perch on a branch (6 weeks old), but still not ready to fly away yet)

The offspring can still been seen begging for food in late October (5 months after leaving the nest) and most do not separate from their parents until right before they start to reproduce for the next clutch (usually December). Birds may not breed for another year or two, and are often vagrants ("floaters") until they mate, establish their own territories, and settle down.

While young GHOW can have many predators, adult GHOW have almost no natural enemies.Occasionally, Northern Goshawks and other great horned owls are the only natural things they need to worry about.

Unnatural causes of death:

Shooting.
Trapping.
Poisoning.
Electrocution.
Hit by cars.



HUNTING:
Hunting is done on a perch, waiting. Then a swoop-and-grab.

There is a wide variety to a GHOW diet.
Small to medium mammals: Mice, rats, squirrels, flying squirrels, voles, bats, marmots, shrews, rabbits, hares, woodchucks, SKUNKS and sometimes even PORCUPINES. (The great horned owl is one of very few predators who will eat skunks)
Repiles, fish and amphibians.
Other raptors up to the size of Snowy Owls.
The largest prey I have heard of taken by a GHOW: Great Blue Heron. WOW.

In northern regions, if a GHOW catches prey that is too big to eat in one sitting, they will allow it to freeze and "thaw" it out later by incubating it.

Great horned owls have 500 pounds per square inch crushing power in their talons. For reference, an adult male HUMAN has about 60 pounds per square inch crushing power in his hands. WOW.



FUN FACTS:

Great horned owls have eyes about the size of a humans, and their vision is binocular. Their eyes are immobile within the bony sockets, so instead of turning their eyes, they turn their heads....about 270 degrees around. (Compared to us pitiful humans only managing 180)

Due to the size of their eyes in comparison to the size of their brains, owls are able to see in near-darkness.

An owl's hearing is as good, if not better, than its vision. Ears are off-set, usually one being much higher (and larger) than the other, giving them better depth perception in their hearing. We humans can tell if something is left or right of us, but owls can tell the difference between up and down, too.

A great horned owl can take prey up to 3 times or more of its weight. (Keep those cats indoors!)

Though they do not strictly "migrate", young banded birds have been found over 150 miles away from the place of their birth. Northern GHOW will move farther south in the winter months, while southern owls do not move.

Great horned owls are long-lived: In the wild, banded birds have been found 28 years after banding, and the record captive GHOW lived to be 45.

Thanks to their soft flight feathers and a specialized edge on the front of their wings, owls have silent flight.
.

"I disapprove of....well, everything you just said."

Let's talk about peregrine falcons

Since my camera is going to be in the camera hospital for 2 or 3 weeks, I am going to have to pull posts
out of my a**, I guess.
I like doing species profiles, so let's start off with my favorite raptor, the Peregrine Falcon:

The peregrine falcon's scientific name is Falco Peregrinus, which means Falcon Wanderer.
There are three recognized subspecies in North America: F.P. Pealei from the coastal islands off Alaska; F.P. Tundrius, which nests above the tree line in the Arctic; and F.P. Anatum, which once ranged over North America from coast to coast. They are the same size and weight of a crow.

In the 1960s, scientists discovered that DDT was interfering with egg shell formation of meat and fish eating birds. Healthy birds were laying eggs so thin they were crushed by the weight of the incubating adult. By 1965, no Peregrine falcons were fledged in the eastern or Central United States. By 1968, the Peregrine population was completely eradicated east of the Mississippi River. In 1972, use of DDT was severely restricted in the United States and worldwide.
Efforts to breed the Peregrine in captivity and reestablish populations depleted during the DDT years were greatly assisted by methods of handling captive falcons developed by falconers. (So if you know a falconer, be sure to give them a hug)
***
Neat facts...
The Peregrine's awesome speed and power also made it the favorite bird for falconers in the Middle Ages. The female, which is slightly larger and more powerful than the male, was preferred and only she is given the title of “falcon”.
A male Peregrine is referred to as a “tiercel” or "tercel" meaning third.

Baby falcons are called eyasses (pronounced eye-esses). They are covered by white down when they are born, which is replaced by feathers in three to five weeks. Although they have a high mortality rate, Peregrines have been known to live as long as 15 years. They usually begin breeding when they are about two years old.
They double their weight in only six days and at three weeks will be ten times their birth size.

They are nature's fastest fliers: Peregrines have been clocked in horizontal flight at 40 to 55 mph, and diving, or stooping, at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour. They are the fastest moving creature on the planet.

Peregrine falcons feed primarily on birds they take in the air: their prey includes ducks, pheasants, and pigeons (and if we are lucky, starlings and house sparrows). They hit their prey with half-closed feet, basically punching the bird in mid-air, and either retrieve the dead bird in flight or from the ground.


Falconry clubs are alive and well in the U.S. Falconry is an ancient sport, dating back to China before 2000 B.C. Shakespeare was a falconry fan, who brought falconry terms into popular speech, like "hag" or "haggard" which is a term for a mature hawk or falcon.
Ancient Egyptian art depicts falconry, and Horus, an Egyptian god, was a falcon. The "Eye of Horus" is a stylized falcon eye.

The Peregrine Falcon has one of the longest migrations of any North American bird. Tundra-nesting falcons winter in South America, and may move 15,500 miles in a year.

Peregrines are currently listed as endangered in Ohio. All the major cities in the state have a nesting pair.
Young falcons raised from the nest in Columbus have nested in New York, Michigan and Indiana. Other Columbus young have been observed in Alabama, Texas, West Virginia and Canada. The falcon management program is funded by contributions to the Endangered Species and Wildlife Diversity Fund (State Income Tax check-off and Wildlife Conservation License plate).
Stats from the 2006 nesting season: 18 nesting pairs, 60 chicks fledged.

Now, is it any wonder that Lucy (above) is my favorite?