Four Swainson’s Hawks soaring

We get the greatest e-mails!  I just love the excitement and enthusiasm among those of you who are dedicated raptorphiles, watching and recording them as you go about your daily lives.  They’re BAAAAACK!  We got this great message from Georgia Santa-Maria this past weekend.

Up to 24 hawks were observed at one time soaring over Georgia’s property in Belen, NM.

Dear Hawks Aloft:

I took these pictures in my pasture, East of Belen, this morning– I’ve never seen a “flock” of hawks before, ever. There were up to 2 dozen birds at one point–too many to count. The most I could get in one frame was 9–but they were all over the sky overhead, and did not seem to be shy, or wary of us, (2 humans,) or my dogs, at all. I’m wondering if they were red-tails–they didn’t look like others I’ve seen before, but I’m curious. Also, is this behavior unusual? We saw one pair mate in a treetop nearby, and listened to their distinct calls, the normal “screee” sound, which was quieter than a lot of times, and a kind of warbling call that might have related to the mating, as it was audible just before, and when other birds landed in the trees briefly. In any case–I’m very excited and curious, and wanted to pass on this information to your people who may be doing research on these birds–Getting to see this was really thrilling!!

Georgia Santa Maria

Classic profile of a soaring Swainson’s Hawk. It’s wings are held in a slight upward V; the flight feathers are dark with a uniformly light-colored leading edge. The presence of a complete bib identifies this as an adult.

Thanks, Georgia, for sharing these images with us!  The birds you observed are Swainson’s Hawks, returning from their wintering grounds in Argentina.  They are the last of the large buteo hawks to arrive on their nesting grounds, largely due to their long migration, over 7,000 miles each way.  Their semi-annual journey takes up to two months each way!  It is the longest migration of all buteo species.

Swainson’s Hawks travel in groups, called kettles. Kettles of up to several thousand individuals have been recorded.

Only Swainson’s Hawks and Broad-winged Hawks routinely migrate in large flocks, called kettles.  By traveling in a group, individuals take advantage of thermals by watching others rise on the warming air currents.  It is an efficient way to travel long distances — rise in a thermal until it tops out at very high elevations; then soar without flapping until reaching the next thermal, trending slightly downward, until seeing the hawks ahead reach the next thermal.

Two Swainson’s soar together above Belen, NM.

On their nesting grounds in western North America, Swainson’s Hawk (or Swainies as we call them!), these hawks eat a variety of small mammals, birds, lizards, and snakes in the spring.  However, during the summer months, when the grasshoppers bloom, they prey-switch to a diet that is almost exclusively grasshoppers.  On the grasslands of Argentina where they winter, they are called Locust Hawks!

A very cool sighting!  Thanks Georgia!

Golden Eagle being harassed by an American Crow

Our longest running study is the summer and winter raptor surveys that we conduct in the Rio Grande and Estancia Valleys.  The project began in 1994, the year of our inception and has been ongoing since then.  It is an all-volunteer effort, headed up by Jerry Hobart.  As a result of this and other studies, the Estancia Valley, NM has been declared an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society due to it’s high density of eagles, hawks, falcons and owls.  Bonnie Long and Roger Grisham monitor one of the two routes in this area. We thank Bonnie for this series of images taken during their surveys in the winter of 2012-13.

Red-tailed Hawk.  Note the dark patagical marks on the leading edge of the wing.  The banded tail indicates that this is a juvenile.

Male American Kestrel. While populations of kestrels are declining nationwide, the Estancia Valley still supports good numbers. Male kestrels have blue-gray wings and a lightly spotted breast. All falcons have dark malar stripes below their eyes to help reduce the reflection of the sun.

Bonnie and Roger also see and photograph many other species during their surveys.  These pronghorn were remarkably close to the lens of Bonnie’s camera.

Pronghorn are a common sight during the winter months as they forage on grasslands of the Estancia Valley.

Both Western and Eastern Meadowlarks might be found in these grasslands.

Loggerhead Shrike is a species of conservation concern throughout its North American range. These medium-sized passerines also are called butcher birds for their habit of impaling insects, mice and small birds (their prey) on thorns and barbed wire.

Finally, this adult Red-tailed Hawk seems to be looking at the camera as if to ask, “What are you looking at?” From this angle, the red tail denotes an adult bird. Also evident is the light-colored “V” shape on the back of the hawk, called a scapular V.

It was a beautiful day in the Estancia Valley, the day that Bonnie captured all of these birds with her camera.  Thanks so much, Bonnie, for sharing!

Even though she’s 24 years old now, our Hudder Budder continues the nesting cycle she’s completed every year since she arrived.  She begins by building a nest of her own.  She does not like the ones that we build for her and tends to tear them down.  Instead, we provide her with an endless supply of tender shoots from trees and shrubs and she sets about building.

During this time she also becomes quite territorial and it is only now that we experience her ‘square head’, warning us to stay away.

She just lives for babies and she KNOWS that this year’s eggs will produce! Sadly, without a mate – which she will not tolerate — her own eggs will never hatch.  However, she is positively the best foster mom anywhere and will raise any species of buteo chicks.  Many years, but not always, some formerly unlucky orphan arrives and she immediately takes them under her wing.

Here’s her 2013 masterpiece.  It’s a big one, nice and softly cushioned with greenery.  As I write this, she has laid her first egg of 2013.  Only time will tell if a chick will come along to fulfill her needs.  Stay tuned!

Western Screech-Owl nestled in a cavity. Photo by Doug Brown.

This Western Screech-Owl seems pretty obvious against the reddish bark of this tree.   Generally, owl plumage matches the color of the environment in which they live.  For instance, Great Horned Owls that live in a coniferous forest tend to be darker and grayer, while desert dwelling Great Horned Owls tend to be more of a sandy brown color.  The Western Screech-Owl is commonly found in deciduous riparian forests of western North America.  The most common large tree in these forests is the cottonwood which has a gray bark that perfectly matches the owl’s plumage – or should that be the other way around?

Can you see the owl? Image by Wendy Brown.

In this photo, the Western Screech-Owl largely matches its background.  It would be difficult to see unless one were looking closely. Of course, I helped by cropping the image so the owl is more obvious.

Here’s what the image looked like before cropping.

At Hawks Aloft, we try to display our educational ambassadors in the most natural way possible. Our small owls are generally perched on a table top in easy view of the attendees, and we just thought it was time to find a more natural way to display them.  So, we came up with the idea of making a tree perch with bark that matches the color of their plumage so viewers can see just how well camouflaged owls can be.  Below is our first attempt with our red phase Eastern Screech-Owl perched on it.

Can you see me? Photo by Mike Quaintance.

What do you think?

The Burrowing is a variety of different shades of brown, ranging from light to dark.  Photo by Mike Quaintance.

When looking at our educational Burrowing Owl on display at Festival of the Cranes in Monte Vista, CO earlier in March, it is easy to discern the bird against the whitish background.  It seems that no one could miss the fact that there was a bird perched right in front of their eyes.  But, is this always true?

Wild Burrowing Owl in a grassland with green vegetation.  Photo by Charles Cummings.

In this image, the owl is still rather obvious.

Disappearing owl. Image by Charles Cummings.

When threatened, Burrowing Owls retreat into their underground burrows with only the tops of their heads above ground.  In this situation, the owl would be nearly invisible to the casual passerby.

The brown plumage of the Burrowing Owl helps it to blend into its surroundings.

This Burrowing Owl, photographed standing in front of its burrow on the side of an arroyo, has plumage that matches the soil.  It it were to crouch down, it would be difficult to detect.

Burrowing Owl. Image by Mike Stake.

Finally, this close-up image, shows how well this owl blends in with the background.  If it weren’t for the bright yellow eyes, you might never know it was there!

Education birds on display at the Monte Vista Festival of the Cranes 2013

First of all, I’d like to apologize for the lack of posts the past three months!  Our website was attacked by malware and it took a Herculean effort to rid the pest from our website.  Don’t worry, you were not in danger of contagion!   Thanks to Michele Hymel, Eugene Rooney, Rick Valles, and the services of Sucuri Monitoring Systems for all their work.  All of our sites are now monitoring regularly and offensive material removed immediately. 

One of our most favored events is the Festival of the Cranes in Monte Vista, Colorado in the heart of the San Luis Valley.  The National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding open fields provide critical stopover habitat for cranes on their spring and fall migrations.  And, each year on the second weekend in March, we bring a cadre of our educational ambassadors to display at the sumptuous space that they provide for us. It is only here, where we are the only bird group, that we have the luxury of displaying 10 or more birds at one time.

Big birds all lined up! Ferruginous Hawk, ruphous morph Red-tailed Hawk, Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk, and Rough-legged Hawk.

The other wonderful thing about all this space is that even our more nervous birds sit calmly atop their display boxes because there is adequate distance  between them and the viewers.  Most of them are happy to perch all day long in this indoor environment.

Harlan, our Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk made his debut at this event in 2013.  Image by Mike Quaintance.

During the summer of 2012, we were thrilled to receive a non-releasable Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk from the Cascades Raptor Center in Eugene, OR.  Already an adult when he was injured, this event is perfect for the nervous fellow.  Harlan’s Hawks are mostly found nesting in the far north and are generally only found this far south during the winter months.  They are classified as a subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk although there is controversy over this matter and some people believe they should be elevated to a full and separate species.

Quemado, our light-morph Red-tailed Hawk, was injured when he contacted live electric lines as a juvenile. He is one of only a handful of birds to survive this type of injury.  Image by Mike Quaintance.

Perhaps it was the electrical current that coursed through his body, resulting in the loss of his left wingtip and a toe on his right foot, that makes Quemado (which means burned in Spanish) so nervous.  This beautiful male Red-tailed Hawk WILL NOT sit on a gloved hand for any reason. However, in this arena and many others, he sits contentedly all day long.

Ferrug, our 16 year old male Ferruginous Hawk, is another one of our nervous Nellie types.  Image by Mike Quaintance.

He was found on Rowe Mesa, near Santa Fe New Mexico, alongside a dirt road.  He had suffered a broken wing that was not repairable.  We have never solved the mystery of how it came to be that our Ferrug was struck by one vehicle on a small, two-track rural road where it’s not easy to travel more than 25 MPH and then rescued by another.  He’s not talking either!  A valued member of our education team, he is the only educational  Ferruginous Hawk in New Mexico that we know of.

The Hawks Aloft Team (l-r): Gena Esposito, Education and Outreach Coordinator, Chuck Brandt, co-founder and volunteer, Chellye Porter, volunteer, Lizzie Roberts, educator, Maurice Mackey, volunteer, and Erin Greenlee, Ornithologist.

Here are the human members of our 2013 Monte Vista Crane Festival Team and some of our smaller educational ambassadors (l-r),  female American Kestrel, Burrowing Owl and Eastern Screech-Owl.  Not shown are Ty Sutherland and Mariah Oeser, who drove up early Saturday morning in a snowstorm and then drove back home on snow and icy roads  on Sunday morning. We couldn’t do it without you guys!

Thanks!

Image by Keith Bauer

On this special family day, we thought you might enjoy something especially cheery:  This video of hummingbirds feeding created by Keith Bauer.  Here’s the link!  (click on the arrow to start the video).

http://keithbauer.smugmug.com/Animals/Birds/2746453_J86Wjn#!i=1952901086&k=JLTRMdR

Happy Holidays to you and yours

from all of us at Hawks Aloft

The ‘typical’ light morph plumage of the Ferruginous Hawk is very white below with a light colored hear.  The adult wear dark leggings and all Ferruginous Hawks are feathered to their feet.  In this image of the bird taking flight by Tony Thomas, it is somewhat difficult to see the large gape and the bright yellow cere.  Ferruginous Hawks are found only in the western United State and Canada, but some winter just south of the U.S. border on the remaining large prairie dog towns near Janos, Mexico.

In image #2, by Bonnie Long, when viewed from the back, the rusty-colored shoulder patches, pale head, and  tail that is whitish near the base and rusty near the tip, make this bird easy to identify.

Image #3, by Tony Thomas, shows a Ferrug taking flight. Although it is difficult to pick up the rusty colored shoulder patches, the whitish tail with the dark tip identifies this as a Ferruginous Hawk.

Of course, Ferruginous Hawks, like all other buteos, come in three distinct color morphs that I like to call “vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate”.  Image #4, by Tony Thomas, shows an all dark buteo.   This bird can be identified as a Ferruginous based on the tail color which is nearly white throughout and the large gape that extends t0 below the eye.

Sometimes, you just get lucky! These two Ferruginous Hawks are almost certainly a mated pair, as it would be very unusual for either to tolerate anyone other than their mate in such close proximity. In this image by Bonnie Long, you can easily see the size difference between the smaller male and larger female.

Many thanks to Tony Thomas and Bonnie Long for the use of their images.

In the evening glow of the setting sun, a Cooper’s Hawk ensures that it will not go hungry during the night.

Image by Keith Bauer