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Discussion of other Raptor species; their anatomy, biology, ecology, etc.
Topic Started: Sep 16 2007, 11:04 AM (18,141 Views)
Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Raptorman,Sep 17 2007
10:21 PM
Bingo! Here is the way I had the answer written. Exclusively meat eaters; long sharp, curved beak; and long sharp claws/talons (I prefer talons because the claws on other non-raptorial birds are never called talons.


I wonder if perhaps it could be quibbled a bit as to whether all raptor species could be said to have long curved beaks - it seems like some of the small owl species for example have beaks which are relatively small and very flat against the head - I always think it gives them sort of an odd appearance.
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Bill, do the smaller owls use their beaks that much to actually tear prey? Clearly the larger birds like the eagles certainly do a lot of ripping and tearing of prey items. I wonder if perhaps one reason why some of the owls have beaks that are so "flat" against the skull is that they often are eating smaller prey like rodents and swallowing them whole? When you see owls on documentary shows they often seem to be capturing mice or voles and then seem to just down them whole for the most part as opposed to pinning them with the talons and tearing pieces off the way an eagle would do.
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Raptorman
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Wow - those are wonderful drawings. The feathers around the eyes and beak must be very thick to hide so much of the beak. You can really see too how enormous the eye sockets are relative to the rest of the skulll.
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Raptorman,Sep 17 2007
10:21 PM
16. What is the simplest way to tell an immature Bald Eagle from an immature Golden?
20. Name a species of hawk that is naturally very social and often hunts in groups.

For this one, I think the Harris hawks hunt in teams if my memory is correct? And as everyone who watched Bill's videos with the rescue eaglet will know the answer, the bald eagle's feathers do not extend down the leg all the way to the toes, whereas those of the golden eagle do.
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Bea
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Oh my, so much interesting disscusion and new information here. I'm looking forward to catching up here this weekend and also working on that 29 question quizz! And it will definetly be an open-book (or open-internet) test for me :lol: .
Wonderful drawings of the owl heads. Never thought an owl's beak was so long.
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Patti
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Also hope to catch up here; have been side-tracked. Great thread.
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Raptorman
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Bea
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Thanks Bill, I sure will! And I usually do consult more than one source when researching any subject. It is amazing how much the opinions and sometimes even the so called "facts" can differ between sources.
And I can see by glancing over the quizz questions, I have my work cut out for me :lol: . So much fun Bill!!!

Also, I have a couple pictures of a hawk with a starling for prey that I posted some time ago in another thread. It had landed in my front yard and we were able to get a couple shot's thru the window before it took off. Would you mind taking a look at them to see if you could positively ID that hawk for me? Thanks!!

http://z7.invisionfree.com/CHIL_EagleCAM/i...pic=446&st=1065

It's on the bottom of page 72. On page 73, some of us are trying to ID it.

Edit 01-22-09: The above link was broken, and I'll have to get VCOE Forum to open the thread for me to fix my link, so I've posted the pictures here direct in the meantime. Sorry about that! Click for bigger view.

Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image
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ostrich2
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Bea,Sep 21 2007
05:30 PM
Also, I have a couple pictures of a hawk with a starling for prey that I posted some time ago in another thread. It had landed in my front yard and we were able to get a couple shot's thru the window before it took off. Would you mind taking a look at them to see if you could positively ID that hawk for me? Thanks!!

It's on the bottom of page 72. On page 73, some of us are trying to ID it.

I think this might be a red-shouldered hawk? It's got four very noticeable black bars across the tail and kind of a checkerboard pattern on the upper wings. And it does seem to have some reddish tinge on the upper side behind the head.

Those are very nice pictures - and great shots of the hawk or whatever it is mantling over the prey.
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Bea
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Thanks Ostrich, Hubby took pics and was really excited to get to see that!! Some of us were guessing Sharp-shinned or Coopers? Somehow I'm leaning towards Coopers (reddish chest, and I compared the eyes to a pic of a Coopers from a calendar ( rofl ) and they look close. So..... I don't know.
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