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| Discussion of other Raptor species; their anatomy, biology, ecology, etc. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 16 2007, 11:04 AM (18,121 Views) | |
| ostrich2 | Nov 19 2007, 10:24 AM Post #316 |
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Sounds like it's either got asthma or it's choking on something It's interesting to consider whether the Harris might have a more complex variety of vocalizations (not necessarily evident to human ears) to support the communication needs of a more complex social structure (for example consider social canines like wolves).
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| Raptorman | Nov 19 2007, 10:54 AM Post #317 |
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| ostrich2 | Nov 19 2007, 03:03 PM Post #318 |
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Today's possible raptor sighting - I was sitting in my doctor's office waiting for my appointment this morning (her office is on the 10th floor of this office building in central-west Toronto) and as I was looking out the window a bird went zipping by that wasn't one of the usual pigeons - I think it may have been a peregrine. It certainly had the general shape of a falcon and had the kind of narrow pointed wings that you would associate with a peregrine. It's head seemed to be dark as well similar to a peregrine's although it was only in sight for a few seconds. I don't believe it was chasing anything specific, but it was flying level to the ground (not in a stoop or anything) with rapid, but very shallow wingbeats. If it was a falcon, the peregrine is the only one I've heard of reported in the urban areas of the city.
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| ostrich2 | Nov 22 2007, 02:58 PM Post #319 |
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In general, it may not be necessarily be a question of being able to vocalize or perceive vocalizations that are outside the range of human perception - a given species may also be able to perceive information in those vocalizations that aren't obvious to another species. For example, we perceive human speech as being composed of distinct words that have gaps between them - it turns out though that this doesn't actually exist in the sound - it is our brains that are hardwired to break speech sounds down that way. So to another species listening to humans talk, it would sound like a big continuous mess (and this is also why listening to a foreign language often sounds like that). So when considering another species there's always a chance that it is capable of communicating something to others of its species that isn't evident to us. There could be two situations in which the Harris might benefit from some form of vocal communication - one would be in communicating social relationships (i.e. dominance or status in the group, territory, mates etc), and the other would be when hunting (i.e. to coordinate chasing/trapping/catching they prey). Of course if the Harris doesn't tend to vocalize in these types of situations then that would be very unlikely in the context of the Harris. |
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| ostrich2 | Nov 22 2007, 03:43 PM Post #320 |
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Here's an interesting piece of information from the Wikipedia page on the Harris: Harris Hawk
I guess it's a good thing the Harris is willing to participate in the hunt even when they're not hungry, since in Toronto they'd have to be willing to eat an awful lot of seagulls... |
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| Raptorman | Nov 22 2007, 07:17 PM Post #321 |
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| ostrich2 | Nov 23 2007, 09:16 AM Post #322 |
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I spotted a beautiful raptor this morning while I was driving along one of the main city streets close to home - it was pretty low and flying directly overhead coming from the opposite direction so I got a good view of it. Driving though so no pictures Bill, hopefully the work on identification is helping :D, because this time I was able to clearly spot the dark patagial marks on the underside of the wings, so I believe that would definitively identify it as a red-tail. It looked pretty light colored overall other than that, so I would guess it was an immature. It did have a bit of an unusual flight pattern for a red-tail, it was flapping several times with medium wingbeats and then gliding and then flapping again. We've got a rather strong wind today, so I wonder if it was experiencing a strong headwind. |
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| ostrich2 | Nov 23 2007, 09:27 AM Post #323 |
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Is there a specific reason why gang hawking is useful for airport bird control? I gather it's not actually necessary that the raptors catch the undesirable birds but simply ensure that their presence causes them to move away from the area. That might include them being chased by the raptor but not necessarily caught? I think one of the links you posted Bill mentioned that the Harris will participate in hunting even when an individual bird has fed and is not hungry, which is very unusual for raptors (presumably this is part of the social behaviour - participation in a hunt when not hungry is similarly reciprocated by other birds when the roles are reversed). Perhaps that is helpful in this application? |
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| Patti | Nov 23 2007, 10:03 AM Post #324 |
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Excuse me for barging in...I've been very tied up with my mother's affairs, but think about this thread everyday. I saw a Red-t up close, the underside while soaring, on Wednesday while driving from my house. It was a classic view, just like the Sibley cover. Then saw a pair of them farther down the road. Suspect it was the same bird moving along, but didn't see the 2nd bird thru my windshield. They may be common, but up close that underside is awesome. It made my day. I will try to catch up here today or tomorrow. |
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| Raptorman | Nov 23 2007, 04:59 PM Post #325 |
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| ostrich2 | Nov 24 2007, 08:26 PM Post #326 |
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Okay, here's a video which I think is a must watch for all of us on this thread: Birds Of Prey Are Cool That isn't you singing is it Bill?
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| SoCal Lady | Nov 24 2007, 09:03 PM Post #327 |
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Ostrich2----- What a great find and a terrific fun resource!!
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| Michele | Nov 24 2007, 09:43 PM Post #328 |
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To coin a phrase, "Birds of Prey" was cool.... |
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| SheilaSB | Nov 24 2007, 11:46 PM Post #329 |
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Ostrich 2 - Thanks for alerting us to the "Birds of Prey" video in Chat - don't always get to read all of raptor discussions - love the song and pics. |
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| Raptorman | Nov 25 2007, 04:44 AM Post #330 |
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It's interesting to consider whether the Harris might have a more complex variety of vocalizations (not necessarily evident to human ears) to support the communication needs of a more complex social structure (for example consider social canines like wolves).



Ostrich2----- What a great find and a terrific fun resource!!
11:00 AM Jul 11