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Discussion of other Raptor species; their anatomy, biology, ecology, etc.
Topic Started: Sep 16 2007, 11:04 AM (18,099 Views)
Patti
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I should have reread page one of this thread before I opened my mouth!

Bill:
"Both immature and adult male American Kestrels, (Falco sparverius) have a solid orange tail with a single thick black bar near the cream tip. The females have a multi black barred tail."

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ostrich2
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I saw our local red-tails again this morning - we have been having extremely strong winds this morning with gale force gusts and I saw two RTs actually up in the wind soaring around when I came in, basically very close to where I've reported them before (and where I got my previous pictures).

I did actually manage to get one shot that might have captured one soaring - when I get home and am able to download it and see if you can indeed see anything I'll post it.
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ostrich2
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I downloaded the photo of the hawk that I took this morning and I did manage to catch it in flight. It's not the most fantastic shot in the world because I only caught it against a rather dark backdrop, but nonetheless here it is:

Posted Image

You can see the full resolution version from this page:

Flying Hawk
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Of the two that were gliding around in the wind that one definitely looked bigger, so that would fit that it would be female. I was mildly surprised to see them flying at all in the intense wind we had today.
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Raptorman,Jan 30 2008
11:38 PM
The strong wind gives them trouble flying into it (not impossible by any means) but when they turn and go with it they can stealth or stoop at greater speeds than normal. That can be a big plus if they have the experience to control it. Bill :D

Bill, would wind conditions be important then when flying birds for falconry, either as something to be avoided or perhaps desirable? I imagine some species would be affected by those conditions much more than others.
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Two more interesting and exciting RT sightings today:

One RT I spotted slowly circling over the front parking lot at work, quite low too so I got a good look at the underwings and tail. What was a bit unusual about this bird was the dark markings around the patagial area seemed to be quite long and narrow extending a fair amount along the wing. There was no sign of red on the tail, but that is not always evident on the underside. Because of the long dark strip along the wing, I had a thought for a second that perhaps it wasn't a RT, but then it started calling out in the classic RT call (I think you said that is a territorial call Bill?), and eventually ended up landing in a tree. My car and camera were on the other side of the property so I couldn't try to get any shots. I wonder whether it could be the same bird I'd gotten the shots of on those two other occasions, but of course it's tough to tell. If it was making a territorial call that might mean it is claiming/has claimed the area around the building as a territory?

I saw a second RT on the way home making a capture! I was driving home along a stretch of highway where there was a steep grassy hill right on the side of the road, and the RT glided across the highway right across my path. When it reached the hill, it very suddenly dropped sharply toward the ground, and struck the ground quite sharply talons first. After it hit the ground it looked like it was starting to mantle so I think it got something. The way it came in was interesting too - as he glided over the hill his legs seemed to be just hanging straight down - it reminded me very much of the balds as they are gliding low over the water - they are flying horizontally, but the talons are hanging straight down until they make the final lunge to the water. When the RT dropped down to the prey it's almost like he just went straight down - that might be a bit of an illusion because of the steep slope of the hill. But he didn't seem to stoop like a peregrine - all of a sudden he just lost altitude and came straight down. I'm not sure how he did that.
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Here is a neat film footage of a snowy owl interacting with wolves:

Snowy Owls Swoop At Arctic Wolves
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Raptorman,Feb 1 2008
04:13 PM
Kool. Anyone have any thoughts about what was probably really going on there??? Bill :D

Since this was filmed on Arctic tundra, I would assume this would have been filmed during the snowy's residence in the north, i.e. breeding season, not during southern wintering. Given that you also don't find trees on the tundra, I'd also have to assume the snowy is a ground nester of some kind or nests in burrows, so I would speculate it's most likely that the wolves were simply too close to an active nest site? The owl couldn't possibly be intending to attack the wolves as prey (and it was never actually making contact with the wolf anyway).
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Raptorman
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ostrich2
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Here are some more nice hawk photos that were posted on chat today:

ojailala posted this shot of a local hawk - very interesting light plumage on the breast:

Posted Image

saraoh also posted a couple of very nice shots of a local hawk - this one is clearly an accipiter - so it is another one of the "Coopers or sharp-shinned" examples :D

Hawk close-up

Hawk
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