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Discussion of other Raptor species; their anatomy, biology, ecology, etc.
Topic Started: Sep 16 2007, 11:04 AM (18,138 Views)
Ladydi0363
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Bill,

You are very generous with your knowledge and time, all that you share with us is very much appreciated!!

Thank you and I look forward to more,
Diana
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Patti
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Bill, I was able to watch the first video and am so touched by your story. I admire you very much for devoting your life to these raptors. Will watch the second video tonight after my bird chores.

I really REALLY am looking forward to coming back to this thread and making a "home" here when the temporary work is completed. Thank you for this thread.
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cdn-cdn
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What a treat to see the variety of raptors that you care for, Bill. Any child who has the chance to see your presentation will remember it forever. I saw a snowy owl flying over my car in the middle of the city a couple of years ago. Needless to say I stuck my head out the car window in amazement (I was lucky, it happened while I was at a red light), while others didn't notice it at all. The one you were caring for was certainly a beauty. The ending of video two was especially touching.
P.S. It was confirmed by two members of the local birding group that I had seen a snowy owl in that location.
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ostrich2
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Where did you see this owl Cdn? I understand there are snowy owls at the airport during the winter but I have never seen one.
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ostrich2
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I just came across a short blurb that stated that the snowy owl was originally considered to be in a different genus from the Great Horned Owl (or other owls for that matter), but recent mtDNA analysis has shown that the snowy is in fact closely related to the GHO.
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Raptorman
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Patti
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Bill, I just watched the second video and want to thank you for the fantastic message you're sending to the children; our future, indeed. The video was beautiful. Well, I started crying...these things reach my soul. You're a very kind and wonderful man.

Are there any magazines you would recommend? To help out with a grade school fundraiser, I've just subscribed to Birder's World because I noticed the sample cover featured the first few days in a hawk's life--saw something on whooping cranes also.

Again, thank you so much for starting this thread.
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ostrich2
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Bill, someone on the Hancock forum posted this capture from the Brisbane peregrine cam:

Posted Image

Do you have any thoughts on what the prey might be? It seems rather small to be a bird and doesn't seem particularly birdlike, but I thought the peregrines were very strongly oriented toward bird prey and rarely prey on mammals.
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Raptorman
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Raptorman
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Patti
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Elementary school fundraiser projects now connect to large organizations that sell magazines, music, and books--and in the name of the child and his/her school, when you purchase items, a percentage of the purchase goes to the child's school funding. It is all presented online via emails sent to persons who know the child and will tend to purchase. The email directs you to a large donation website.

I purchased a BirdTalk renewal and Birder's World, since it seems to feature raptor articles. I've read BirdTalk for years, but am now interested in knowing more about differnent raptors. Are there are magazines dealing with raptor life in the wild, not just bald eagles specifically?

It wasn't until I was looking thru these donation items for Taylor that it entered my mind that maybe there are general raptor magazines. I saw two other wild bird magazines, but Birder's World appeared the best since apparently had both hawk & whooping crane articles in one issue. Looks to be general information to help broaden the knowledge base--and photos.

It would seem falconry magazines exit, but I'm not sure what it would entail? They would seem more like my deceased dad's magazines on pigeon breeding and racing/health, as my BirdTalk is devoted to the health, diet, and care of companion psittacine/passerines. (How to handfeed, vet advice, etc.) However, BirdTalk does deal with conservation issues/articles.

The Birder's World mag I will receive in 2 months or so may actually fit my needs...learning how raptors in general live in the wild. Like a National Geographic format...stories to educate/address conservation maybe, yet fun to read, plus some photos. Of course, if a you recommend a magazine, I will subscribe independently of the school fundraising project--there is no relationship at this point. I think I may have confused you and apologize.
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Raptorman
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Patti
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Thank you, Bill. :)
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ostrich2
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Bill, having started following the Brisbane peregrine cam a bit, one interesting aspect of the peregrine that there does not seem to be agreement on is the stoop - specifically how they strike the prey. For example, this page discusses the stoop:

Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrines are the world's fastest birds! This is most obvious while they are hunting, or "stooping." Once a peregrine targets its prey, it will stoop (or swoop) at speeds reaching 200 mph. Often, the peregrine strikes the flying prey from above, angling itself to dive from the direction of the sun. This increases the falcon's ability to see the prey, and the prey will be blinded by the sun (literally won't know what hit 'em.) There is some discrepancy as to the position of the falcon's talons during the strike. Some sources argue that the talons are extended, and the falcon rips at the prey during the initial attack. Other sources claim that the talons are closed, creating a fist-like punch to knock the prey out of the sky. Either way, the first blow will send the prey to the ground, where the peregrine will confirm the kill with a bite to the neck. Upon occasion, peregrines have been seen stooping prey and circling back to catch the prey before it even hits the ground—that's fast! While peregrines stoop at 200 mph, they can maintain a speed of 60 mph during level flight.


The PBS documentary Raptor Force has various footage of peregrines in the stoop, including footage taken right from the bird's back using a tiny camera mounted to the back. Even that though because of the incredible speed of the bird and the mounting of the camera doesn't really let you definitively see the strike. The only thing you can see at the moment of impact is a poof of feathers, almost as if there is a slashing strike with the talons through the prey.

Despite this I have a difficult time though imagining how the peregrine could do this without incurring an extreme risk of catastrophic injury if it hits the prey with open talons. The problem I see is that at the extreme speed and G-forces involved in the stoop, if the talons were to hit any kind of solid structure in the prey (like a bone or tougher connective tissue) it would cripple the peregrine.

I imagine as an analogy if I were to drive a car at 200mph down a football field wearing a shoe with long sharp cleats on it, and then while the car is in motion I were to stick my foot out the door and drive it downwards into the ground. The problem is even if my cleat could slice relatively cleanly through the grass, at those speeds if that cleat were to catch in the ground for even the merest fraction of a second, I would imagine there would be an incredible force applied to my leg, surely completely shattering my foot and ankle, and probably the knee too. I'm not a physicist, so I don't know if this analogy is valid, but for this reason I have difficulty imagining how the peregrine could use the talons in the stoop without an unreasonable risk of effectively killing itself. Hitting the prey with a closed fist would seem to have fewer risks.

Have you flown peregrines as a falconry bird, and if so do you have an opinion?
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Raptorman
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