northeast-flora-and-fauna

It's almost like this Red-tailed Hawk wanted to avoid a misidentification so its prominently displaying its red [1] tail. Since I'm pretty confident that birds don't really care what we identify them as, I'm assuming this positioning was a prerequisite to a good tail-preening session. Still, when people can't see that iconic red tail [2], misidentifications can run wild. The most over-enthusiastic people will claim to have seen an eagle, and I have to admit that a Golden Eagle does look a bit like a very big Red-tailed Hawk [3]. Probably the only thing that prevents more widespread misidentification is that the Red-tailed Hawk is quite a bit more common than our other hawks, like Red-shouldered Hawks , Cooper's Hawks , and Northern Harriers . May 13, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 282423074, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Yeah, I know, it's more of a burnt orange tail than a red one, but people used to refer to colors differently . [2] Techn...

Here's another Northern Harrier . I showed you one just a couple weeks ago, but since this might be the last one I see for a while, let's show it too. While my area is around the southern edge of their breeding range , I don't think I've seen them in the summer [1]. Once again I got a distant shot of a moving harrier, so you probably can't see its somewhat owly face. (I doubt owls would agree with that description; they'd probably describe a Northern Harrier's face as "hawky".) Their genus name is Circus . Witnessing their acrobatic flights, I initially wondered if the name came from circus acrobats, but it sounds like "circus" derived from "circle" and reflects their circular flights over meadows. There are other "harrier hawks" in genus, though the Northern Harrier is the only 1 you should expect to find in North America [2]. February 21, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 264701908, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC B...

Although getting pictures of them isn't easy I'm a little surprised I haven't talked about Northern Harriers before now in this blog. They are the most owl-like hawk species in our area, with a flattish owl face. This is due to how important hearing is for this hawk; similar to owls, sounds hitting their faces gets funneled to their ears, making it more likely they're going to hear small prey to pounce on.  Their most common hunting technique is to fly just a few feet above the vegetation of a meadow, veering left and right, up and down, until they hear a mouse/vole/shrew scamper through the grasses, at which point they dive on that spot. At this point they might disappear below the grassline; it's not always easy to tell whether their hunt was successful.  They are associated with Short-eared Owls , with both species spending the winters here, breeding further north, and hunting similar prey using similar techniques, frequently in the same area. And both species a...

Here's another American Kestrel  I encountered, this one in January. This one was closer than the one I saw in October , and both closer and with better lighting than the couple sightings in November . I'd expect to see a lot more blue (especially on the wings) if this was a male, so I'm pretty confident that this is a "she". We don't always appreciate just how light most birds are. This falcon is able to perch on the top of what's basically a twig because she only weighs about a quarter of a pound (117 grams). She was at Farm Barn Lane at Duke Farms. With a few kestrel boxes set up for them and surrounded by meadows with small prey, this is a fairly popular place for American Kestrels. In fact, when I was there yesterday a photographer said he had spotted a pair mating on one of the boxes. Unfortunately I failed to spot - let alone photograph - this kestrel romance. Still, this area does have its drawbacks. I've spotted a Northern Harrier and a few R...