Comments | urbpan: 365 Urban Species. #045: Red-tailed Hawk

urbpan

365 Urban Species. #045: Red-tailed Hawk

Feb 14, 2006 21:49

( Read more... )

hawks, 365 urban species, birds, red-tailed hawk, animals

Comments 24

aemiis_zoo February 15 2006, 03:12:55 UTC

I like red-tailed hawks. So beautiful! =)

miz_geek February 15 2006, 03:16:43 UTC

Wow. Did that hawk actually kill the mallard or just scrounge it? (Not that you'd necessarily know). I didn't think a red-tail could take out a bird that size. Impressive.

That roadkill also contributes to their getting hit by cars.

lizblackdog February 15 2006, 09:05:33 UTC

Yes, they can. My Redtail had no trouble with 8-9lb English brown hares as long as she grabbed the front end... they can take prey much bigger than they are.

What's impressive about taking a mallard is that a mallard's much faster in the air, not to mention slippery and agile and able to dive underwater too. Though I did know a captive redtail who took one once. The great thing about Redtails as falconry birds is their brains - after a few years they really learn to play to their strengths and they get very deadly indeed.

miz_geek February 15 2006, 11:49:10 UTC

Cool. Now that I think of it, duck hunting is mostly what falconers do (at least around here).

I didn't know you had a redtail (or did at one time). Wow. They are damn smart when it comes to food.

lizblackdog February 15 2006, 12:09:50 UTC

It was a long time ago, before I fucked my life up - although I've done a fair bit of un-fucking-up now, I'm in a first floor apartment with no car and I don't know if I'll ever be able to be an active falconer again. I don't even have any pictures of her left.

Redtails are the most awesome birds. Some people see them as less special than the longwings and so forth because they're relatively common, but they're so clever and brave and versatile and have so much character. My Camilla even had a sense of humour - she used to get a kick out of stealing people's hats when she was flying. I never realised a bird could laugh before...

Thread 14

amazingrando February 15 2006, 03:16:58 UTC

amazingrando February 15 2006, 03:20:54 UTC

my browser won't show the < 3 I left for the red-tails :(

urbpan February 15 2006, 10:59:39 UTC

I saw it in my email! It must have mistaken it for incomplete html.

purplebunnie_ February 15 2006, 14:10:04 UTC

I've always loved red-tailed hawks. They're native to N.Ca where I grew up, and because of my close relations with the Aujamawi band of Pit River, "brother" is the immediate thought that comes to mind when I see one.

phlogiston_5 February 15 2006, 14:40:16 UTC

I once stood five feet from the redtail that lived on the TCNJ campus and watched it disembowl a squirrel. I have no idea why it let me get THAT close to it, but it didn't seem to notice me at all. Boy do I wish I had a camera with me when that happened, but at least the bird left behind a big red feather for me. I suppose it might have been raised/rehabilitated by humans and then released, so it might have been used to people being nearby.

urbpan February 15 2006, 15:17:38 UTC

I think while feeding they let people get pretty close. Twice I've gotten close to them eating ducks, once I was close to one eating a crow. In the past couple decades they seem to have lost a lot of fear of humans--I would imagine they would be especially habituated in densely populated places (like NJ and Mass.)