Wildlife Center, Inc. Animal Fact Sheets

Transcription

Wildlife Center, Inc.
Animal Fact Sheets
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
o What is a raptor
o Anatomy drawings
EAGLES
o Bald Eagle
o Golden Eagle
EXOTICS
o African Grey
o Mealy Amazon
o Blue and Gold Macaw
o Chinchilla
o Mute Swan
o Pied Crow
FALCONS
o European Kestrel
o American Kestrel
o Peregrine Falcon
HAWKS
o
o
o
o
o
Augur Buzzard
Common Buzzard
Ferruginous Hawk
Harris Hawk
Red Tailed Hawk
MAMMALS
o Bobcat
o Chinchilla & Story
o Ocelot
o Lynx
o African Pygmy Hedgehog
o Porcupine
o River Otter
o Serval
o Striped Skunk
OWLS
o Barred Owl
o Barn Owl
o Burrowing Owl
o Eurasian Eagle Owl
o Easter Screech Owl
o Great Horned Owl
o Northern Saw-Whet Owl
o Short Eared Owl
o Snowy Owl
o Tawny Owl
VULTURES
o Andean Condor
o King Vulture
o Egyptian Vulture
o Turkey Vulture
NATURAL HISTORY
o Excerpt from Book of Falcons
o Falcon stories
o Owls facts and stories
o Vulture facts and stories
Introduction
A raptor is a carnivorous (meat-eating) bird. All raptors share at least three main characteristics:
•
•
•
Keen eyesight
Eight sharp talons
A hooked beak
There are approximately 482 species of raptor worldwide, 304 diurnal (day-active) species and 178 nocturnal
(night-active) species. This does not include the seven species of New World vultures. Birds of prey is another
term used to describe raptors as a group. Raptors have existed in some form for 50 to 75 million years.
Depending on the classification system used, the number of families of raptors varies. A general division of the
raptors leaves us with 12 groups worldwide:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
caracaras
eagles
falcons
hawks
harriers
kites
ospreys
owls, barn
owls, typical
secretary birds
vultures, Old World (Eastern Hemishere; Europe, Asia, and Africa)
vultures, New World (Western Hemishere)
All of these groups occur in North America except the Old World vultures and the secretary bird.
EAGLES
Bald Eagle
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Buteoninae
Genus: Haliaeetus
Length: 27-35 in.
Weight: 9-14 lbs. (females larger than males)
Wingspan: 70-90 in.
Common Names: American eagle, white-headed eagle, white-headed sea eagle SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Etymology: balde (Old English) - "white"; haliaeetos (Greek) - "sea eagle"; leucocephalus (Greek) - "whiteheaded"
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Adults have a dark brown body with a white head and tail, yellow eyes
and beak. Immature eagles are all dark with some white mottled in the wings and tail. The eyes and beak are dark. As the birds mature around 4-5 yrs
of age they start getting the white tail and head and the eyes and beak start turning yellow. Sexes are similar in appearance, with females often
noticeably larger than males. Northern birds are larger than southern birds. Flight: Soars on wide, flat, stiff wings that are held horizontally. For their
size bald eagles are extremely agile and can turn quite suddenly. Voice: Bald eagles most commonly scream a gull-like cackle or whine, often with
their heads tossed back when perching. The female's voice is lower-pitched.
RANGE: Distribution: Bald eagles are found over most of the United States, with the largest populations in Alaska. In the east, they still breed in
upstate New York, Maine, Michigan, and along the Carolina and Florida coastlines. They are now nesting on inland lakes, a sign of continued
recovery. While the bald eagle was once considered endangered, populations have recovered and this species was downlisted to “threatened.
HABITAT: Bald eagles nest on the edge of rivers, lakes, or seashores. In winter and on migration they can be found where there is open water
attracting sufficient food, and evening roost sites.
NESTING: Bald eagles prefer old growth trees that extend above the canopy for roosting and nesting, although they will occasionally use cliffs or
ground if no trees are available. Eyries are built near the tops of tall, live trees or cliffs. Bald eagles build large stick nests (sometimes weighing over
1 ton) that are usually about 6 feet in diameter and more than six feet tall. They are made of sticks up to two inches in diameter and lined with moss,
grass, pine needles. The same eyries may be used for years. Bald eagles lay 1-3 relatively small white eggs, and both males and females incubate the
eggs. On average they start breeding at 7-8 years, but may breed as sub-adults and they don't always breed every year. Bald eagle incubation lasts 3437 days, and young eagles fly at 10-11 weeks.
FEEDING HABITS: Bald eagles are primarily fish eaters. They can catch fish 6-12 inches under the surface, and they often go for dead or floating
fish. Bald eagles hunt mostly in the early morning, and sometimes again in late afternoon. They will occasionally hunt cooperatively when hunting
mammals. Bald eagles use several methods to catch prey, including swooping from a perch or while in flight and wading from shore into the water
and grabbing fish with bill or talons. While much of the bald eagle's diet consists of fish, they will also eat ducks, rabbits, herons, squirrels, opossums
and carrion. Road killed deer are a favorite and thus lead to many eagles being hit by cars. Almost 90% of the salmon eaten by eagles is carrion, often
stolen from other birds such as osprey or immature eagles. Eagles are successful about 10% of the time when chasing mammals, and 70-80% when
fishing. An adult bald eagle can consume one pound of fish in less than four minutes! They can lift 1⁄2 of their own weight and carry 1⁄3 of their
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: Eagle injuries are on the increase, they are often brought to rehab centers because they have been shot, caught in leg
hold traps, poisoned, or hit by moving vehicles. Eagles are very difficult birds to maintain in captivity due to their size, strength, and wild nature.
They are also a commitment since their lifespan in captivity can reach over 60 yrs.
CONSERVATION STATUS
The bald eagle was listed as an endangered species throughout most of the United States, with the exception of Alaska, where it is not listed, and
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon and Florida, where it is considered threatened. In 1995, the bald eagle's status was changed to
"threatened" for the entire United States. In 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that the bald eagle be removed from the endangered
species list, but this has yet to happen.
Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Genus: Aquila
Length: 27-33 in.
Weight: 7-14 lbs. (females larger than males)
Wingspan: 72-87 in.
Common Names: black eagle, brown eagle, calumet eagle, mountain eagle
(Latin) - "an eagle"; chrysaetos (Greek) - "a golden eagle";
Etymology: aquila
DESCRIPTION: Golden eagles are dark with a gold patch behind the head and neck. The head is smaller and the tail appears longer than the bald
eagle's. Immature golden eagles in flight flash white underneath at the base of the primary feathers and at the base of the tail. Golden eagles are
"booted," their legs are feathered to the toes. Plumages of both sexes are similar; females usually have a wider and more distinct sub-terminal band.
Wingspan six to seven feet; length 30 to 40 inches. Legs are feathered to the toes. Females are often noticeably larger than the males. A golden eagle
can see a rabbit from as much as 2 miles away. FLIGHT: Golden eagle active flight is with slow wing beats. Golden eagles are masterful flyers,
often hunting from the air and soaring on strong currents. They can stoop at high speeds and have been reported to attain speeds greater than the
peregrine falcon in a dive. VOICE: High-pitched kee-kee-kee or a high scream or squeal. However, they are usually silent.
HABITAT: Found in a variety of habitats in the western United States, including mountainous areas, canyons, shrub-land, and grasslands. Nesting
occurs in large trees and on cliffs. During the winter they are found primarily in shrub-steppe vegetation in the west and wetlands, river systems, and
estuaries in the east.
RANGE:
The golden eagle is found in North America, Eurasia, and northern Africa. The breeding range in North America includes north-central Mexico, the
western United States as far east as the Dakotas, Kansas and Texas, Alaska, and across northern Canada. No nesting records exist for Minnesota.
During the winter, they can be found in southern Alaska and Canada, the western United States and Mexico. A few golden eagles are seen in
Minnesota every fall during migration and occasionally on the Mississippi river in the winter. They are also occasionally seen in the Adirondacks
and the southern Appalachians.
NESTING: Golden eagle eyries are usually located in a commanding position on a rocky cliff or in towering oaks, sycamores, or pine. Their nests
are large and bulky, made of branches, roots, and plant stems, lined with hay, green grass, leaves, or bark. They usually lay two white, lightly
blotched eggs with shades of cinnamon. The female does the incubating, but the male assists by bringing his mate food. Incubation lasts 43-45 days,
and hatching can take more than a day. Golden eagles are very sensitive to human disturbance during nesting. Breeding success in this bird is often
very dependent on prey densities (especially jackrabbits in the western United States).
FOOD: Golden eagles use several different methods to capture prey, depending on the type of prey. Perch and wait, including ground perching, and
soaring and low level flight are the most common methods used. When attacking prey, the golden eagle often uses one foot to catch food. If the prey
is large, one foot grabs the head, while the talons of the other foot are driven into the lungs and other soft parts of the body. The beak is generally not
used for killing prey. Golden eagles are mammal eaters, with 90% of their prey caught at ground level. 70-90% of their prey is rodents and rabbits,
but golden eagles will also take Dall and mountain sheep, squirrels, caribou, coyotes, cranes, swans, immature peregrine falcons, snakes, frogs and
fish. They have a success rate of about 30%, and the smaller and more agile males are often more successful on solo hunts. While they can kill large
prey, golden eagles have difficulty carrying large prey because of their own heavy body weight. They may typically carry about 2-3 pounds. Golden
eagles feed mostly on food which they catch, although they will eat carrion.
REHAB INFO: They are easier to maintain in captivity than the bald eagle, the golden eagle is extremely strong and must be handled with great
care.
CONSERVATION STATUS:
They are considered to be fairly common in the western United States, Canada, and Alaska. (Some estimates range up to 70,000 birds.) Golden eagles
are still subject to illegal shooting due to the erroneous belief that they are a serious threat to ranch animals.
EXOTICS
African Grey
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Psittacus
Length: 13 inches
Scientific Name: Psittacus erithacus
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Although there are only two scientifically recognized subspecies, the Congo and Timneh; Importers and
quarantine stations have discovered two other AGs that come from different regions and have distinctive differences. The first is the Camaroon, which
comes from Zaire (they were exported by an exporter in Camaroon) , is approx. 20% larger, has a more silver appearance, larger squarer head, and a
brighter crimson tail than the congo. The second is the "Ghana", from Ghana, not Guyana located in Central America. The Ghana is smaller than the
Congo and similar to the Timneh but has a much longer neck.These are stocky birds ranging in size from 12–16 inches and weigh about one pound.
Both male and female African gray parrots have a similar appearance and lack sexual dimorphism, or two different forms. They are gray in color with a
blackish bill and legs and a red short, square tail and tail coverts. An African gray parrot's eyes have a clear yellow iris.
RANGE: African gray parrots live in Africa from Sierra Leone to the Ivory Coast, east to the Congo River basin, western Kenya, northwestern
Tanzania and south to south-central Zaire.
HABITAT: These birds generally prefer lowland tropical and subtropical forests including the edges and clearings. They also occupy mangroves,
gallery forests, savanna woodlands and cultivated areas.
REPRODUCTION AND BEHAVIOR: The African gray parrot reaches sexual maturity at 3–5 years. The gray parrot is monogamous and believed
to mate for life. They build their nest 30–90 inches above ground in the hollows of dry trees. Clutches are laid of 2–3 white eggs and occasionally up to
4 eggs. They are incubated by the female alone. After an incubation period of 21–30 days, both parents feed the chicks. The chick leaves the nest
around ten weeks after hatching.
These birds are extremely gregarious, living in large flocks, but usually nest solitarily. They roost in communal sites of up to 200 birds. These arboreal,
or tree dwelling, birds rarely come to the ground and prefer to remain in tall trees at the edge of the woods. They are fast flyers that fly in a straight line
propelling themselves with rapid, shallow wing beats.
FEEDING HABITS: In the wild, African gray parrots primarily eat fruits and berries, as well as seeds and nuts. They are particularly fond of the flesh
of oil-palm fruit.
ADAPTATIONS: Like all parrots, African grays are zygodactyl; their two outer toes point backwards and their two inner toes point forward. This
provides them with a strong grasp and helps them to use their feet like hands for holding and manipulating objects. Parrots surpass all other birds in
their manual dexterity.
The gray parrot, also like all other parrots, has a downward curving, hooked upper mandible, which fits securely over a smaller upward-curving lower
mandible. This bill allows them to perform delicate preening tasks, while being powerful enough to crush the hardest nuts and seeds. It is also able to
act like a hook, which the birds use to grasp and pull themselves on to branches.
Amazon
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Length: 40 cm
Weight: 650-900 g
Scientific Name: Amazona farinose
Common Name: Mealy Parrot
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: One of the largest Amazon parrots. They are approximately 40 cm tail tip to
head. They weigh between 650 and 900 grams. This bird has a patch of purple or flue found on the top of its head.
Some also have yellow of their heads. The rest of their body is mostly green; their tail feathers being light green/lime at
the tip. Some have a light blue/teal sheen to their green coat. Under their wings feathers can be yellow, blue, purple,
red, and teal. Their beaks are a yellowish horn color, and they have a white unfeathered ring around their eyes. Their
eyes themselves are a reddish orange color.
RANGE: The natural habitat ranges from Southern Mexico south into Northern Bolivia and Eastern Brazil.
HABITAT: They commonly inhabit the sparse tropical rain forests.
NESTING: This parrot interacts with other Amazon parrots. It enjoys contact with other birds and can be found in pairs, or in flocks of great
numbers. They are even known to socialize with other parrots, such as macaws. When the bird reaches sexual maturity it forms a permanent
relationship with one partner.
FEEDING HABITS: Feeds off of fruits, seeds, berries, nuts, blossoms, leaf buds, and in some cases fruit or vegetable fields.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Although never common, the Mealy was imported frequently during the 1980’s. Owners of these large birds found
them to be easily tamed, quiet, and good natured and friendly with everyone. Domestic babies have proven to be all of that plus have some talking
ability. The Mealy is so friendly that many owners compare the temperaments of their pets to that of docile Moluccan Cockatoos
Blue Gold Macaw
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Ara
Length: 34-36 inches
Weight: 900-1200 grams
Wingspan: 41-45 inches
Scientific Name: Ara ararauna
Red area shows the Blue & Gold macaw's habitat
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The Blue & Gold is a large bird, but not quite as large as Scarlet, Greenwing or Hyacinth Macaws. Its size
and spectacular plummage make it a showstopper, indeed. An emerald crown gives way to a brilliant blue on the top of the head and across the back
and wings. The primary wing feathers shade to a deep indigo. The characteristic macaw facial skin patch is etched by three or so fine lines of black
feathers running just below the eyes, which are a beautiful and expressive light green or grey. Below the beak is a small black bib or "beard", while the
rest of the chest and belly are solid gold. Plumage: The feathers are a sky-blue with the underneath being a golden-yellow. The forehead is a dark green
with the chin and throat being black. Beak and eyes: The beak is black and the iris of the eye is yellow, when they are very young the eyes a dark. Soft
parts: The face is partly bare with thin lines of feathers below and in front of the eyes. The bird can have a flushed face when it is excited. The feet are
gray and black.
RANGE: Within the swampy forests of tropical South America from Panama south to Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. It is probably now extinct on
Trinidad..
HABITAT: They are primarily forest and rainforest birds in their natural setting,
NESTING: Typically they are found congregating in large flocks, though usually paired up with a mate or buddy
FEEDING HABITS: They feed on fruits and vegetables.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The species is still relatively plentiful through much of its home range, though deforestation is taking its toll on the
overall numbers of these magnificent birds. It has disappeared from some parts of its original range. However, the Blue & Gold Macaw has been bred
domestically in the United States and other countries for well over three decades. Most pet Blue & Golds are likely fifth to tenth (or more) generation
"Americans."
Chinchilla Chinchilla
Taxonomy
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Chinchillidae
Genus: Chinchilla
Life Expectancy: 10-12 years
Weight: 600 g
Length: 225-380 mm
Scientific Name: Chinchilla lanigera
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Chinchilla lanigera has a head and body length equal to 225-380 mm, and a tail averaging 75-150 mm. The species is
sexually dimorphic with the female weighing up to 800 g and the male only 500 g. The fur of members of this species is extremely dense and soft. Each hair
usually has a black tip, and as many as 60 hairs grow out of one follicle. The ventral side is usually bluish, pearl, or brownish gray, and the belly is yellowishwhite. Its tail is furry with coarse hairs on the dorsal surface. The head is broad and the external ears are large. Chinchillas have large, black eyes with a vertical
split pupil, vestigial cheek pouches, and incisors with colored enamel . Both the forefoot and hindfoot have four digits with stiff bristles surrounding the weak
claws.
RANGE: Chinchillas and their relatives viscachas are small, nocturnal mammals native to the Andes mountains in South America
HABITAT: Chinchilla lanigera is found in the barren, arid areas of mountains at elevations of 3,000-5,000 meters. These animals den in crevices and holes
among the rocks..
FEEDING HABITS: They are vegetarians and dine on food such as roots, fruits, leaves, bark, and tubers in the wild and alfalfa, pellets, and hay in captivity.
The long-tailed chinchilla is omnivorous. It feeds on many types of vegatation, but primarily on grass and seeds. They also eat insects and bird eggs. While
eating, C. lanigera sits erect and holds the food in its forepaws. Domesticated chinchillas are fed alfalfa, hay, wheat, corn, oats, and commercial food pellets.
REPRODUCTION: Female chinchillas are mostly monogamous. The breeding season occurs between November and May in the Northern Hemisphere and
between May and November in the Southern Hemisphere. Females normally have two litters per year, with two to three young per litter. Gestation of C.
lanigera lasts for 111 days, and the young are precocial or well developed at birth. The newborn chinchillas weigh up to 35 g, are fully furred, and have their
eyes open. Lactation lasts for 6-8 weeks and sexual maturity is attained after 8 months. Life span in the wild of C. lanigera is roughly 10 years, but some
domesticated chinchillas have lived for over 20 years.
BEHAVIOR: Female chinchillas are the dominant sex and are very aggresive toward one another and toward males during estrus. Despite this aggresiveness,
serious fighting in the wild is rare. Chinchilla lanigera express threats through growling, chattering their teeth, and urinating. Chinchillas are social animals
and have been known to live in colonies of more than 100 individuals. They are primarily nocturnal animals with crepuscular activity peaks.
SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS: Chinchillas have several defense mechanisms to survive in the Andes Mountain region. First, their light color resembles that of
the rocks to protect themselves from predators. Second, their tail is stiff and firm and serves as balance when they jump and make quick escapes. Chinchillas
also use their hind legs to jump great distances. Their coats dense, it allows for survival in harsh cold weather, protection from immense heat, and avoidance of
infestation from fleas and other parasites. Their fur is released into the eyes and mouth of the predator as well, giving them enough time to escape while their
enemies stop to wipe the fur from their face. To survive in their arid habitat in the wild, chinchillas satisfy their need for water by drinking the dew and
condensation from rocks in the morning hours and bathe in sands or dust. Because they venture out at night when it is much cooler, the eyesight of these animals
are undeveloped, and they use their long whiskers as a tool to guide themselves through the dark and through rocks. Also, they develop a “mental map” of their
surrounding area for quick escape from an enemy.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Listed as CITIES Appendix I and IUCN lists Chinchilla lanigera as vulnerable. Chinchillas are now protected by law in their
natural habitat, yet hunting of this animal for its fur continues in remote areas, which makes enforcement hard. Populations of C. lanigera have also dwindled
because of burning and harvesting of the algarobilla shrub in the lower altitudes. Fewer than 10,000 C. lanigera are thought to have survived in the wild, and
attempts to reintroduce chinchillas into the wild have failed. Today, hundreds of chinchillas are bred commercially.
A Chinchilla History
“The history of the chinchilla did not begin with them as pets. They were used in fur trading that goes back as far
as the 16th century. When the Spanish conquered the Chinca Indians in the 1500’s, they discovered these little
fur balls and after touching their fur found them to be in high demand for their pelts. In Europe in the late 1700’s
and early 1800’s, a chinchilla fur coat was a must-have for royalties and well-to-do families. It took
approximately 100 chins to make a coat so many of the creatures had to be killed to make one coat.
The outcome was a low number of chins in the wild by the end of the 19th century. The Chilean government
seeing the chinchilla on its way to becoming extinct began passing laws to outlaw the killing of these beautiful
rodents.
In 1918, a mining engineer working for the Anaconda Copper in Chile named Mathias F. Chapman got his first
glimpse of a chinchilla. A native of Chile had captured one of the rodents and taken it into Chapman's camp to
sell. Chapman purchased the rodent and developed a big interest in it. Chapman sought out permission from the
Chilean government to capture chinchillas. The task was not an easy one; he first had to get permission from the
Chilean government to venture into the Andes to capture chinchillas. Despite their reluctance, Chapman finally
acquired permission to capture and export chinchillas in 1923.
Chapman put together a party of 23 men, besides himself, for the journey into the mountains to begin his search
for the chinchillas. With the chinchilla population being so scarce, it took these men 11 years to catch only 11
chins that would be suitable for breeding purposes. Out of the 11 chins only 3 were female. Chapman spent the
next 12 months slowly moving down the mountain with the chins. The reason the trip was so long was to allow
the chins to adapt to the climate and surroundings. Others had failed in this because they did not allow the chins
to adapt. Chapman used blocks of ice and avoided sunlight as he made his way down the mountain with the
chins. Success was celebrated when all 11 chins survived. The chins traveled by coastal steamer to California.
While on board the ship they still received constant care. Supplies of ice were used to keep them cool, and wet
towels were placed on their cages. While traveling, a kit was even born. The animals arrived in Los Angeles on
February 21, 1923.
Once the herd was established, their cost soared as high as $3200 per pair. By the mid-1960’s thousands of
chinchilla ranches were created, and chinchillas began to be offered as pets, their price usually $100 per animal.
With approximately 3000 ranches throughout the Unites States and Canada breeding chinchillas, their success as
pets can only be given to M.F. Chapman for his dedication to the chins well-being in the beginning. This interest
lasted the remainder of his life.”
Crows and Ravens
Pied Crow
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Corvus
Length: 46-50 cm
Scientific Name: Corvus albus
The name comes from it’s black and white cooling, called “pied.” Its cousin the mag
pie is also named in this fashion, pie referring to its pied coloring.
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The Pied Crow (Corvus albus) is approximately the size of the European Carrion Crow or a little larger
(46-50 cm in length) but has a proportionately larger bill and slightly longer tail, wings and longer legs. As its name suggests, its glossy black head and
neck are interrupted by a large area of white feathering from the shoulders down to the lower breast. The tail, bill and wings are black too.
RANGE: This species, Africa's most widespread member of the genus Corvus occurs from Sub-Saharan Africa down to the Cape of Good Hope and
also the large island of Madagascar, the Comoros islands, Aldabra, Zanzibar, Pemba and Fernando Po. It inhabits mainly open country with villages
and towns nearby. It does not occur in the equatorial rainforest region.
HABITAT: Savannah, farms, dumps and sub-urban zones.
NESTING: Commonly in pairs or small groups. but sometimes gathers in large flocks of hundreds of birds and will circle high in the air on thermals.
Both sexes help build the nest which is made of sticks and lined with rags, hair or any suitable soft material and placed either in trees or niches in rocks
or on the cross supports of telephone poles. Lays 3 to 6 bluish green eggs which are spotted, blotched or streaked with olive brown or gray. Female
incubates and broods the young, but is often fed by the male. Incubation is 18-19 days and the young are usually fledged by around 45 days. Both sexes
rear the young. Breeds throughout the year.
FEEDING HABITS: Most of its food is obtained from the ground such as insects and other small invertebrates, small reptiles, small mammals, young
birds and eggs, grain, peanuts, carrion and any scraps of human food and fruit. It has been recorded killing and eating roosting Fruit Bats and is
frequently seen (sometimes in huge numbers) scavenging around slaughter houses.
VOICE: The voice is described as a harsh "ar-ar-ar-ar" or "karh-karh-karh".
MISCELANEOUS: Structurally, the Pied Crow is perhaps better thought of as a small crow-sized Raven, especially as it can hybridise with the
Somali Crow (Dwarf Raven), Corvus edithae where their ranges meet in the Horn of Africa. Its behaviour though is more typical of the Eurasian
Carrion Crows and it may perhaps prove to be a modern day link (along with the Somali Crow) between the Eurasian Crows and the Northern Ravens.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Common in the wild.
Mute Swan
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Cygnus
Length: 144-158 cm
Weight: 9-13 kg
Wingspan: 2-2.5 m
Scientific Name: Cygnus olor
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Mute swans are large birds, measuring 144 to 158 cm. The
wingspan is 2 to 2.5 meters. The two sexes are alike in appearance, except that males are generally larger than females. The plumage is white. They are best
distinguished from North American swans by the knob at the base of the upper bill, and the color of the bill itself, which is orange, with the tip and base colored
black. The head and neck may sometimes be stained brown from water and mud containing iron.
RANGE: Mute swans breed in the British Isles, north central Europe and north central Asia. They winter as far south as North Africa, the Near East, and to
northwest India and Korea. They have been successfully introduced in North America, where they are a widespread species and permanent residents in many
areas.
HABITAT: Mute swans are the most common swans in the wild, in parks or on country estates in their native range. In winter, they are more common on
marine waters. They live in well-sheltered bays, open marshes, lakes, and ponds.
NESTING: Adults are not paired for life, contrary to the stereotype of the 'pining swan' who has lost its mate. In fact, some have been observed to have as
many as four mates, or even 'divorce' one mate in favor of another. However, established pairs are more successful breeders than non-established pairs and mute
swans do form monogamous pairs for at least a season. Mute swans rarely nest in colonies. Nest sites are selected and breeding begins in March or early April.
These swans either build a new nest or use a previously constructed mound, such as a muskrat house. The nest is large, made of aquatic vegetation, and lined
with feathers and down. It is built well above the normal water level in swampy places near a pond or lake. It is possible for clutches of 5 to 12 to occur, but 5 to
7 is most common. The eggs are pale gray to pale blue-green. Incubation lasts 36 to 38 days. The chicks are brownish gray (gradually turning white within the
next 12 months) and only remain in the nest for one day. The male may often take the first-hatched cygnet to the water while the female continues to incubate
the remaining eggs. They are able to fly in about 60 days. Chicks can ride on the backs of their parents or under their wings. By the following breeding season
the parents drive the young away. The cygnets then join flocks of other non-breeding swans, and during this time molt their feathers, becoming flightless for a
short period of time. In the next two years, the cygnets begin to bond with a mate and begin to look for suitable breeding territory. Swans do not begin to breed
until about their third year. The sexes share incubation, though the female spends the majority of time sitting, and the male usually stands guard.
FEEDING HABITS: The diet of mute swans consists of aquatic vegetation, and small proportions of aquatic insects, fish, and frogs. Mute swans do not dive,
instead they plunge their head and long neck below the water's surface. Swans feed in deeper waters than ducks and other waterfowl that share their habitat and
thus do not compete with them directly for food. Rather, food is made more readily available to other birds by swans because parts of the plants they consume
float to the surface while the swans are feeding. However, mute swans compete with other swans for food because they feed in similar ways.
BEHAVIOR: There is no mass migration, though in winter there may be gatherings numbering more than 100 individuals in open salt water. When swimming,
a mute swan holds its neck in a graceful curve with the bill pointing downward, as opposed to other swans, which carry their bills level and necks erect. Top
flight speed is 50 to 55 mph.
COMMUNICATION & PERCEPTION: Mute swans have keen vision and hearing. Mute swans are usually silent, as the name suggests. Adults sometimes
snort and make hissing noises or puppy-like barking notes or whistles, though the sounds are not far-reaching due to their straight trachea. Also, the sound of the
wings during flight, which has been described as a musical throbbing or humming, is very audible. They also use visual displays as a form of communication,
such as postures. For example, in an aggressive posture, males often arch their secondary wing feathers over the back.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The successful introduction and consequent expansion of mute swans into North America has begun to pose significant
concerns to native wildlife. Common loons (threatened in Michigan) and recently re-introduced trumpeter swans are two species of primary concern. The North
American population of mute swans has been increasing steadily since its introduction. These birds are aggressive, and have been known to drive off such
stubborn and similarly sized species as Canada geese and trumpeter swans. Wildlife managers seek to control non-native mute swans in areas where native
wildlife is being threatened.
Indian Runner Duck
Breed: Indian Runner Duck
Temperament: excitable, timid but can be tamed
Cost: From around $6 for a pet to $50 for show quality
Lifespan: 8 - 10 years
Recommended for: fenced gardens
Maintenance: low
Appearance
Unlike other ducks, the Indian Runner does not waddle but rather the position of
its legs gives them a characteristic running motion. Another peculiarity of the
Indian Runner Duck is its shape which is described as being like a wine bottle.
They also have long, snake-like necks. When wandering around they walk flat
but stand upright when disturbed. Exhibitors often train their ducks to stand
upright but their methods are usually kept secret.
Indian Runners are a relatively small breed of duck, with the standard listing 1.62.25kg (3.5-5lb) for drakes and 1.35-2 kg (3-4.5lb) for ducks. Drakes are 6580cm (26-32 in.), ducks 60-70 cm (24-28 in.).
Temperament
Indian Runner Ducks can be easily handled by people, especially if they are exhibited. Apart from
excitability when disturbed (ie if an outside light is switched on after they have settled themselves for the
night), Indian Runner Ducks don't have any unusual personality traits. They can be prone to panic if
cornered.
History
The Indian Runner Duck breed is believed to have originated in South East Asia, probably the islands of
Indonesia, an area once known as the Dutch East Indies, hence the name Indian Runner. Texts refer to a
ship's captain who took fawn and fawn and white-coloured ducks from Malaya back to his home in
Dumfries, Scotland, where the ducks were distributed across the border into Cumberland. It is understood
that fawns were first exhibited in 1876, while fawn and whites were shown in 1896. The Indian Runner
Duck Club standard for fawn and whites was accepted in 1913. They are not a common breed in
Australia.
Health and lifespan
Worms are the most common health problem with these ducks. It is recommended that any new ducks be
wormed immediately, then 21 days later and again 21 days after that, then every 5-6 months. Ducks may
also need to be dusted for parasites on the head area.
Feeding
Duck pellets are readily available. A 40 kg bag of duck pellets should last an adult pair at least one month.
Duck feed should be placed in bowls to prevent contamination. Water bowls should be accessible at all
times and should be anchored with bricks to prevent the ducks turning them over.
Breeding
Although Indian Runners are prolific egg-layers, they are not very broody. Therefore, if you wish to breed
them, and you don't have access to an incubator (which many breeders use), the eggs should be placed
under another broody duck to hatch. Indian Runners, unlike some other duck breeds, do not need water
for breeding (although they must have water available at all times for drinking). Ducklings are best raised
in small flocks.
Cost
Pet Indian Runner Ducks may be obtained for as little as $5 to $6 from breeders who wish to reduce their
stocks. Show quality ducks cost around $50.
Housepet Potential
Indian Runners could not be described as 'pets' as they are not capable of interaction with humans on any
scale beyond responding to food. They are unable to live indoors but as a garden duck, they can be useful
for providing fertiliser and for keeping spiders, snails and slugs away.
Space and exercise
Indian Runner Ducks can be successfully kept in a penned area or allowed to roam free within a fenced
boundary. They require access to water in which to bathe - the water must be a depth which allows to
ducks to submerge themselves such as a pond or dam.
Ideal Owner
Breeders say these ducks can be successfully kept by poultry enthusiasts of all ages and ability. They are
best suited to people who have a yard area available and can offer the ducks a penned or caged area for
protection at night.
Uses
Indian Runners produce large quantities of eggs. The ducks themselves have enough flesh on them to feed
two people and their meat is less fatty than other duck breeds.
FALCONS
European Kestrel
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Family:Falconidae
Genus: Falco
Height: 13-15 inches
Weight: 113-230g (male) 170-271g (female)
Wingspan: 26 inches
Common Names: Eurasian Kestrel, Common Kestrel, African Kestrel, Windhover
Scientific Name: Falco tinnunculus
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: European Kestrels have a rufous back and slate gray head, rump and tail, with some barring. Adult females of the
species have rusty, heavily barred upper parts, wings and tails. The Kestrel is relatively small compared to other predatory birds, but larger than most songbirds.
Kestrels have long wings as well as a distinctive long tail. The kestrel's plumage is brown or gray with black spots, and the male has a blue-gray head and tail.
RANGE: Throughout Europe, northwestern Africa, and down to central Asia, the Kestrel is commonly seen hunting along roadways.
HABITAT: Variety of open habitats, including fields, moors, forests, & cities
NESTING: The European Kestrel typically nests in tree cavities, old bird nests, and on rock ledges, though they may also nest on bridge superstructures, cranes
and buildings. The European Kestrel will often readily accept nest boxes and other artificial sites in which to breed, and the species can tolerate disturbance, as a
result, it is common and widespread.
Kestrels are reasonably monogamous, staying in a pair for a long time, if not for life. Kestrels do not make their own nests, but will use old nests of other birds
or nest in holes in trees, cliff ledges or even man-made structures, such as motorway bridges. 3-5 eggs are laid around late April to May, with about two days
between each egg, incubation is normally done only by the female. Incubation is started when several eggs have been laid, but often before the complete clutch,
resulting in the eggs hatching in a shorter period than they were laid. Incubation takes around 26-34 days. Once hatched, the chicks grow at a very fast rate, this
means that much of the energy from the food they get is concentrated on growth, leaving them very vulnerable to the cold. Food is fetched by the male &
sometimes brought directly to the nest, but often left close by, the male then calls to the female to get her to collect the food. The young require around the same
amount of food as an adult to grow, so the male Kestrel can need to be collecting up to 7 times its normal catch of food, if all five chicks survive. The young are
fully fledged in 4-5 weeks after hatching, but need to stay with the parents & be fed for up to 4 more weeks, before they have all their hunting skills, including
the ability to hover.
FEEDING HABITS: The European Kestrel feeds primarily on small mammals, such as voles and mice. Kestrels are diurnal and prefer an "open country"
habitat found in fields, heaths, and marshland. Like most birds of prey, its preferred method of finding prey is still-hunting, when hunting in flight it is unique in
being the only bird of prey to be able to hover. Kestrels "hover" facing into the wind, so they are moving through the air, but staying stationary with respect to
the ground, this is called "wind-hovering". The oncoming wind gives sufficient lift to remain stationary with respect to the ground, the tail is spread,
supplementing the air-catching effect of the wings, the alulas (feathers at the front bend of the wing) are raised & wingtip feathers separated to reduce
turbulence which would cause stalling at such effectively low speeds. They are also able to dip their head downwards, much further than other falcons, enabling
them to spot their prey from a much more upright position when hovering. They have evolved such that they can keep their head still, while flapping their wings
fast, high-speed video photography has shown that the head will move as little as 1/4" during wind-hovering. Hovering in such a manner uses a lot of energy,
but studies have shown that they catch around 10-15 times as much food as when searching in flight or still-hunting. Under strong wind conditions, Kestrels can
also stay poised in the air, with their wings wide open & still, referred to as "kiting". Researchers have recently discovered that Eurasian Kestrels use ultraviolet
light to locate rodent pathways by looking for urine. The Kestrel also has an unmatched ability to “hover,” or fly in place while they scan the ground for prey.
MISCELANEOUS: In the Middle Ages, each social class was permitted to fly only certain species of hawks and falcons. It is believed that knaves, servants,
and children were restricted to flying only the European kestrel, as the species was not capable to capturing prey larger than mice and sparrows, animals not
worth eating.
American Kestrel
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Family: Falconidae
Subfamily: Falconinae
Genus: Falco
Length: 8-10 in. (male); 9-11 in. (female)
Weight: 3.4-4.5 oz. (male); 3.6-5.3 oz. (female)
Wingspan: 20-22 in. (male); 21-24 in. (female)
Common Names: sparrow hawk
Scientific Name: Falco sparverius
Etymology: falco
(Latin) - refers to sickle-shaped talons or the shape of the wings in flight; sparverius
(Latin) - "striped" - refers to underparts of immature wing
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The widespread American kestrel is the smallest North American falcon and one of our most common and colorful
raptors. It is one of the few raptors with different color plumages in males and females. The back of the female's wings and tail are rusty brown with fine dark
barring. The male's wings are blue gray and the tail is red with a wide dark subterminal band and a white tip. Both sexes have two dark mustache marks (malar
stripe) and markings on the back of the head, which gives the appearance of two dark eyes (called ocelli) and a beak. Immatures have a lot of barring on their
back and more streaking and buffy on chest.
RANGE: American kestrels are widely distributed throughout the New World. Their breeding range extends as far north as central and western Alaska across
northern Canada to Nova Scotia, and extends south throughout North America, into central Mexico, the Baja, and the Caribbean. They are local breeders in
Central America and are widely distributed throughout South America. Most of the birds breeding in Canada and the northern United States migrate south in the
winter, although some males stay as year round residents.
HABITAT: American kestrels are found in a variety of habitats, including parks, suburbs, open fields, forest edges, alpine zones, and deserts. In addition to
requiring open space for hunting, American kestrels seem to need perches to hunt from, cavities for nesting, and a sufficient food supply. In Minnesota they can
be found in both urban and rural areas, hunting along roadsides from telephone wires or trees or hovering over fields.
NESTING: A cavity nester, the American kestrel uses holes in trees, artificial nest boxes, or small spaces in buildings. Both males and females incubate the
eggs, which hatch about 30 days after being laid. Three to five young are often hatched. They grow very quickly, assuming adult weight in about two and a half
weeks and fledging about a month after hatching. They will nest again if the first nest fails and have been reported to raise two broods per year in some of the
southern states.
FEEDING HABITS: In summer, kestrels feed on insects that they catch either on the ground or in the air. They will also eat small rodents and birds. Wintering
birds feed primarily on rodents and birds.
FLIGHT: Their active flight is light and buoyant, and they are the only North American falcons to hunt by hovering. Will chase birds in direct rapid flight, but
usually hunt insects and small mammals from prominent perch.
VOICE: A rapid, high klee klee klee or killy killy killy.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA:The American kestrels are admitted year round. Large numbers of nestlings, which must be "hacked" out, are received each
summer. Often these nestlings are too young to be placed in a hack box immediately, and are raised by human-imprinted adults.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The kestrel is an extremely common falcon. Estimates of up to 1.2 million breeding pairs have been made for the North
American population (T. Cade, Falcons of the World), with an equal number thought to breed in the Neotropics. One of the more common raptors in the
Midwest, the American kestrel is afforded no special status in this area. In Florida however, the southeastern sub-species is listed as threatened.
Peregrine Falcon
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Family: Falconidae
Subfamily: Falconinae
Genus: Falco
Length: 14-15 in. (male); 16-18 in. (female)
Weight: 1-1.5 lbs. (male); 1.6-2.1 lbs. (female)
Wingspan: 37-39 in. (male); 40-46 in. (female)
Common Names: duck hawk
Scientific Name: Falco peregrinus
Etymology: falco (Latin) - refers to sickle-shaped talons or the shape of the wings in flight; peregrinus (Latin) "wandering"
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: A large falcon in which the sexes look alike. The female (the falcon) is about one-third larger than the male (the
tiercel). Adults have a dark slate-blue back and wings and a dark blue tail that is lightly barred. The top of the head is dark with a dark stripe running down the
side of the face. The cere, legs, and feet are bright yellow. The underside of the adult is light with vertical streaks across the breast, belly and legs. Immatures
are uniformly brown on the back, top of the head, and wings, with a light underside streaked with brown. Peregrine falcons are widely distributed resulting in
many populations and sub-species (22 by one count) each with a slight variation of the above plumage.
RANGE: Distributed worldwide, peregrine falcons are found on every continent except Antarctica. They can be found breeding in the arctic tundra, through
Europe, and North America, and south into Africa, South America, the Pacific Islands and Australia.
HABITAT: Peregrine falcons are birds of open spaces usually associated with high cliffs and bluffs overlooking rivers and coasts. Recently, many cities with
tall buildings have become home to pairs of peregrines. Many populations are migratory (their name means "wandering falcon") and will travel great distances.
NESTING: Their nest is a scrape made on the bare rock of a cliff, where two to four eggs are laid. There are also a few records of tree-nesting peregrine falcons
in the eastern United States. Recently many cities in North America have had peregrines nesting on the ledges of tall buildings or under bridges. Usually two
years old when begin brooding. Does not make a nest, usually only a small scraping. Nests primarily on cliffs, but will use an old nest in trees, building ledges
and bridges. Lays 3-4 eggs, incubation mostly by female though male helps; incubation lasts 33-35 days. Age at first flight - 39-46 days (male), 41-49 days
(female). Young are brown and have buffy breast with streaking. Northern populations will migrate, following their food source. Return to same nest locations.
FEEDING HABITS: The Peregrines fly with extreme power and speed, and are probably only limited by prey distribution. Peregrines hunt in open areas such
as shores, marshes, valleys where prey has little chance to hide. They typically hunt birds with a success rate of 20-30%. They hunt several hundred species of
birds, including shorebirds and pigeons; females tend to take larger prey than males. Peregrines use a high-speed stoop, striking birds in mid-air. When striking
a bird, they will hit either with talons balled or open. They may also grab larger birds (like goose or pheasant) and ride them to the ground. Peregrines will also
chase land birds offshore to tire them out.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: One of the 10 most common patients received in the clinic. Since the late 1970s, The Raptor Center has been involved in
reintroductions of this species, which have recently resulted in breeding pairs in the Twin Cities as well as many other Midwestern states.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Peregrine falcons were taken off the endangered species list in August 1999. They are currently still bred in captivity for release
into the wild and for falconry.
HAWKS
Augur Buzzard
Taxonomy
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Species:
Aves
Falconiformes
Accipitridae
Buteo
rufofuscus
Length: .5 meters
Wingspan: Male 78 - 82 cm ; Female 84 - 90 cm
Weight: approximately 1530 g (female)
Common Names: African Red-Tailed Hawk
Scientific Name: Buteo rufofuscus
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The adults' body above is almost black with some white flecks, and the uppertail coverts and tail are chestnut with a
dark subterminal bar in some individuals. The primaries are black and externally ashy grey and the secondaries are whitish. Both the primaries and secondaries
are barred with black. The chin and throat are white with some black spots on the side of the breast and throat. The rest of the underside, including the
underwing coverts, is rufous- white to rich rufous with some black mottlings. The underside of the wing quills is white, which contrasts strongly with the body
and coverts. It is tipped in black, which forms a dark trailing edge to the wing. The eyes are reddish brown and the cere and feet are yellow. Immatures are
browner above, with black on the forehead, nape, and mantle. The underside, including the underwing coverts, is pale chestnut with a few dark shaft streaks and
some black spots. The tail is brown with 11 or 12 dark brown bars, weaker basally and quite distinct from the adult. The wing quills are black terminally, white
basally, and washed externally with grey. The secondaries are browner and barred with ash- brown towards the tips. The eyes are brown and the cere and feet
are yellow. Full adult plumage is acquired in 2.5 to 3 years.
RANGE: Highlands of eastern and southcentral Africa from southern Angola, Zambia, eastern Zaire, eastern and southeastern Sudan and western and central
Ethiopia south to southcentral Namibia, northeastern Botswana and Zimbabwe. Found in open savanna, forest, and plains country; but only at the Cape
approaching sea level. Otherwise found from 3000 - 7000 ft., but commonest at about 6000 ft.
HABITAT: Augur Buzzards typically live in mountainous, hilly areas and sometimes in open woodland, savannas and grasslands. They tend to live between
5,000 & 12,000 feet, but have been seen soaring as high as 17,000 feet. They regularly occur higher than any other bird of prey in Africa. They do approach sea
level around the Cape area. Each pair of Augur Buzzards needs about 3.5 kilometers and lives there all year around.
NESTING: The end of winter is the start of the breeding cycle for Augur Buzzards. The bird builds a substantial stick nest on narrow ledges of cliffs or
sometimes in a tall tree between the months of May and August. In August or September, the female lays a clutch of two blotched eggs and incubates them. The
first egg usually hatches about 40-45 days later. The second egg usually hatches 1-2 days after the first. With rare exceptions, the younger chick dies within a
few days due to sibling aggression. The surviving chick begins to fledge around 30 days and makes its first flight when it’s around 50 days old.
FEEDING HABITS: The Augur Buzzard’s diet consists mainly of reptiles, typically lizards and snakes. They will also feed on rodents, small birds, insects and
carrion. Augur Buzzards either pounce from a rock or tree perch or sometimes stoop from s hovering, soaring or a gliding flight. They have been known to take
carrion from leftover kills or road casualties. The Augur Buzzard is one of the few birds of prey that have the ability to hang motionless in the air, riding a
strong wind slicing off a hillcrest. This is their most common hunting method.
FOLKLORE & MYTHS: Many people believe that the Augur Buzzard and the Jackal Buzzard are the same bird. They are very similar, but are not the same.
From the back, they are virtually indistinguishable, however, the underparts of the Jackal Buzzard are a striking white and not gray, like the Augur Buzzard.
Also, the call of the Jackal Buzzard is slightly different.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The Augur Buzzard is a common sight in Africa. Their nests are usually inaccessible due to the fact that they are on rocky cliffs
or too high up in a tree. Their biggest threat is man due to loss of habitat. Augur Buzzards sometimes adapt well to human settlement and will use small, exotic
plantations for nesting and roosting.
Common Buzzard
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Genus: Buteo
Weight: 15-31 ounces
Wingspan: 44-50 inches
Scientific Name: Buteo buteo
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Medium sized Raptor with broad, round wings and a fairly short tail. Broad-winged and is often seen
soaring on up-swept wings. Typical bird illustrated, but darker and paler forms occur. Differing color phase occur and in one area it’s possible to view
very dark brow phased buzzards to almost white.
RANGE: Europe and Asia to Japan; winter in East Africa, Malaya & South China
HABITAT: They inhabit trees and rocky ledges as well as wooded valleys and farmland with scattered woods.
NESTING: Common buzzards usually breed for the first tie around 2-3 years old, though sometimes at one year old, often pairing for life. More often
than not, a new nest is built every year fairly high in a tree. The nest is a large stick nest built into the crown of the tree or even large hedgerow shrub,
and will also build its nest on cliffs. The eggs are laid between March & May, usually 2 or 3 eggs at 2 to 3 day intervals. Incubation is done by the
female, starting when the first egg is laid, this means that the eggs hatch over a period of about 1 week. The young are able to fly within 7-8 weeks of
hatching and are fully independent around 6 weeks latter.
FEEDING HABITS: It is a slow flier, and has little chance of catching its prey on the move. The usual tactics which it adopts is to perch motionless
on a branch of a large tree, its markings being excellent camouflage, rendering it almost invisible. It feeds of rabbits, mice, new-born lambs, and
carrion.
CONSERVATION STATUS: During the late 1950’s, buzzard numbers were dramatically reduced when myxomatosis wiped out 99% of the rabbit
population, so depriving it of its major source of food. The buzzard has since been able to exploit other sources of food and is now beginning to
recolonize its old range.
Ferruginous Hawk
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Genus: Buteo
Length: 55.9 - 68.6 cm (20 - 27 in)
Wingspan: 134.6 - 152.4 cm (53 - 60 in)
Weight: 960 - 2070 g (34 - 73 ounces)
Scientific Name: Buteo regalis
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Ferruginous Hawks are usually between 50-66cm (20-26 in.) in length, have an average wingspan of 134-152cm (5360 in.) and weigh 980-2030g (2.2-4.5 lb.). They are the largest hawks in North America, and are sexually dimorphic. The female hawk may be up to one-and-a
half times larger than the male. "Ferruginous" is derived from the Latin Ferrugo, meaning, "rust", which is the predominant color of this hawk. Adults have a
rusty color on their back and shoulders, which extends downward onto the legs. The under-part is a whitish color spotted with rufous. A view of the bird in
flight will show that the leg feathers form a V shape against the belly of the hawk. When perched, the gray tips of the hawk's long and broad wings often reach
the tip of their white, rust, and gray colored tail. Juvenile Ferruginous Hawks lack the rust colored legs and have less color on their backs.
RANGE: Mostly western half of North America in the Great Basin and Great Plains. They breed from eastern Washington to southern Alberta and southern
Saskatchewan, Canada, south to eastern Oregon, Nevada, northern and southeastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, northwest Texas, western Nebraska,
western Kansas, and western Oklahoma. Winters across the southwest to Baja California and central Mexico.
HABITAT: Open country in semiarid grasslands with scattered trees, rocky mounds, or outcrops and shallow canyons that overlook open valleys. During
migration, they may be seen along streams or in agricultural areas.
NESTING: Ferruginous hawks may nest in close proximity to each other, less than a half a mile away. They select rocky outcrops, hillsides, rock pinnacles, or
trees for nest sites. Nests may be built right on the ground. Nests are built of large twigs or roots, grasses, old bones, or cow or horse dung. Both the male and
female participate in nest building, followed by the laying and incubation of three or four eggs that are laid at two-day intervals. The young hatch between
February and July after about 28 days of incubation. They leave the nest 38 to 50 days later. The adults continue to feed the fledged young as well as the
nestlings. The young remain with their parents for several weeks after fledging before dispersing on their own.
FEEDING HABITS: Ferruginous hawks rely primarily on ground squirrels, jackrabbits, pocket gophers, prairie dogs, and kangaroo rats. Other prey includes
snakes, lizards, grasshoppers, and crickets. The birds tend to hunt in early morning or late afternoon. Ferruginous hawks hunt throughout the day. In some areas
they are crepuscular, because the prey species are crepuscular. Most frequently used methods of hunding include: perch and pounce; hunting from a perch with
short flights to capture prey; and ground ambush, hunting from the ground near a ground squirrel burrow or fresh pocket gopher mound, striking the prey as it
emerges. Occasionally, they hunt while in flight or while hovering, the latter usually used in strong winds. They are known to frequently hover in flight. In
addition to communally roosting in the winter, they are also known to hunt communally.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Populations or ferruginous hawks seem to have declined in most areas of their range -- except in California, where they are
thought to have increased in the past decade. In Utah, the ferruginous hawk is listed as a State Threatened Species. Human agriculture and overgrazing have
caused a great deal of disturbance in this hawk's nesting habitat. Many of these hawks have been shot while perched along roadsides. Federal law now protects
all raptors, yet the Ferruginous Hawks are still a species of special concern. In Washington the Ferruginous Hawk is listed as Threatened It is a federal Species
of Concern.
Harris’ Hawk
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Genus: Parabuteo
Length: 18-24 in.
Weight: 1-2 lbs. (male); 1.75-3.5 lbs. (female)
Wingspan: 40-47 in.
Common Names: bay-winged hawk, dusky hawk
Scientific Name: Parabuteo unicinctus
Etymology: para (Greek) - "beside or near"; uni (Latin) - "once"; cinctus (Latin) - "girdled," a reference to white
band at base of tail
Named for the naturalist Audubon’s friend, Mr. Harris
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The Harris' hawk is a boldly marked, tricolored, medium-large buteo with long legs and naked lores. Bill large, light
blue with a black tip. Plumage coloration bold - dark brown to sooty black. Upper wing-coverts, wing lining, and flanks rusty to chestnut red. Tail dark brown to
almost black with white base and terminal band. Iris dark brown. Tarsi, toes, cere, and orbit bright yellow. Harris's hawk juveniles are similar to adults, except
underparts streaked with cream or buffy coloration. Eye color changes from dark brown to light brown in second year.
RANGE: Range in United States currently restricted to isolated populations in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
HABITAT: Semi-open desert scrub, savanna, grassland, and wetland habitats. Scattered larger trees or other features apparently provide important perches and
nest support.
NESTING: This species nests in social units that vary from an adult pair to as many as seven individuals, both adults and immatures. Groups exhibit
monogamy and polyandry, and sometimes polygamy. They are able to breed year-round in temperate climate desert habitats in North America. Although most
Harris's hawks nest in spring, some females will lay second and third clutches. Nests are located in almost any tall, sturdy structure. Both breeding members
build nest and may have as many as four nests. Lay 1-5 eggs (usually 3-4) that are pale bluish (rapidly fades to white), plain or with spots of pale brownish or
lavender. Incubation period is 31-36 days. Female does incubation, male supplies female with food, helps with incubation, and chases predators. Auxiliary birds
participate in hunts and harassment of predators. Groups with helpers rear slightly larger nestlings and initiate second nests more frequently than pairs.
Unrelated helpers may occasionally sire offspring and may inherit breeding territories upon the death of breeding hawk of the same sex. Harris's hawks branch
at about 40 days of age; males fledge significantly earlier than females. Fledglings remain in the nesting territory for at least 2-3 months.
FEEDING HABITS: Harris's hawks employ one of the most sophisticated cooperative hunting strategies in birds. Hunts medium-sized to relatively large
mammals (hares and rabbits), birds, and lizards. Two methods of hunting: 1) sit and wait (often employed by lone hawks); 2) short-flight-perch hunting.
Cooperative tactics include (1) surprise pounce - several hawks coming from different directions; (2) flush and ambush - 1 or more hawks penetrate the cover
while others watch from nearby perches and attack when prey is flushed; (3) relay attack - long chase of hares while the lead "chase" position is alternated
among hunting birds. Energetic analysis shows the maximum food availability per individual is obtained by groups of 5 hawks, the most common size. They
feed in order of dominance; alpha breeding female (most dominant), alpha breeding male, beta male, and 0-4 birds. During nonbreeding season, a group of
hawks will guard/feed on a large carcass for more than 36 hours, and cache carcasses.
FLIGHT: Normal flight is flap-flap-glide, flap-flap-glide (accipiter-like). Wing beats are fewer and slower than accipiters and glides are longer. When not
hunting, flight may appear sluggish, but they are known for rapid acceleration, agility, and ability to "hug" landscape and maneuver around obstacles. Also,
soars at high altitudes and displays dramatic dives. Males are especially agile; under the right conditions, they may fly backward and hover briefly; females are
more directional in flight and give impression of speed and power.
VOICE: Poorly studied. Alarm Call - angry sounding, prolonged, harsh note that loses intensity, irr or uierr.
Red-tailed Hawk
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Genus: Buteo
Length: 15-19 in.
Weight: 1.1-2 lbs.
Wingspan: 37-42 in.
Common Names: red-tail, chicken hawk
Etymology: buteo
(Latin) - "a kind of hawk"; jamaicensis - indicates where first specimen was collected
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS:
They have broad, fairly rounded wings. The adult plumage varies with region, but all adults have the distinct reddish tail (gained at one year of age). They are
larger than most other Buteos. The adult is dark brown above, deepest in the mid-back and somewhat variegated by feather edgings and concealed markings
varying from rufous to white. The wing quills are dark grey, becoming paler and whitish basally. The primaries are black at the ends and barred with black. The
secondaries have obscure barring and mottling. Their is a black stripe at the corner of the gape. The underparts are white with some scattered dark streaks,
especially across the lower neck and mid abdomen. The flanks and abdomen sometimes are obscurely barred with rufous. The tail is pale chestnut below, tipped
white and banded black. The underwing coverts and base of quills below are whitish with scattered brown marks. The eyes are brown, the legs are yellow, the
cere is yellow, and the bill is horn colored. Young are somewhat more mottled with white above. The tail is grey or grey-brown with about seven narrow
blackish bars. They are like the adult below, but with more streaking and spotting, and usually with a white area on the breast. The eyes are pale yellow and the
legs and cere are yellow.
RANGE:
North America from western and central Alaska, central Yukon, western Mackenzie and northern Saskatchewan east across central and southeastern Canada to
New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Also, south to southeastern Alaska, Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, southern Texas,
the Gulf coast and Florida. And, in the highlands of Middle America from Mexico and Central America to western Panama. Also in the West Indies, in the
northern Bahamas, Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles. Winters from southern Canada south through Middle America and the West Indies to Panama and the
Lesser Antilles. Found in woodland, field, desert, and mountainous habitats.
HABITAT:
Birds of both open and wooded areas, particularly wood edges, they will hunt from a high perch with a good view or soar on thermals over open fields.
NESTING:
Red-tailed hawks typically do not begin breeding until their third year. Pairs build a large stick nest near the top of a tree (usually deciduous) at the edge of open
canopy woods. In central Minnesota, farm and suburban woodlots are often are home to a pair of nesting red-tails. Two to four eggs are usually laid in April or
May, hatching in about 30 days. The young remain in the vicinity of the nest until they can fly, then follow their parents as they learn to forage for themselves.
FEEDING HABITS:
Red-tailed hawks feed on a wide variety of prey. Mammals commonly make up a large part of their diet, and include everything from small mice to rabbits and
hares. They will also take medium-sized birds and reptiles such as lizards and snakes.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA:
The most common hawk received by the clinic, the red-tailed hawk is often the victim of vehicular collisions, shooting, and an occasional steel-jaw trap. A
succession of red- tail hawks have served as education birds since the first days of the program.
A common hawk across its range, the red- tailed hawk has made a spectacular comeback since the days of hawk bounties. One of the most well known and
commonly seen hawks in the Upper Midwest, it is a popular bird among falconers and nature centers.
MAMMALS
Bobcat
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrata)
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Felinae (Lynx)
Species: rufus
Height: 21 inches
Weight: 13-30 lbx.
Scientific Name: Felinae rufus
Range of the bobcat
Common Name: Bobcat- named for its short tail
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The Bobcat is a medium sized cat with a ruff of fur around the sides of the face. They weigh between 13-30 pounds,
stand 21 inches high and are 30-50 inches long. The bobcats in the North tend to be larger than those in the south. Their coat color varies and has been recorded
in shades of light gray, yellowish-brown, buff-brown, and reddish-brown. They are always spotted to some extent, with some patterned only on the undersides,
and others having spots on the sides and chest backs too. The southern Bobcats seem to have a more spotted coat, with the spots being much smaller than the
northern cats. Both melanistic and albinistic Bobcats have been reported, but the melanistic ones have only occurred in Florida. They are often confused with
their larger feline cousin the Lynx, but can be easily distinguished by their tail tips. The tail of the Lynx looks as though it was dipped in an inkwell being black
all the way around, whereas the Bobcat’s tail appears to have been painted black on top and white on the bottom.
RANGE: United States and Southern Canada.
HABITAT: Boreal and coniferous mixed forests, hardwood forest, coastal swamps, desert and scrubland.
Reproduction and Offspring: After a gestation of approximately 50-70 days, females produce a litter of 1-8 kittens, with the average being 2-3. They weigh
9.75-12 ounces at birth and will open their eyes at around 6 days. They are weaned between 3-4 months of age, and reach sexual maturity around 12 months for
females, and 24 months for males. In the wild, Bobcats live 12-13 years, and in captivity, they have lived over 23.
Social System and Communication: Solitary. Male territories will overlap that of many females and even to some extent another males, but female territories
are exclusive. Males and females only come together at the breeding season, which is December to April.
Hunting and Diet: These tough little cats will eat almost anything, and are natural born survivors (except for man’s interference). Their primary diet is rabbit,
but they also eat rodents, beaver, peccaries, birds and bats, and deer. They are also scavengers.
Principal Threats: This little cat was the most heavily harvested and traded member of the cat family for the past 20 years. In the 1970’s CITES went into
effect and the pelts of the Appendix 1 cats became illegal and unobtainable, the price offered to trappers for a Bobcat pelt went from $20.00 to $600.00. This
also caused the number of Bobcats killed annually to rise from 10,000 to over 90,000 by the 1980s. Thankfully, the interest in Bobcat pelts today is declining
due to international awareness of the cruel methods of trapping and prohibitions against trade of animals trapped using these methods. They also battle the ever
growing human population and its destruction of all habitat in its path. According to 2001 statistics provided from actual sales of hunting permits, over 40,000
bobcats are still being killed each year. This figure does not include all the bobcats killed by hunters who do not buy licenses nor report their kills. Less than
6% of our population are hunters but they kill over 100 million animals each year for sport.
Ocelot
Taxonomy
Common Name: Ocelot
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrata)
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Felinae (Leopardus)
Species: pardalis
Length: 550-1000mm
Weight: 9-14 km
Lifespan: 8-11 years
Scientific
pardalis
Names:
Leopardus
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The Ocelot is much larger than its cousins the
Margay and the Oncilla, although they bear a striking resemblance. The Ocelot weighs between 17-24 pounds, stands 16-20 inches tall, and reaches lengths of
48-64 inches. Its coat tends to be more blotched than spotted, and the chain-like blotches and spots are bordered with black, but have a lighter colored center.
These markings run the entire length of the cat. The ground color varies from whitish or tawny yellow through reddish gray to gray. The underside is white, and
the backs of the ears are black with a central yellow spot. In captivity, Ocelots have lived more than 20 years, as compared to 7-10 years in the wild.
RANGE: Southern Texas, and every country south of the U.S. except Chile.
HABITAT: The Ocelot is found in very diverse habitats including rain forest, montane forest, thick bush, semi-deserts, coastal marsh, and along river banks,
but it is never found in open country.
Reproduction and Offspring: After a gestation of 79-85 days they produce a litter of 1-2 young. They weigh approximately 8.5 ounces at birth. The females
reach maturity at around 1½ years, and around 2 ½ years for males. They become independent at around 1 year of age, but seem to be tolerated in their natal
range for up to another years.
Social System and Communication: Ocelots are solitary and territorial. The females defend their exclusive territory, which can be as much as 9 sq. miles,
while the male’s territory is larger and overlaps that of 1 or more females (can be as large as 35 sq. miles). Ocelots communicate by use of scent markings which
tells the males when she is ready for mating, and by vocal communications such as meows and yowls (in heat).
Hunting and Diet: The Ocelot is a terrestrial hunter and active during the night (nocturnal), and the mainstay of its diet are nocturnal rodents, such as cane
mice, and marsh, spiny and rice rats, opossums and armadillos. They will also take larger prey such as lesser anteaters, deer, squirrel monkeys and land
tortoises. They will also take advantage of seasonal changes and the abundance of fish and land crabs during the wet season. Occasionally, the will take birds
and reptiles. However, the majority of prey items for this cat weigh less than 1-3% of its body weight.
Principal Threats: Ocelots have a small litter size, one of the longest gestations and growth rates among the small felids, and a high infant mortality rate. Add
this difficulty in sustaining its own population with deforestation and habitat destruction, and the survival of this beautiful little species becomes even more
difficult.
Status: IUCN: Not listed. CITES: Appendix I.
Felid TAG recommendation: Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). Although once commonly imported for pets, legal animals have not been available until the last 2
years, and today most ocelots are of unknown or hybrid ancestry. The TAG is recommending that the Brazilian ocelot, L. p. mitis, be the subspecies acquired by
North American zoos because captive propagation now is occurring in some Brazilian zoos. Orphaned individuals also have been allowed to be exported.
Recently three pairs were imported into North America by AZA zoos. The target population of this species is 120 individuals. Although only a PMP is in
operation, the TAG recommends that it be upgraded to SSP status as soon as possible. The Brazilian Ocelot Consortium is the main focus for saving the ocelot.
How rare is this cat ? The International Species Information Service lists 217 worldwide, with 108 being in the U.S.
Eurasian Lynx (Also known as Siberian Lynx)
Taxonomy
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Lynx
Length: 800- 1300 mm
Weight: 18-35 kg
Lifespan: 17 years
Scientific Name: Lynx lynx
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The Eurasian Lynx is the largest of the Lynxes, with males weighing as much as 48 pounds. The fur is typically
grayish, with tints varying from yellowish to rusty. They have 3 main patterns: predominately spotted, predominantly striped, and unpatterned. The coats are
more heavily spotted in the summer phase, and almost barely visible in the winter phase. They have a flared facial ruff, long prominent black ear tufts, and long
hind legs with a short black tipped tail. Their large, wide-spreading feet are covered in fur, which act like snowshoes, and are effective in supporting the cat’s
weight on the snow. They are often confused with their smaller feline cousins the Bobcat, but can be easily distinguished by their tail tips. The tail of the Lynx
looks as though it was dipped in an inkwell being black all the way around, whereas the Bobcat’s tail appears to have been painted black on top and white on the
bottom.
RANGE: The Eurasian lynx was once found in the forested areas throughout most of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. However today the range of the cat has
been drastically reduced in Europe and they are only to be found in some of the northern countries, parts of Greece and Czechoslovakia. Recently the cat has
been reintroduced to parts of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where it is beginning to re-establish.
HABITAT: These Lynx are found to inhabit taiga, alpine tundra and some rocky, barren areas above the mountain tree lines.
Reproduction and Offspring: After a gestation of approximately 69 days, females produce a litter of 1-4 kittens, with the average being 2. They weigh 8.7512.5 ounces at birth and will open their eyes at around 10-17 day, and begin to walk between 24-30 days. They are weaned between 3-5 months of age, and are
independent at the age of 10 months. They reach sexual maturity around 24 months for females and 30 months for males. In the wild, Eurasian Lynx have lived
up to 17 years, and in captivity, up to 24.
Social System and Communication: Solitary, except for females with offspring, or siblings who have just separated from their mothers who may travel and
hunt together for several months before separating.
Hunting and Diet: The primary diet for this Lynx is small ungulates such as roe deer, chamois, and musk deer, and in other parts pikas, large rodents and hares.
In some of their range, they will hunt larger ungulates as much as 3-4 times their own size – most notably reindeer. In areas where there are no ungulates, but
arctic hares exist, then they fluctuate cyclically, as do the Canadian Lynx.
Principal Threats: The largest threat facing this Lynx is the destruction of its prey base, loss of habitat and the increasing urbanization of western Europe.
There is still some hunting of the Lynx for the pelt trade, but it is believed to be restricted to less than 1,000 per year from China and 2,800 per year from
Russia. It is believed that both countries have been keeping those numbers well below their quotas, and each country has exported below 1,000 per year. That is
a good sign and shows that perhaps there is some hope to an end of interest in these pelts yet. In the past numbers were as high as 6000 per year and have
reached highs of 12,000 in a year.
Felid TAG recommendation: (Lynx, lynx) Various subspecies of Eurasian lynx are present in zoos. None are rare or endangered in the wild, but, in some
situations, this species competes with space that should be allocated to Canadian lynx. The TAG does not support maintenance of this species and its various
forms in North America.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Once this cat was quite common in all of Europe. By the middle of the 20th century it had become extinct in most countries of
Central and Western Europe. In recent times there have been successful attempts to reintroduce the lynx to forests. The Eurasian lynx is still hunted in parts of
its range and the cat is listed in CITES Appendix 2. The International Species Information Service lists 224 worldwide, with 19 being in the U.S.
Hedgehog
Taxonomy
Class: Mammalia
Order: Insectivora
Family: Erinaceidae
Genus: Atelerix
Length: 6-8 inches
Weight: 18-25 ounces
Scientific Name: Atelerix albiventris
Common Names: African Pygmy, Four-toed
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Raccoon-like faces, set with beady little black eyes and small pointy noses that seem to twitch
constantly Their little white tummies, on the other hand, are extremely soft and are covered with short, white hair. These quills are not
barbed or nearly as sharp and remain attached to their bodies. When frightened, they can roll up into a tight ball and look very much like
a sea urchin. They have a short, stubby tail, but this is rarely seen since they keep it tucked up close their bodies.
RANGE: Scattered in scattered local populations from Senegal in western Africa to southern Somalia and Tanzania on the continent’s eastern edge.
HABITAT: Habitats vary from forest to desert, typically in semiarid areas and dry savannas.
REPRODUCTION: A male courts a female by running in circles around her, twittering, growling and snorting. During copulation he secretes a waxy
plug that prevents other ales from mating with her. After a gestation period of 30-40 days, 2-10 young are born. Newborns are blind, and have soft
white spines. Born with edema, their skin is swollen with fluid and covers the soft spines. After a few days, the young reabsorb the excess fluid,
exposing the spines. Their eyes open in 8-18 days. At two weeks they can roll up, and after about six weeks start traveling short distances with their
mother. They reach sexuality maturity at about 2 months age.
FEEDING HABITS: They eat worms, snails, arthropods, frogs, lizards, snakes, eggs, nestling birds, small mammals, and carrion. They also eat
fruits, seeds, peanuts, fungi and roots. They consume food amounting to about 1/3 their body weight/night.
LIFE CYCLE: Pygmy hedgehogs start foraging at dusk and continue most of the night, then return to their burrows for the day. Solitary and
territorial, they enlarge their territories during brief food shortages. During the dry season when insects are scarce, they aestivate, or become torpid,
and live off their stored fat. Their major predators are Verreaux eagle owls, honey badgers, jackals, and wild dogs.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Hedgehog became popular as pets in the mid 1980’s. Collecting them from the wild is no longer legal, but captivebred animals are legal as pets. In the wild, habitat destruction is the main force threatening the hedgehog.
Porcupine
Taxonomy
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Hystricidae
Genus: Erethizon
Weight: 18-15 lbs
Scientific Name: Erethizon dorsatum
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: This stout, short-legged mammal is 25 to 31 inches (73-78 cm) long and is covered with hair and quills of varying
length, except on the foot pads and nose. The tips of the long guard hairs are lighter and give the coat hues of yellow or white. The hair on the belly is sparse and
varies from black to brown. The hair and a thick layer of body fat keep the porcupine warm during the winter. The tail is club-like and the upper surface is
heavily covered with quills. The quilled pelage of the porcupine makes it unique among mammals in Alaska. The quills are modified hairs which have
microscopic barbs on the tips and are filled with a spongy matrix. Quills from different parts of the body vary in length, flexibility, color, shaft diameter, and
barb length. The average weight of an adult male porcupine ranges from 15 to 18 pounds (7-8.5 kg), but some individuals can weigh up to 25 pounds (11.4 kg).
Adult females weigh about 2 pounds (0.9 kg) less than the males. The porcupine has excellent senses of smell, hearing, and taste, but its eyesight is poor.
Porcupines make a wide variety of sounds ranging from whimpers to screams, depending upon the circumstance.
RANGE: They have only been a part of the North American fauna since three million years ago when they immigrated north from South America. The
porcupine is found throughout all of Alaska except the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak, Nunivak, and St. Lawrence islands.
HABITAT: Found in coniferous and mixed forested areas. Also found in thicketed areas in shrublands, tundra, and deserts.
NESTING: Porcupines are mainly nocturnal, although they can occasionally be seen during the day. Since they roost and feed in trees, one would imagine that
they are accomplished tree climbers, but when observed they are slow and awkward. Thirty percent of the animals examined in one study showed evidence of
healed fractures indicating that they had fallen out of trees. When climbing, the porcupine uses the stiff bristles on the undersurface of the tail as support. The
animal has long, curved front claws which also aid in climbing.
During the winter, porcupines roost in their dens during the day and during periods of cold weather. They use earth or rock caves, hollow logs and trees, or even
the thicker vegetation in a tree for dens. In areas without snowfall, dens are not used so much. Porcupines stay active throughout the winter. They feed during
the night and during warmer weather.
FEEDING HABITATS: The inner bark (phloem and cambium layers) of spruce and hemlock are the major winter foods for porcupine living in Alaska. In the
spring and summer, buds and young green leaves of birch, aspen, and willow are eaten until the tannin levels build too high for the porcupine to tolerate.
Because they are vegetarians and most vegetable matter is very low in sodium, porcupines need additional sodium in the blood to balance cell potassium levels.
As a result, porcupines seek out salt sources such as natural licks, glue which bonds plywood together, human perspiration on tools, road salt, and some paints.
Porcupines also feed on shed antlers and the bones of dead animals to obtain sodium.
REPRODUCTION: Breeding takes place in the fall months from September to November. Males seeking receptive females expand their home ranges up to
five times the normal size. If more than one male shows interest in the same female, they will fight for the opportunity to mate with the female. Males use their
incisor teeth and quills when fighting, and usually it is the largest and heaviest male which wins dominance. After a gestation period of about 210 days, only a
single young is born. The gestation period is extremely long for a rodent, twice the time for a beaver. At birth the young weighs between 1 and 2 pounds (0.51.0 kg) and is about 10 inches (25 cm) long. Its eyes are open and its body covered with long grayish-black hairs and quills. Within a matter of hours the quills
dry and serve as protection. The young porcupine is then capable of following its mother, although the young will not be able to climb large trees for several
weeks. The young are able to eat some vegetation after a few weeks, but the female continues nursing the young for 3.5 months. During the summer the young
stay close to their mothers, learning about den sites and food trees, but toward the end of summer they start to spend more time apart. By October, when the
female mates again, the young are fully weaned and wander off to face the winter alone.
PREDATION AND DEFENSE: Most carnivores would not pass up a meal of porcupine. However, an encounter between a young inexperienced predator and
a porcupine can be a very painful experience. Some unfortunate carnivores have starved to death because a mouthful of quills has prevented them from eating.
In an effort to remove the quills, the predator can cause the barbed quills to work into the deep tissues. However, the quills are coated with a natural antibiotic
and rarely cause infection. Predators have different means of killing and eating porcupines. The fisher circles around the porcupine until it can bite its nose.
After repeated bites to the nose, the fisher then flips the porcupine over to attack the quill-free belly. The porcupine is then eaten leaving an empty quill-covered
skin. This method may also be practiced by lynx, wolves, coyotes, and wolverines which have been recorded eating porcupines in Alaska.
When the porcupine is relaxed, the hair and quills lie flat and point backwards. When threatened, the porcupine draws up the skin of the back to expose quills
facing all directions, and it then presents its formidable bristling back. The porcupine tries to keep its back facing the attacker and strikes back and forth with its
tail. Although a porcupine cannot throw its quills, the quills are readily dislodged when the tail is shaken. This may give the impression that quills are being
thrown. Recently acquired quills can be easily pulled out of animals with a pair of pliers. If a large number of quills are present or the have been allowed to
work in, the animal will have to be anesthetized in order to remove them.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The porcupine can be easily approached and killed with a club because of its plodding gait. This trait has saved the lives of
hungry Natives, trappers, and miners in times past. For this reason, although the hunting season is open all year with no bag limit, many people do not kill
porcupines without cause. Some people find the meat too strong, but in some areas of the state, porcupines with their heavy layer of fat are considered a
delicacy.
Quills sewn onto deerskin used to be the trading wampum of the Northeastern Indian tribes. Quills are still used for decoration by the Athabaskans of Interior
Alaska. Natives used to kill porcupines just for their quills, but today the Natives corner the animal and then tap the back of the animal with a styrofoam paddle
to collect all the quills they need. The quills are dyed with locally obtainable vegetable materials and then sewn into skin clothing, earrings, and artistic items.
Porcupines can be injurious to commercial forests and reforestation projects by feeding on the terminal buds or eating the bark all the way around the trees.
When such problems occur, site-specific control may be necessary, although within most of Alaska porcupines are not numerous enough to do much damage.
River Otter
Taxonomy
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Genus: Lontra
Species: canadensis
Length: 2.5 feet
Weight: 20 pounds
Scientific Name: Lutra canadensis
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS:
Long, slender, sleek body, weighing approximately 20 pounds (9 kg) and about two and a half feet
(76 cm) long. Head is small and round, with small eyes and ears; prominent whiskers. Legs short, but
powerful; all four feet webbed. Tail long and slightly tapered toward the tip with musk-producing glands underneath. The short dense fur is dark brown. Chin
and stomach are reddish yellow, tinged with gray. Females are a third smaller than males.
RANGE:
All of the United States and Canada except the tundra and parts of the arid southwestern United States. Allied species occur in Mexico, Central and South
America, as well as Eurasia.
HABITAT:
Found in streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and salt- and freshwater marshes.
LIFE CYCLE/SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
Spends two-thirds of the time on land. (Leopold says they live primarily in water.) The female mates in the spring shortly after giving birth to two to four young
(or she might skip a year). The new litter of youngsters will not begin to develop until late in the fall. This process, known as delayed implantation, enables the
fertilized eggs to mark time within her, receiving only sparse ration to stay alive for several months. Then within her body an obscure signal awakens the tiny
embryos which resume their growth.
The otter kits start their life in a burrow in a river bank, usually an abandoned muskrat den. Born blind and helpless, they are nursed by the female for a month.
Venturing out of the den, they rough-house and play in the shallow water, where their mother teaches them to swim and hunt.
FEEDING HABITS:
Fish, crayfish, frogs, turtles, and aquatic invertebrates, plus an occasional bird, rodent or rabbit. Because otters prey most easily on fish that are slow and
lethargic, much of the diet consists of "rough" fish like carp, suckers, catfish, and sculpins. They hunt for their prey in the water and on the land. These
intelligent mammals have a keen sense of smell; they use their sensitive whiskers to help find prey in muddy water. Zoo diet: fish or horsemeat with vegetables.
Feline diet with fish three times a week and vitamin E twice a week.
SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS:
Almost impervious to cold because of an outer coat of coarse guard hairs, plus a dense, thick undercoat that helps to "water-proof" the animal. They have no
blubber; it's the fur that keeps them warm. They seem to enjoy frolicking in ice and snow. Perianal scent glands are used for identification, defense, marking
territory, and trail marking. Small ears and nostrils can be tightly closed when in water; they are excellent swimmers and divers. During a dive, pulse slows to a
tenth of the normal rate of 170 beats a minute, thereby conserving oxygen. Both diurnal and nocturnal.
The river otter is native to northern and central California, being found in the delta region of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, where it sometimes dens
in thick tules. In California the river otter is fully protected under law and may not be taken at any time. Population densities are low, even in the best habitat.
Over 30,000 pelts are sold annually in the United States and Canada. On Appendix II of CITES (threatened).
Serval
Taxonomy
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnavoria
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Leptailurus
Length: 670-1000mm
Weight: 9-13km
Lifespan: 19 years
Scientific Name: Leptailurus serval
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Approximately similar in size to the Caracal, the serval has extraordinarily long legs for its body size which
can be up to 3 feet in length, whilst standing up to 20 inches in shoulder height. The base fur colour is sandy to reddish brown and is covered in dark
spots which have a tendency to merge into stripes along the top of the back. Noticable regional variation in markings are shown – in West Africa the
spotted markings are smaller and much less distinct and it was once believed that these cats formed a separate species, the Servaline Cat (F. servalina).
As a rule of thumb, servals from wetter areas show finer markings, whilst those from drier regions have larger and bolder spotted markings. The serval
has a small but long head and large rounded ears marked with alternating black and white stripes on the rear. It has been observed that the serval uses
these prominent stripe markings on its ears to communicate with others of its species. Melanistic servals can be found in the moister and densely
forested areas of its range.
RANGE: The serval is generally found in most parts of Africa excluding the arid desert regions to the north around the Sahara, parts of the western tip
of Southern Africa and certain areas of the tropical rainforest belt of Central Africa.
HABITAT: The servals habitat ranges form dry open plain grasslands through woodland savanna to the moister areas around the equatorial rainforests
and grassy uplands of central Africa’s mountainous regions up to 3500 metres. Although the serval’s range covers a fairly large proportion of the
African continent, the cat is closely associated with water and therefore populations tend to be fragmented.
FEEDING HABITS: Throughout much of its range, the serval is primarily crepuscular although nocturnal hunting is found to be common in areas
closer to human habitation. In the Serengeti, the cat has been observed hunting by day, which it is thought, corresponds to the main activity period of
its prey in this particular region. Although a medium sized cat, the serval’s prey base tends to centre on smaller mammals such as hare, rodents
including mole rats, ground squirrels and vlei rats and birds such as quails, quelea and flamingoes. In some areas frogs make up a large proportion of
the servals diet, although this has been found to be localised preference, mainly centred on the wetter areas of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.
HUNTING TECHNIQUES: The serval is a specialised hunter and has particularly sophisticated hearing to assist it in its task of pinpointing its small
prey. As with the other rodent specialist of Africa, the Sand Cat, the serval has enlarged auditory bullae and pinnae, which are used to listen for the
ultrasonic high frequencies omitted by rodents. The long legs of the serval also serve to aid prey detection, enabling the cat to see over the tall savannah
grasses for signs of movement. The serval is often observed giving a characteristic vertical leap to pounce down directly onto its unsuspecting quarry.
In short bursts the cat is also able to reach high speeds and is capable of jumping up to 10 feet of the ground to catch birds.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The serval has been hunted throughout its range for its attractive coat and locally as a source of meat. In general the
animal is protected in most countries and is listed in CITES Appendix 2 as threatened.
Striped Skunk
axonomy
Order: Fissipedia
Family: Mustelidae
Sub Family: Mephitidae
Genus: Mephitis
Length: Body length is up to 18 inches (45 cm) plus tail 7-16 inches (18-40 cm).
Weight: 2.6-11.7 pounds (1.2-5.3 kg).
Scientific Names: Mephitis mephitis
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: A medium-sized, stout-bodied skunk with two white stripes on sides of back that join each other in the neck region
and extend onto the head anteriorly and onto each side of the tail posteriorly (note varying patterns in photo at right); tip of tail black; two large scent glands,
one on each side of the anus, produce the characteristic skunk musk; ears short, rounded; eyes small; five toes on each foot, front ones armed with long claws;
hind feet with heel almost in contact with ground; tail long and bushy; pelage long, coarse and oily. Dental formula as in the spotted skunk. Sexes colored alike,
but males usually larger than females. External measurements average: (males), total length, 680 mm; tail, 250 mm; hind foot, 90 mm; (females), 610-225-65
mm. Weight, 1.4-6.6 kg, depending on age and amount of fat.
RANGE: Striped Skunks are found in the most of USA and Canada. They inhabit deserts, grassy plains, cultivated copies, forests edges, pastures and suburbs.
HABITAT: Striped skunks are inhabitants of wooded or brushy areas and their associated farmlands. Rocky defiles and outcrops are favored refuge sites, but
when these are absent the skunks seek out the burrows of armadillos, foxes, and other animals.
BREEDING: Breeding begins in February or March. After a gestation period of about 63 days, the three to seven (average, five) young are born. There is
some evidence that two litters may be born to certain females, but one litter seems to be the general rule. The nursery is a cavity under a rock, a burrow, or a
thicket of cactus or other protective vegetation. Usually the mother builds a nest of dried grasses and weed stems for the blind, helpless young. The young
remain in the nest until their eyes are open and they are strong enough to follow their mother.
FEEDING HABITS: Striped Skunks are omnivores. In summer they feed on various insects and grubs (grasshoppers, beetles, bee larvae), small mammals, the
eggs of ground-nesting birds and amphibians. Skunks are especially fond of spiders, snails, ants, wasps, and crayfish. In season they eat fruits and berries:
cherries, raspberries, strawberries, apples and pears. Also Striped Skunks scavenge on the road-kill.
BEHAVIOR: Striped Skunks can be called gregarious animals. The females share territories and even dens. Skunks are crepuscular animals (coming out at
dawn and dusk), during late summer and early fall; skunks may be seen during the day because the young explore the new world.
The Striped Skunk doesn't hibernate, but becomes temporarily dormant in severe winter frosts. The Striped Skunk usually finds a den that was abandoned by
other animals or digs its own den. Sometimes it lives in a hollow log, crevice, or even the space beneath a building. Skunks drag dried leaves and grass into the
den to make a mat. In winter they make a ball of grass and push it into the door to keep the cold wind out.
Prairie Dog
Geography – Range
Throughout most of the western United States from
Canada to Mexico -- Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska,
Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado,
Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming -- including higher
elevations of the Mojave, Great Basin and Chihuahuan
deserts.
Related Species
Prairie Dogs are the most social members of the Squirrel
Family and are closely related to ground squirrels,
chipmunks and marmots. There are 5 species of Prairie
Dogs (genus Cynomys):
Black-tailed Prairie Dog (C. ludovicianus) occupies
narrow bands of dry plains stretching from central Texans to Canada.
White-tailed Prairie Dog (C. leucurus) inhabits Western US: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and
Montana.
Gunnison's Prairie Dog (C. gunnisoni) has a much shorter tail than other Prairie Dogs, and it is
uniquely colored and centers around the Four Corners from 5000-11000 feet.
Mexican Prairie Dog (C. mexicanus) is an endangered species with a limited distribution only
within parts of Mexico.
Utah Prairie Dog (C. parvidens) is the smallest of all Prairie Dogs and threatened.
Comparisons
Of the two main species of Prairie Dogs, the Black-tailed (C. ludovicianus) has a black-tipped tail and
is much more widespread, occurring sparsely over the Great Plains and throughout the Great Basin.
Black-tailed are the Prairie Dogs normally sold in pet shops and may either be a baby caught in the
wild or from a breeder.
The other main species, the White-tailed Prairie Dog (C. leucurus), has a white-tipped tail and
inhabits higher altitudes than the Black-tailed. It hibernates in winter and is less colonial in habit.
Description
Prairie Dogs are robust rodents, slightly grizzled and fat. They have broad, rounded heads, hairy
tails and short legs. The skull has 22 teeth.
Prairie Dogs weigh 1 1/2 to 3 lbs. The head and body are 11 to 13 inches long, with a tail length of 3
to 4 inches. They are yellowish in color, with darker ears and a pale buff to whitish belly. Prairie
Dogs have whitish or buffy patches on the sides of their nose, their upper lips and around their eyes
in the form of a ring.
Vital Stats
Vocalization
Weight: 1.5-3 lbs.
Length with tail: 3-5"
Shoulder Height: 3-4"
Sexual Maturity: 1 year
Mating Season: March-April
Gestation Period: 28-32 days
No. of Young: 3-8, 5 avg.
Birth Interval: 1 year
Lifespan: 3-5 years in the wild
Prairie Dogs have a highpitched, bark-like call. Recent
studies suggest that Prairie
Dogs possess the most
sophisticated of all natural
animal languages. They
apparently issue different
sounds identifying various
predators, which include
hawks, owls, eagles, ravens,
coyotes, badgers, ferrets and
snakes. Prairie Dogs can run
up to 35 miles per hour for
short distances. The Prairie
Dog has only one defense that
works -- raising the alarm and
disappearing quickly.
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Sub Order: Sciurognathi
Family: Sciuridae
Sub Family: Sciurinae
Genus: Cynomys
Species: 5 in North America
Tail
Prairie Dog tails are generally short and bushy, but vary considerably in length and color between
species.
Ears
Prairie Dogs' ears are very short and often hidden in the fur.
Eyes
Prairie Dogs' eyes, which are positioned on the sides of the head, appear to be adapted for detecting
movement over a wide arc; this allows the detection of predators with greater success.
Feet
Prairie Dog's feet are a usually a creamy color.
Behavior
All Prairie Dogs are diurnal. While
most may be dormant for short
periods of cold weather, the Whitetailed species is a true hibernator in
winter.
Prairie Dogs have an intricate social
system composed of one male and
several close-kin females and their
offspring. Populations vary from 5 to
35 per acre.
The Prairie Dog digs its own burrows.
There is a well-constructed and
frequently reinforced dike against
flooding from sudden rains. The entrance holes themselves are funnel-shaped, from 3 to 4 inches in
diameter.
These tunnels lead down a steeply slanting corridor 15 or 16 feet before leveling off for another 20
to 50 feet. There are side chambers for storage, for nesting and for escape should the tunnel be
invaded by predators or flooding. They may extend 100 feet or more.
When a predator approaches, the first alert Prairie Dog gives a sharp warning call, bobs up and
down in excitement, calls again and then plunges below. The danger signal is a 2-syllable bark,
issued at about 40 per minute. Other sentinels farther from the danger zone take up the watch,
monitoring the course of the predator.
Habitat
Short and medium grass prairies and plateaus of the American West.
Food & Hunting
Although Prairie Dogs are almost exclusively vegetarian, nursing females have been observed both
cannibalizing and communally nursing each other's pups. The various native plants of the Great
Plains make up the Prairie Dog's primary diet, comprising all kinds of grasses, roots, weeds, forbs
and blossoms. They acquire all of their water from the food they eat. Sometimes insects are also
eaten.
Curious Prairie Dog Facts
Prairie Dogs are stout, burrowing rodents among the many varieties of ground squirrels.
Prairie Dog burrows are called "towns."
Most Prairie Dogs hibernate during the winter.
Settlers called them "dogs" and "sod poodles" because of their high-pitched, bark-like call.
As members of the genus Cynomys (Greek for "mouse dog"), all 5 species of Prairie Dogs belong
to the Squirrel Family (Sciuridae).
Prairie Dogs issue different sounds identifying various predators, which include hawks, owls,
eagles, ravens, coyotes, badgers, ferrets and snakes.
At the turn of the century, as many as 5 billion Prairie Dogs occupied millions of acres of grass
prairies across the West.
In 1900, a huge Prairie Dog settlement, 100 miles by 250 miles, was reported on the high plains
of Texas containing an estimated 400 million Prairie Dogs!
Breeding
One litter is born to the Prairie Dog female each year. During a 4- or 5- hour estrus, a female Prairie
Dog may mate with as many as 5 different males, allowing pups from the same litter to have
different fathers.
For the Black-tailed, mating generally occurs in late January, with the young being born in March
and April (a gestation period of 28 to 32 days). The White-tailed mates in March or April, with the
young being born in May. These youngsters hibernate with their parents October through March in
the north and in high mountain valleys.
There are usually 3 to 5 youngsters
in a litter, but sometimes as many
as 8. The young are blind and
hairless. Their eyes don't open for
33 to 37 days. At about 6 weeks,
they begin to appear above ground
and are ready to be weaned. They
probably separate from the mother
by early fall.
During May and the early part of
June, the young begin to emerge
from their burrows for the first
time. At this time, yearlings (young
from the previous year) and some
adults may relocate, leaving the
young pups to feel secure both
socially and environmentally in the
old burrow. When Prairie Dogs relocate, they take over abandoned holes or dig new holes at the
edge of the town. A few may travel miles in search of new areas, but once away form the communal
warning system, most are easy prey for predators.
Conservation
Common predators of the Prairie Dog include coyotes, bobcats, eagles, hawks, badgers and weasels.
Because they eat as much as 7 percent of a ranch's forage, Prairie Dog eradication programs have
been underway for decades in the American West. But a growing number of experts argue that
Prairie Dogs may actually be beneficial, that they are natural fertilizers who also increase the protein
content and digestibility of rangeland grasses.
Today, after decades of eradication by federal, state, and local governments, devastation from
disease, poisoning, recreational shooting and habitat destruction , Prairie Dogs are rapidly
disappearing. More have been exterminated than remain, inhabiting only about 2 percent of their
former range. Colonies are being preserved, however, in Wind Cave National Park, Devils Tower
National Monument and in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Reserve. The city of Santa Fe, New Mexico
maintains a municipal park with a resident colony of Gunnison's Prairie Dogs.
Cautions
Prairie Dogs are very susceptible to bubonic plague, acquiring it from fleas infected with plague
bacteria. Most public health officials believe the chance of contracting plague from Prairie Dog fleas
is very low, but flea-borne disease can wipe out a colony. Prairie Dogs have lived up to 8 1/2 years
in captivity.
PERCHERON
History and Origin of the Breed
Except for the recent past, the history of the Percheron
breed is not exactly clear. The Percheron Horse did
originate in the province of Le Perche, near Normandy,
France. The ancestors of the modern day Percheron
served as war horses carrying knights into battle instead
as draft animals in the field. Those horses were light, surefooted and spirited. As agricultural pursuits began to take
precedence over battles, these horses were bred more for
size, weight and strength. The French, however, kept ..
very few records regarding breeding which allows for
speculation on the breeds true origins.
It is widely believed that the Arabian horse played an important role in the development of the Percheron. By the
time of the crusades, the Percheron breed was widely recognized as outstanding for his substance and soundness,
as well as for his characteristic beauty and style.
By the 17th century horses produced in Le Perche had attained widespread notoriety and were in demand for many
different uses. The Percheron of this time showed less scale and easily adapted to pulling the heavy mail coaches
of France. They stood from 15 to 16 hands high at this time.
In the early 19th century the French government established a stud at Le Pin for the development of army mounts.
In 1823, a horse named Jean La Blanc was foaled in Le Perche and all of today's Percheron bloodlines trace
directly to this horse.
Edward Harris of Moorestown, New Jersey first imported Percherons to the United States in 1839. Although in his
two attempts to import eight Percheron horses to America, only two survived the journey, a mare named Joan and
a stallion called Dilligence. These two horses helped establish the Percheron breed in America. Diligence
reportedly sired over 400 foals with three of his being recorded among the foundation stock in the first American
Percheron stud book in 1876.
No other Percheron importations were recorded until 1851. The
stallions, Normandy, Gray Bill and Louis Napoleon, were imported in
that year. Louis Napoleon had a profound effect on the Percheron
breed in America and is owners were instrumental in the forming of
the Percheron Association in 1876.
Thousands of Percherons were imported to Americans in the last
half of the 19th century, and importations continued up until World
War II. The Percheron quickly became the favorite of both the
American farmer and the teamster who would move freight on the
nation's city streets.
The Percheron was so popular that by 1930, the government census
showed that they were three times as many registered Percherons as the other four draft breeds combined.
Following World War II, the invention of the modern farm tractor made the breed nearly extinct. As America
modernized and mechanized, the Percheron was all but forgotten. However, a handful of farmers including many
Amish, dedicated to the preservation of the breed, kept it alive through the next twenty years of the draft horse
depression which lasted through the 1950s and 1960s.
The late 1960s saw a renaissance in the draft horse business as Americans rediscovered the usefulness of the
draft horse. Today, Percherons are back on small farms and working in the fields and thousands of are used for
recreation such as hayrides, sleigh rides and parades.
Percherons are shown in competition hitching, halter and riding classes at many state and local fairs across the
country. They are also used in advertising and the promotion of other businesses. The Percheron is also a common
sight on many city streets as the carriage business flourishes.
Breed Characteristics
The Percheron is usually gray or black. The gaits are supple and light; the head is fine with a square, wide
forehead, long, thin ears, a lively eye, straight nose and wide nostrils; the neck is long with an abundant mane and
the throat is thin. The withers are well set; the shoulder is well slanted; the chest is wide and deep with a somewhat
prominent breast bone; the back is short and straight and very strong; the ribs are rounded; the girth is low with full
flanks; the hip is long as is the croup; and the tail is set high. The limbs are sound and clean, well set with a
powerful forearm and wide and muscular thighs. The buttocks are low; the knees wide and straight in line with the
shoulder. The cannon bones are wide, flat and strong; the pasterns are clean and strong and the feet are good.
The average height is between 14.3 to 16.1 hands.
FRIESIAN
The Friesian Horse originated in Friesland, one of twelve provinces of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands (Holland), situated in the northwest of Europe. Friesland is an old country dating to
500 B.C., when the Friesians settled along the cost of the North Sea. They were tradesmen,
seafarers, farmers and horse breeders.
The Friesian horse descends from the Equus robustus. During the 16th and
17th centuries, but probably also earlier, Arabian blood was introduced,
especially through Andalusian horses from Spain. This has given them the
high knee-action, the small head and the craning neck. Because of his
temperament the Friesian horse is considered warm blooded. The Friesian
horse has been kept free from influence of the English Thoroughbred.
During the last two centuries it has been bred pure. Breeding horses and
dealing in them was very important for the Friesians. The monks in the
many monasteries in Friesland before the reformation did a lot of horse
breeding. Through the centuries the Friesian Government has made many
regulations in order to safeguard good breeding. Now the Dutch Horselaw of 1939 (modified)
gives rules for studbook and breeding.
From records of the past we know that the Friesian horse of old was famous. There is
information from as early as 1251 and there are books in which Friesian horses were mentioned
and praised from as early as the 16th century.
Armored knights of old found this horse very desirable, having the
strength to carry great weight into battle and still maneuver quickly.
Later, its suppleness and agility made the breed much sought after for
use in riding schools in Paris and Spain during the 15th and 16th
centuries. Before an elegant carriage this breed has few rivals, and
throughout Europe the royal courts used them as coach horses.
An excellent trotter, the Friesian was used for racing short distances in
Holland, the winners being awarded silver or golden whips. Today in
Friesland there are may carriage events and often the sjees, the Friesian form of the chaise,are
seen. This unique two-wheeled cart may be drawn by one or two horses, and aboard are a
gentleman and a lady dressed in the traditional
costumes of the 1880s. The sjees is one of the few
carriages in which the driver is seated on the left; his
lady occupies the right-hand side, the place of honor.
Four-in-hand carriages are common and as many as
ten-in-hand can be seen in front of light carriages.
These large, unusual hitches used for demonstration
purposes are becoming very popular. The Friesian people take great pride in the natural ability
of their black horse in harness.
The well-known English writer on horses, Anthony Dent, and others are of the opinion that the
Friesian horse influenced the Old English Black Horse and the Fell Pony. Dent proposes that
the Norwegian Døle (Gudbrandsdal horse), which shows great likeness to the Friesian horse,
must have got there from Friesland either as booty or by regular trade. The Northern Swedish
horse was greatly influenced by the Norwegian Døle. Dent also
suggests a Norwegian influence on the English Dale pony. In the
Pyrenees in southern France there is a pony "Ariege called after
Merens" (Ariege dit de Merens) that looks remarkably like a small
Friesian horse. The resemblance of the types mentioned can be traced
back in some cases to the influence of Friesian horses, in other cases the similar way of
breeding will have caused the similarity.
As early as 1625 Friesian horses were being imported into what later would become the United
States of America. The Dutch founded New Amsterdam in the region they discovered in 1609,
but they had to abandon it to the English in 1664, when the name was changed to New York.
Advertisements in the papers offer trotters of "Dutch" descent. These must have been Friesian
horses. The able writer Jeanne Mellin proposes in her books The Morgan Horse (1961) and The
Morgan Horse Handbook (1973) the possibility that this well-known American horse is of
Friesian descent. The ability to trot fast, the heavy manes, the long rich tail and the fetlocks at
the feet of the original forefather of this breed may be an indication.
The breed was totally lost in North America due to crossbreeding. Tom
Hannon of Canton, Ohio did not reintroduce the horse to North America
until 1974. By 1983 the popularity of the Friesian in America had grown
enough to support a national association and a national show.
With the help of the Friesian Studbook Friesian horses have been
imported into Western Germany, Scotland and South Africa (1957-58).
The imports into South Africa occurred to improve the type of horse called
the Flemish Horse, imported long ago from Belgium. Nowadays this type
of horse is not found in Belgium anymore, except when imported from
Friesland.
*Adapted from the Summary in English which is part of the Dutch book titled "Het Friese Paard" by G. J. A. Bouma,
1979, and printed by Friese Pers Boekerij, b. v., in Drachten and Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. It is reproduced
here with the kind permission of the Friesian Horse Association of North America, the author and Het Friesch
Paarden-Stamboek.
Friesian Horses are always black. White markings are not allowed on
the body or legs. They have a long, thick, flowing mane and tail and
pronounced fetlock hair. Under no circumstance is it permissible to
dock the tail of a Friesian and, in fact, trimming of any hair from mane,
tail or legs is frowned upon.
The Friesian Horse holds it head high and proud with an arching neck.
The animated gait is natural. Selective breeding is used to achieve the
active hock action and high, extended from leg action. The body is
strong and deep with a sloping shoulder. The rear quarters are sloping
with a somewhat low-set tail. Registered Friesian stallions must be at least 15.3 hands by the
age of four and mares must be at least 14.3 hands. The mares average about 1300 lbs., more
for males.
Breed Organizations
To maintain the integrity of the breed, the Friesian Horse Association of North America (FHANA)
working in concert with the original parent organization, the Friesch Paarden Stamboek in the
Netherlands strictly regulates the registration of the Friesian Horse. The FPS is the registry for
the Friesian horse worldwide. The registry was founded in 1879 and today's Dutch registered
horses are the result of over a century of rigorous evaluation and selection of breeding stock.
Organizations from other countries may also register Friesian horses, but horses registered with
those organizations may not have met the standards of the FPS and therefore the true Dutch
Friesian registry cannot recognize the horses. The Friesian Horse Association of North America
cannot recognize a horse whose papers are not issued by the Friesch Paarden Stamboek.
TRAKEHNER
The Trakehner, known for its friendly temperament, intelligence and
athletic ability, is one of Germany's oldest warmblood breeds. King
Frederick Wilhelm I of Prussia wanting his soldiers to have reliable
transportation that was faster, sounder and more enduring than that
of his contemporaries established the breed in 1732. For that purpose he opened a royal stud
farm at Trakehnen in East Prussia. He used small native mares, called Schwaike, and crossed
them with Thoroughbreds from England and with purebred Arabians. Throughout the years, the
king's stud directors tried various other breeds but soon limited themselves to the Thoroughbred
and the Arabian. The results of these crossings were exactly what the king wanted. Strict
selection permitted only the best to breed while the "average" product was sold as riding horses,
soon producing a distinctive new breed.
Originally, any horse born at Trakehnen was called a "Trakehner" to distinguish it from the "East
Prussians" produced by private breeders who bought mares from Trakehnen and bred them to
Trakehner stallions. Since the end of World War II, when East Prussia and the Trakehnen stud
ceased to exist, all horses with Trakehnen or East Prussian bloodlines have been called
"Trakehners."
In 1945, some of the horses from East Prussia endured extreme hardships, pulling their owner's
wagons with all the belongings they were able to take when the advancing Soviet army forced
them to flee toward the West. The only escape route available led over the frozen "Kurische
Haff," a bay of the Baltic Sea between East Prussia and the West. Many did not make it,
breaking through the weakening ice under the weight of their wagons. Less than ten percent of
the horses in East Prussia reached the safety of West Germany. Others were taken as war
booty by the Soviets and by the Polish government and became a significant influence on their
native warmblood breeds.
In West Germany, at a time when things were still very chaotic and basic necessities were
scarce, Dr. Fritz Schilke, the executive director of the East Prussian Stud Book Society, took it
upon himself to locate all of the East Prussian horses that had made it to the West. In 1947, only
two years after the end of World War II, Dr. Schilke succeeded in establishing the West German
"Trakehner Verband" (breed association) and a Trakehner Stud Book that continued to
document the breed. In those early days, many horses could be identified from Trakehnen only
by the single moose antler brand on their right hip or as East Prussians by the double moose
antlers on their left hip. Their papers then bore the notation " papers lost due to the events of
war - identified as Trakehner by its brand."
After several West German generations of Trakehners, Dr. Schilke noted that the distinctive
Trakehner type had remained unchanged even though the horses had been displaced from their
native habitat and subjected to very different living conditions. This is still true today. The
Trakehner is now being bred all over the world and wherever this is done in a controlled
situation, with documented pedigrees and selective breeding, the same type - with some
modifications for the changing marketplace - still exists everywhere.
In the years after World War II, many of the other German warmblood breeds used Trakehner
stallions to refine their horses. Examples are the Trakehner stallion Abglanz used in the
Hanoverian breed, or the stallion Julmond in Baden-Württemberg. The Trakehner studbook,
however, is closed to all outside blood except the Thoroughbred and the Arabian (including
Anglo and Shagya Arabs).
In North America, the first documented importation of Trakehner breeding stock occurred in the
fifties when Gerda Friedrichs of Keswick, Ontario, Canada, imported three stallions and a dozen
or so mares. Soon after, stallions and mares were imported into Virginia, California and the
Midwest. A busy trade developed in these horses and their progeny. In 1974, the American
Trakehner Association was founded to keep track of the breed in North America. In 1978, the
ATA, as it is usually called, signed an agreement of cooperation with the German
Trakehner Verband, promising to breed Trakehners in North America according to
the same selective breeding and performance testing principles that are practiced
in Germany. As a result, the ATA was granted the use of the double moose antler
brand, supplemented by an additional arc underneath, signifying that the horse so
branded is an American Trakehner.
In the ATA's Corporate Regulations, the breed is defined as follows:
The Trakehner is a large horse, standing generally between 16 and 17 hands. The breed is
characterized by great substance and bone, yet displays surprising refinement, perhaps more
so than any other European warmblood breed. It is a superb performance horse, with natural
elegance and balance. It excels in dressage because of its elegant way of moving - the light,
springy, "floating" trot, and soft balanced canter, made possible by a deep, sloping shoulder, a
correct, moderately long back and pasterns of medium length and slope. With its characteristic
powerful hindquarters and strong joints and muscles, the breed also produces excellent
jumpers. However, perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of the Trakehner is its
temperament. Trakehners are keen, alert and intelligent, yet very stable and accepting, anxious
to please.
OWLS
Barred Owl
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Subfamily: Striginae
Genus: Strix
Length: 16-25 in.
Weight: 1-1.5 lbs. (females slightly larger than males)
Wingspan: 38-50 in.
Common Names: hoot owl, rain owl, round-headed owl, swamp owl, wood owl
Scientific Name: Strix varia
Etymology: strix (Latin) - "a strident owl"; varia (Latin) - "variegated"
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: An all-gray owl (although some individuals have a brown wash) streaked with white horizontal barring on the chest
and vertical barring on the belly. It has a yellow beak and no tufts on the head. Its brown eyes distinguish it from the great gray owl. The barred owl is a large
owl with a round head, no ear tufts and a long tail. Primarily gray and brown with white bars and edges, and the face is gray-brown. Barred owl under parts are
buff with vertical streaks, the collar is barred horizontally, contrasting with a streaked breast. These owls have dark brown (virtually black) eyes and a yellow or
white beak almost covered by feathers.
RANGE: Found in the United States and southern Canada east of the Rocky mountains, although it has been recently expanding its range westward. This is
causing concern, as it may compete with the endangered spotted owl.
HABITAT: A woodland owl, associated with flood plains, river bottoms, and lake margins. Barred owls prefer mature forests and heavily wooded swamps.
They roost in densely forested areas, and hunt over farmland, open country, roadsides and rivers. They are often associated with red-shouldered hawks.
NESTING: A cavity nesting owl that will also nest in old crow or hawk nests or human-made structures. Barred owls are fairly sedentary, a behavior that may
contribute to establishing long-term pair bonds and nest territoriality. They frequently use abandoned red-shouldered hawk or crow nests; also large, deep
hollows in trees or nest boxes. Barred owls will often nest close to red-shouldered hawks without conflict, and may use the same nest several years in a row.
They lay 2-3 (rarely 4-5) white eggs, with a slightly rough texture. Incubation is all done by the female, and lasts approximately 28-33 days. The young owlets
begin branching by 4- 5 weeks, but do not fledge until they are closer to 6 weeks old.
FEEDING HABITS: Barred owls feed on a variety of prey, including rodents, squirrels, rabbits, birds, and crustaceans. Barred owl prey size spans from
insects to woodchucks, geese, and herons. They are opportunistic hunters, and will often eat easy to catch prey such as lizards, frogs and small rodents.
FLIGHT: Buoyant and light, noiseless with slow, heavy wing beats. Rarely soars, but frequently flies high.
VOICE: Loud, very vocal hooting, often in response to each other. "Hoo-hoo-to-hoo-oo, hoo-hoo to wha-aa" suggests " Who cooks for you? Who cooks for
you all?" They are extremely vocal in February and March, and again during late summer and fall. Probably the most vocal of all owls.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: Another very common patient. Barred owls are generally docile patients, but can be very aggressive and attack when least
expected.
CONSERVATION STATUS: A very common species with no special status.
European Barn Owl
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Tytonidae
Subfamily: Tytoninae
Genus: Tyto
Length: 14-20 in.
Weight: ~1 lb. (females slightly larger than males)
Wingspan: 43-48 in.
Scientific Name: Tyto alba
The nominate (meaning which all other come from) species of barn owl
Etymology: Etymology: tuto (Greek) - "night owl"; alba (Latin) - "white"
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Barn owls have large heads without ear tufts. Their facial disk is distinctively heart-shaped, unique among North
American owls, and females tend to be darker in the face than males. Barn owls have an ivory-colored beak that looks like a long nose, long feathered legs and
toes. There are two color phases: white phase has white underparts sometimes with brown or black specks; orange phase has no white in plumage, only tawny or
buff colors. Immature barn owls are similar to adults, only more down is visible, and chicks have white to buffy white down.
RANGE: Nearly worldwide in distribution, the barn owl can be found in Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, as well as North and South
America. It is most common between latitudes 40N and 40S of the equator. While not a common owl in the Midwest, there are breeding records from
Minnesota and surrounding states.
HABITAT: A grassland species, the barn owl relies on open fields for hunting. As agriculture opened up the eastern forest in the 1800s, the barn owl's range
expanded. Recent plowing and urbanization of grasslands has reduced the habitat available to barn owls (at least in the Midwest) and has caused a subsequent
reduction of barn owl numbers in those areas. Barn owls are birds mainly associated with habitats that support small mammal populations, particularly
field voles (Microtus agrestis). Field margins, the banks of watercourses and grass strips along woodland edges provide ideal hunting habitat – they can
also be found in open countryside that contains a mixture of habitats including tussocky grassland, marshland, scrubland, young tree plantations and
hedgerows. Recent studies suggest that a pair of owls require about 20-25km2 of habitat with several suitable roosting sites, such as hollows or nest
boxes.
NESTING: A cavity nester, the barn owl takes readily to human-made structures, and they are well-known in Europe for using buildings and church steeples as
nest sites. This owl will also use properly placed nest boxes. Barn owls can be prolific breeders, hatching two broods in one year. In Europe, the typical number
of young is three to six, but broods of up to 18 young have been reported. Usually breed at one year old. As with most owls, there is no nest construction. Barn
owls usually lay 2-18 (generally 3-10) white (sometimes yellowish or bluish) eggs on bare wood or stone in old buildings or barns, silos, or other tall structures;
caves; hollow trees; sometimes even in a ground burrow. Nests are reused year after year but by different pairs. Incubation lasts 29-34 days, usually 33 days.
Barn owl young fledge at about 56-62 days. Only the female has an incubation patch, and she does all the brooding. Barn owls are usually monogamous, but
will re-mate if one of the pair disappears. They breed year-round; northern populations will breed on "normal" cycle, and will often lay another clutch before
young from the first clutch fledges. The barn owl seems to practice a form of birth control; when food is scarce, they lay fewer eggs or do not breed at all.
FEEDING HABITS: A very nocturnal species, the barn owl hunts over fields and grasslands, preying primarily on small microtine rodents, and rats. Its
dependence on this food source makes it very susceptible to habitat loss. Barn owls are solitary hunters, typically quartering up and down open grasslands,
eating 90% small rodents such as voles and field mice. When attacking prey in the dark, they approach with wings flapping and feet swinging like a pendulum.
When directly over the prey, the owl will swing the feet forward, raise their wings and throw the head back with eyes closed. The prey is attacked with the feet,
and the beak is used to kill. Barn owls are incredibly efficient; they have been recorded catching 60 mice per hour! Young owls learn early how to hunt, and will
pounce repeatedly at inanimate objects.
FLIGHT: Swift from side to side rather than a straight line. In breeding season they are typically active shortly after sunset and just before sunrise.
VOICE: Loud hisses, shrill screeches, beak snapping, sometimes shrieking. Barn owls don't hoot, they hiss and scream. Because of their vocalizations and
beautiful white plumage, these owls are probably the source of many ghost stories.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: As it is a very rare owl in the upper Midwest, only a few barn owls have been admitted to our clinic. Barn owls have been used in
Raptor Center education programs.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The barn owl is not considered part of Minnesota's avifauna; there have been less than 10
recorded nestings in the state. Wisconsin, Iowa, and five other Midwestern states list it as an endangered species,
and it is listed as a species of special concern in South Dakota, and Nebraska.
Burrowing Owl
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Subfamily: Surniinae
Genus: Athene
Length: 8 inches
Wingspan: 22 inches
Scientific Name:
Athene cuniculari
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: A small owl, about eight inches tall with long bare legs, no ear tufts and
a small facial disc. The adults are dusty brown with white markings on the belly and a prominent white chin stripe. The young are brown on the head, back, and
wings, with a white belly and chest. They molt into an adult-like plumage during their first summer. Another distinguishing feature of the owl is its tolerance of
non-threatening human activity. Nests are sometimes found in cow pastures near farm buildings, on airports, or on road right-of-ways. This tolerance, together
with its habit of loafing around the nest burrow or on fenceposts in daylight, make this one of the most observable of all owl species.
The Burrowing Owl has been described as a short fat owl on stilts. The long, almost bare legs and stubby tail of this plump-looking little owl are indeed
distinctive. It is similar in size to the American Robin, with a total length (head to tail) of about 24 cm. Long legs help this "ground owl" see over the low
"short-grass" prairie vegetation in a landscape with few elevated perches, and also aid in running down insect prey. Female Burrowing Owls are slightly smaller
than males, an uncommon situation for birds of prey. This may be an adaptation for squeezing into narrow burrows. The sexes have similar colouring, although
males often appear faded, possibly from spending more time exposed to the sun. Adults are a rich sandy-brown colour, thickly spotted with whites and buffs on
the underparts; the underparts are whitish, barred with brown. This colouring provides good camouflage in dry grassland habitats. Other features include a
rounded head without ear tufts, yellow eyes, white eyebrows, and a white throat with a dark brown half-collar. Juveniles have buffy underparts without bars
during the first few weeks after emergence from the burrow.
RANGE: Breeds west of the Mississippi river from southern Canada throughout the western United States south through Mexico and into South America. A
separate subspecies is found in Florida and the Caribbean Islands. Birds from the northern part of the United States and Canada are migratory, although their
winter home is unknown.
HABITAT: An owl of dry, short-grass prairie, burrowing owls are associated with burrowing mammals, particularly prairie dogs, ground squirrels, and
badgers. The major habitat needs of Burrowing Owls are prairie-like terrain with low herbaceous vegetation, deep soil for burrows, the occurrence of
mammals that excavate burrows, and a food supply. They are adapted to open, usually dry country with short vegetation. Being ground-dwellers, it is difficult
for them to detect approaching predators or find prey in brushland or forest. They are well adapted to grazed rangelands, but find croplands less suitable. The
terrain is often flat, but rugged landscapes are also used. The extent of suitable habitat is quite restricted in British Columbia.
NESTING: Burrowing owls nest underground in abandoned burrows dug by mammals or, if soil conditions allow, they will dig their own burrows. They also
use human-made nest boxes placed underground. They can have up to 11 young, although three to six seems to be more common. The owls have often been
reported to nest in loose colonies. Such groupings may be a response to local abundance of burrows and food, or an adaptation for mutual defense. Colony
members can alert each other to the approach of predators and join in harassment of them. During the nesting season, adult males forage over home ranges 2 to
3 square kilometres in size and the ranges of neighbouring males may overlap considerably. A small area around the nest burrow is aggressively defended
against intrusions by other Burrowing Owls and predators.
FEEDING HABITS: Burrowing owls feed on a wide variety of prey, changing food habits as location and time of year determine availability. Insects, small
rodents, lizards, and birds are the most common prey items.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: A burrowing owl reintroduction program was started in 1985, and has continued to release young owls every summer since.
Young owls trapped in South Dakota are relocated to western Minnesota in hopes of reestablishing a breeding population to Minnesota. Population status
monitoring and natural history studies are underway in Western Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota.
CONSERVATION STATUS: An
endangered species in Minnesota, the burrowing owl is rarely seen in this state. In
other parts of the country, its numbers seem to be declining due to loss of prairie habitat.
other parts of the country, its numbers seem to be declining due to loss of prairie habitat.
European Eagle Owl (also known as Eurasian Eagle Owl)
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Genus: Bubo
Length: 46 - 73 cm
Wingspan: 170 cm (~ 4 ft.)
Weight: 1600 - 4000 g
Scientific Name: Bubo bubo
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: European Eagle Owls are related to the Great Horned Owl (Bubo Virginianus) and so their body shape is similar.
They are massively built and are all solid, weighty muscle. They have barrel-shaped bodies and broad wings. ("Catfish" is 2 feet tall and 6 pounds at 16 weeks
of age....Whew!) The glorious eyes range from orange-yellow to a deeper, firey orange. The face has a central area of white, finely peppered with grey and
brown. Blackish, frowning brows continue into the long, pointed ear tufts which usually point sideways. Largest of all owls, they have prominent ear tufts, a
boldly streaked breast, and heavily feathered toes and tarsi. They have a light brown body which is heavily spotted and barred with dark brown. The underparts
are spotted and the wings, tail, and upperparts are heavily barred. They have large, bright orange eyes and black bill and talons. They are the nocturnal
counterparts of large birds of prey such as eagles and buzzards in that they share the heavy, compressed, eagle-like bill and enormously powerful talons.
RANGE: The Palearctic region from south and eastern continental Europe and Scandinavia east across northwestern and central Russia and central Siberia to
the Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin, Kuril Island and Japan. Also, south to the northern Mediterranean region, Turkey, northern Iraq, Iran, northeastern Afghanistan,
northern Pakistan, northern India, Tibet, China and Korea. Found in forest, woodland, desert, and farmland habitats. Likes rocky outcrops and forests although
is found in all types of habitats.
HABITAT: Eagle Owls occupy a variety of habitats, from coniferous forests to warm deserts. Rocky landscapes are often favoured. Adequate food supply and
nesting sites seem to be the most important prerequisites.
Habits: Active mainly at dusk to dawn. Flight is noiseless, whith soft wingbeats interrupted by gliding when flying over long distance. Will sometimes soar. A
deep, monotonous "oohu-oohu-oohu". The female's call is slightly higher than the male's. When threatened, they may bark and growl.
NESTING: The Male and Female duet during courtship, the Male advertising potential breeding sites by scratching a shallow depression at the site and
emitting staccato notes and clucking sounds. Favoured nest sites are sheltered cliff ledges, crevices between rocks and cave entrances in cliffs. They will also
use abandoned nests of other large birds. If no such sites are available, they may nest on the ground between rocks, under fallen trunks, under a bush, or even at
the base of a tree trunk. No nesting material is added. Often several potential depressions are offered to the female, who selects one; this is quite often used
again in subsequent years. Very often pairs for life. They are territorial, but territories of neighbouring pairs may partly overlap.
Laying generally begins in late winter, sometimes later. One clutch per year of 1-4 white eggs are laid, measuring 56-73mm x 44.2- 53mm (2.2- 2.9" x 1.72.1") and weighing 75- 80g (2.6- 2.8oz). They are normally laid at 3 days intervals and are incubated by the female alone, starting from the first egg, for 31-36
days. During this time, she is fed at the nest by her mate. Once hatched, the young are brooded for about 2 weeks. They may leave ground nests as early as 2225 days old, while elevated nests are left at an age of 5-7 weeks. Fledged young are cared for by both parents for about 20-24 weeks. They become
independent between September and November in Europe, and leave the parents' territory (or are driven out by them). At this time the male begins to sing again
and inspect potential future nesting sites. Young reach maturity in the following year, but normally breed when 2-3 years old.
FEEDING HABITS: Eagle Owls have various hunting techniques, and will take prey on the ground or in full flight. They may hunt in forests, but prefer open
spaces. Eagle Owls will eat almost anything the moves - from beetles to roe deer fawns. The major part of their diet consists of mammals (Voles, rats, mice,
foxes, hares etc...), but birds of all kinds are also taken, including crows, ducks, grouse, seabirds, and even other birds of prey (including other owls). Other prey
taken include snakes, lizards, frogs, fish, and crabs.
The most common type of prey depends largely on relative availability, but are usually voles and rats. In some coastal areas, they have been known to feed
mainly on ducks and seabirds. Pellets are somewhat compressed, irregularly cylindrical or conical shaped, averaging about 75 x 32 mm (3 x 1.25"). Typically
crepuscular but also diurnal and nocturnal hunters. Often hunting from a perch. When hunting, they fly low to the ground to sneak up on prey. They clean the
inedible parts at cleaning sites. They prey on mammals and birds up to the size of hares and game birds.
Eastern Screech Owl
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Subfamily: Buboninae
Genus: Otus
Length: 8-9 in.
Weight: 6-8 oz. (females slightly larger than males)
Wingspan: 20-22 in.
Common Names: quavering owl, trilling owl, whistling owl, demon owl
Scientific Name: Otus asio
Etymology: otus
(Latin) - "a horned or eared owl"; asio (Latin) - "a kind of horned owl"
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Eastern screech owls are found in two color "phases": red and gray. They are small tufted owls that are
often mistaken for baby great horned owls. Eastern screech owls have a yellow or greenish yellow bill with yellow eyes. Like most owls, their legs and
feet are feathered. Gray phase birds have varying amounts of dark or black streaks on their underside and dark mottling contrasting sharply with overall
gray plumage. Red phase birds are similarly marked with red replacing the gray color. Intermediate brown phase is also quite common.
RANGE: Eastern screech owls are found in the eastern United States, including Texas and the Dakotas, and southern Canada.
HABITAT: Extremely varied, generally open woodlands close to fields and meadows, old apple orchards.
NESTING: Like most owls, eastern screech owls do not construct a nest. They are cavity nesters, often using abandoned flicker holes or openings in
buildings, and will nest in bird boxes. Pair bonding is monogamous and apparently lifelong. Screech owls generally lay an average of 3-4 white eggs,
although they can lay anywhere from 1-8 depending on prey availability. They have an incubation period of approximately 26 days. Clutch size tends
to increases as one climbs higher in gradation; also as you move from South to North and East to West. Fledging period is 30-32 days.
FEEDING HABITS: Eastern screech owls typically hunt in a sit-and-wait method, using short flights to capture prey (averaging 6-10 feet). Most
hunting perches are on open branches, farther away from the trunk. Females are more likely to perch closer to the trunk than males, possibly due to
their larger size needing a thicker branch for support. Eastern screech owls also perch relatively low to the ground, probably to gain an unobstructed
view and direct access to the ground. They will also choose higher perches when the moon is full, perhaps because the additional light allows them to
hunt from higher perches. These owls are generalists, hunting everything from birds, insects, reptiles, small mammals, leeches and fish. Their success
rates are higher when hunting invertebrate prey; eastern screech owls average a success rate of about 23%.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: A very common patient, the clinic receives these birds at all times of the year.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Considered a common owl, the screech owl is not afforded any special status.
Great Horned Owl
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Subfamily: Buboninae
Genus: Bubo
Length: 18-26 in.
Weight: 3-4 lbs. (females slightly larger than males)
Wingspan: 49-62 in.
Common Names: hoot owl, big cat owl, silent tiger
Scientific Name: Bubo virginianus
Etymology: bubo (Latin) - "horned or hooting owl"; virginianus (Latin) - "from Virginia," where the first
specimen was collected
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The largest of the "tufted" owls in North America, the great horned owl's face is dominated by the large tufts or
"horns," yellow eyes, and white throat patch. Barred on the underside, these owls can vary in color from reddish-brown to gray to black and white. The large
feet are feathered to the ends of the toes. Immature birds resemble the adults.
RANGE: Great horned owls can be found breeding from northern Alaska to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. Canadian birds seem to be somewhat migratory,
responding to the population cycles of their prey, and move into the northern United States in winter. Similar species, such as the eagle owl, occur almost
worldwide.
HABITAT: A wide variety of terrain used, but densely forested regions are preferred; can be conifer, hardwood, or mixed. For roosting purposes Great Horned
Owls prefer evergreens. They are often associated with red-tailed hawks and are highly territorial. Great horned owls are solitary except during mating season,
although mated pairs may occupy territories year-round and long-term. Although members of a pair may remain within the same territory throughout the year,
usually they roost close together only before egg-laying, and males roost close to nest only until young fledge.
FLIGHT: Silent flight as with all owls. They have great power, sometimes "bullying" their way through thick cover to get at prey. Fringing on plumage and
soft feathers on feet.
VOICE: Hoots. Whooo-whooo-whooooooo-who-who. Male vocalizations are more elaborate, more prolonged, richer, deeper, and more mellow than those of
the female.
NESTING: Across its range, this owl can be found nesting in a variety of situations, including tree and cactus cavities, nest boxes, cliff ledges, and old crow,
squirrel or hawk nests. Like most owls, great horned owls do not make their own nests. They generally use an abandoned red-tailed hawk's nest at a height of
40-70 feet. These owls have a wider range of nest sites than any other bird in the Americas and will sometimes nest in hollows in trees, on cliffs or artificial
platforms, and will lay eggs on the ground. Most nests are used for only one season, and a lack of nest maintenance often causes the nests to deteriorate. Great
horned owls may start nesting as early as late November. Normally, there are two white to slightly dusty white roundly oval eggs. Incubation, by the female
only, can be as short as 30 days, as long as 35. Females are able to maintain their eggs at incubating temperature near 37° C even when ambient temperature is
more than 70° colder. Young great horned owls begin branching at 5 weeks, when they are almost the size of their parents. However, they are not efficient fliers
until 9-10 weeks.
FEEDING HABITS: Great horned owls are perch and pounce hunters. They dive down with wings folded and snatch prey. Their prey is usually killed
instantly when grasped by great horned owl's large talons. These owls will also walk on the ground to capture small prey or wade into water to snatch a frog or
fish. Great horned owl prey averages 75% mammals - rabbits, hares and also rodents, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, shrews, armadillos and bats. Only 6% birds,
they will eat all other owls except snowy owls (birds are plucked before eating). Great horned owls tend to select the largest available prey, because smaller prey
costs more energy then it benefits in food. They are considered nocturnal, but often hunt during the day when food requirements are difficult to meet. They eat
mostly small mammals (mice, squirrels, etc.), but will also take birds, fish and reptiles. Their only preference seems to be for the largest available prey.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: The Raptor Center has treated more great horned owls than any other bird. Great horned owls can be found in the clinic yearround, from spring when nestlings come in, through winter. Most of the adults are severely injured and are not released, but nonetheless, this bird seems to be
able to survive injuries that would kill most other birds. Handling this bird can be dangerous to your health if it gets its talons into you, and their strong beak can
also cause damage.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Considered to be a benefactor from the habitat changes wrought by European settlers, this bird is very common across its range
today. Although federal statutes prohibit shooting or harassing great horned owls, the birds are still persecuted by some for their predation of game birds and
poultry.
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Aegolius
Length: 7-8 in.
Weight: 2.5-4 oz. (females slightly larger than males)
Wingspan: 18-21 in.
Common Names: acadian owl, farmland owl, sparrow owl, Queen Charlotte owl Scientific name: Aegolius
acadicus
Etymology: aigolos (Greek) - "a nocturnal bird of prey"; acadicus - a Latinism, "of Acadia," a French colony of
southeastern Canada
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: One of the smallest northern owls (the northern pygmy-owl is smaller), saw-whet owls have large, round heads
without ear tufts; their facial disk is round. Saw-whet upper-parts are brown and streaked with white on crown, with white spots on the back, wings, and tail.
Their facial disk is white between yellow/golden eyes. Saw-whets have short legs that are heavily feathered to the talons. Juvenile owls lack the white markings
and have an unmarked brown breast and buff belly, and conspicuous Y-shaped white markings between and above the eyes.
FLIGHT FACTS: low to the ground with rapid wingbeats and great maneuverability, often in a woodpecker-like bounding flight, swooping up to perches.
RANGE: Found across southern Canada and most of the United States, with the exception of the southeastern states, and into Mexico. Saw-whet owls winter in
their breeding range, but move out of the northern portions in some years.They are present year-round on breeding range, but considerable numbers move south
in autumn, at least in eastern North America. Saw-whet owls migrate throughout the night, and on average females migrate earlier in the season than males.
HABITAT: This owl prefers dense forest for roosting. It is common in open ponderosa pine forests and often breeds in riparian woodland in shrub-steppe
environments, foraging there in sagebrush and antelope brush habitats. In Idaho, it avoids dense Douglas fir and prefers riparian and savanna habitats.
VOICE: The main saw-whet vocalization sounds like a mill saw being sharpened. They have about nine different vocalizations; the one considered sounding
like a saw is described as a short series of loud, sharp, squeaking calls (e.g., ksew-ksew-ksew) given by both sexes. It’s quite piercing and sounds like metal
briefly grating against stone.
NESTING: Saw-whet owls are normally monogamous, but there is no known instance of pair bond lasting more than one season, and polygamy can occur
when prey is abundant. Nesting duties are strictly divided; males provide almost all of the food for the female and young while females incubate the eggs and
brood the young. Although no positive evidence exists, females are likely sequentially polyandrous at times, leaving their first male to raise the first brood while
mating with a second male to raise a second brood. Saw-whets are cavity nesters, using existing woodpecker nest cavities and also nest boxes. Their eggs are
laid directly on wood chips or other debris, and they do not reuse nest due to prey remains. Clutch size is usually 5-6 eggs and the incubation period lasts 27-29
days. Young are about 18 days old when the female starts to roost elsewhere.
FEEDING HABITS: Saw-whets hunt almost entirely at night from perches on low branches, shrubs, or fence posts, usually in forest openings and other
habitat edges. These owls detect prey with excellent hearing and by low-light vision. Major food items are woodland mice and voles. Their diet also includes
shrews, pocket mice, harvest mice, and juveniles of pocket gophers, chipmunks, squirrels. Since only half of any prey item is usually eaten at once, food not
eaten immediately is often stored on branches. Prey frozen in this situation is thawed before eating by placing it in an incubation position. Males often bring an
excess of food to the nest, especially during egg laying; as many as 24 surplus prey items can be found around the incubating female at this time.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: A common patient, the saw-whet owl is fairly easy to manage in captivity and is always a favorite with visitors.
CONSERVATION STATUS: This owl has no special status and is considered to be quite common.
Short-eared Owl
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Asio
Length: 13-17 in.
Weight: 6-18 oz. (females slightly larger than males)
Wingspan: 40-44 in.
Common Names: evening owl, grass owl, meadow owl, marsh owl, mouse-hawk
Etymology: asio (Latin) - "a kind of horned owl"; flammeus (Latin) - "flame-colored"
Scientific Name: Asio flammeus
Note: Is very similar to the long-eared owl
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Short-eared owls have a large and round head with very small tufts arising from the center of the forehead, generally
not seen. Their face is large and the facial ruff is round during normal posture. Short-eared owls have a gray/white facial disk, yellow eyes and a black bill.
RANGE: Short-eared owls show patchy and irregular distribution in some areas, and they can be nomadic and occur in suitable open country where prey
species are abundant. In North America, they are generally found year-round in the upper half of the United States and breed in Canada. Short-eared owls are
migratory, and will move to the southern half of the United States and Central America.
HABITAT: Almost always associated with open country supporting cyclic small mammals, typically large expanses of prairie and coastal grasslands,
heathlands, shrub-steppe, and tundra. Short-eared owls winter in conifers and will roost communally with long-eared owls. One of the world's most widely
distributed owls, the short-eared owl is an open country, ground nesting species that inhabits marshes, grasslands, and tundra throughout much of North
America and Eurasia.
NESTING: Short-eared owls are ground nesters; their nests are usually located on dry sites with enough vegetation to conceal the incubating female. Nest
bowls scraped out by female and lined with grasses and downy feathers, and they will nest on ridges or mounds. Clutch size ranges from 1-11 (5.6 mean) and
increases significantly with latitude. Incubation is done by the female only and lasts for 21-37 days. The female sometimes flips the eggs out of the nest when
frightened or flushed. The female will retrieve the eggs that roll out of the nest by hooking her bill under each egg and rolling it back to the nest. Young owlets
fledge from nests when they are about 24-27 days old.
FEEDING HABITS: These owls are small mammal eaters, particularly Microtus voles. Other species include: shrews, moles, rabbits, pocket gophers, pocket
mice, kangaroo rats, harvest mice, deer mice, voles, lemmings. Active day and night, this owl tends to hunt low above the ground, often quartering an area on
slightly dihedral wings or hovering. Although it generally uses acoustical cues to locate prey (its ear openings are very asymmetrical), it can rely on vision as
well.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: An uncommon patient, short-eared owls are most often seen in the fall during migration.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The short-eared owl is listed as a species of special concern in Minnesota. There has also been concern about the status of this
owl in other parts of the United States. Its population seems to be declining, most likely due to loss of prairie habitat.
Snowy Owl
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Tytonidae
Subfamily:
Genus:
Strigidae
Bubo
Length: 51-68.5 cm (20-27") average female 66cm (26" inches), male 59cm (23")
Weight: 1134-2000g (40-70oz) average female 1707g (60oz), male 1612g (57oz)
Wingspan: 137-164cm (54-65")
Highland Tundra Owl
Common Names: Snowy owl, Arctic Owl, Great White Owl, Ghost Owl, Ermine Owl,
Tundra Ghost, Ookpik, Scandinavian Nightbird, White Terror of the North, and
Scientific Name: Bubo scandiaca
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: A very large, white owl, the snowy owl can be as tall as a great horned owl and weighs more than any other North
American owl. Its head is very round with no ear tufts, and its yellow eyes and black beak are very prominent. Adult males become almost pure white, while the
females and immatures are speckled with black or brown.
RANGE: The snowy owl's distribution is circumpolar. In the summer, it is found only in the arctic tundra. In the winter, this owl is considered a regular visitor
to the Great Plains, with isolated individuals being found as far as Indiana. There are occasional "invasion" years in which large numbers of owls move south
out of the tundra into the United States. These invasions are caused by a combination of "crashes" in the lemming population and weather. Snowy owls are
considered a regular winter visitor to Minnesota.
HABITAT: The Snowy Owl is a bird of Arctic tundra or open grasslands and fields. They rarely venture into forested areas. During southward movements
they appear along lakeshores, marine coastlines, marshes, and even roost on buildings in cities and towns. In the Arctic, they normally roost on pingaluks (rises
in the tundra) and breed from low valley floors up to mountain slopes and plateaus over 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) in elevation. When wintering in the Arctic,
they frequent wind-swept tundra with little snow or ice accumulation. At more southern latitudes they typically frequents agricultural areas.
NESTING: Courtship behaviour can begin in midwinter through to March and April, well away from breeding areas. Males will fly in undulating, moth-like
flight when females are visible. On the ground males will bow, fluff feathers, and strut around with wings spread and dragging on the ground. Males kill and
display prey in caches to impress females, often feeding the female. The Snowy Owl nests almost exclusively on the ground, where the female makes a shallow
scrape with her talons on top of an elevated rise, mound, or boulder. Abandoned eagle nests and gravel bars are used occasionally. Nests may be lined with
scraps of vegetation and Owl feathers. Nest sites must be near good hunting areas, be snow-free, and command a view of surroundings. There is little breeding
site-faithfulness between years or mates in some areas, but in other areas, a pair of Owls may nest in the same spot for several years. Territories around nests
range from 1.5 to 6.5 square kilometres (0.6 to 2.5 square miles), and overlap with other pairs.
Breeding occurs in May, Clutch and brood sizes are heavily dependent on food supply. Snowy Owls may not nest at all during years of low lemming numbers.
Clutch sizes normally range from 5 to 8 white eggs but may be as many as 14 eggs during high lemming years. They are laid at approximately 2 day intervals.
The female incubates while the male brings her food and guards the nest. Snowy Owls are single brooded and likely do not lay replacement clutches if their first
clutch is lost. Almost 100% nesting success can be achieved during good vole years.
FEEDING HABITS: Most hunting is done in the "sit and wait" style. These Owls are highly diurnal, although they may hunt at night as well. Prey are
captured on the ground, in the air, or snatched off the surface of water bodies. When taking snowshoe hares, a Snowy Owl will sink its talons into the back and
backflap until the hare is exhausted. The Owl will then breaks its neck with its beak. Snowy Owls have been known to raid traplines for trapped animals and
bait, and will learn to follow traplines regularly. They also snatch fish with their talons. Small prey up to small hares are swallowed whole, while larger prey are
carried away and torn into large chunks. Small young are fed boneless and furless pieces. Large prey are carried of in the Owl's talons, with prey like lemmings
being carried in the beak.
Snowy Owls are mainly dependent on lemmings and voles throughout most of their Arctic and wintering range. When these prey are scarce they are an
opportunistic feeder and will take a wide range of small mammals and birds.
Snowy Owls produce large, rough-looking cylindrical pellets with numerous bones, feathers, and fur showing. They are usually expelled at traditional roosting
sites and large numbers of pellets can be found in one spot. When large prey are eaten in small pieces with little roughage, pellets will not be produced.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: A few snowy owls are seen in the clinic every year, usually as a result of some human-induced injury.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The snowy owl has no special status.
Tawny Owl
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family:
Strigidae
Genus: Strix
Length: 37-39 cm (15")
Weight: 330-580 g (1-1 ¼ lb)
Wingspan: 94-105 cm (38-40")
Common Names:
Eurasian Tawny Owl, Tawny Wood Owl
Scientific Names: Strix aluco
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: This plump owl has red-brown to grey-brown plumage dappled with buff, which is perfect camouflage for roosting
in trees during the daytime, and at night is becomes just a silhouette, and so you are more likely to hear it. The Tawny Owl flies quickly with strong wing beats
followed by long glides
RANGE: The Tawny Owl is widespread in most of Europe and parts of Asia. It occurs in Britain and ranges across Europe, north to Norway, Sweden and
Finland and south-wards to the Mediterranean and Morocco. It is also found in the Middle East, from Turkey to Iraq and in a seperate area stretching from west
of the Himalayas to the Korean Peninsula. Across this wide range, the Tawny Owl lives in many different habitats and climate zones, and overlap with
numerous other species of owls. It is, almost everywhere, a common and adaptable bird.
HABITAT: The preferred terrain is deciduous or mixed woodland, although the species has adapted well to tree-dotted farmland or indeed anywhere it can find
a reasonable scattering of trees including the parks of central London!
Its fortunes in the northern parts of Britain have improved with afforestation (it generally moves in when the woodland is mature and the canopy closed,
whereas the Long-eared Owls prefer the younger stage). The massive areas of monoculture in southern and eastern parts of the country have, conversely, caused
a reduction in their numbers.
NESTING: Tawny Owls nest in cavities, many of which may be surprisingly open to the elements. The young leave the nest well before they are able to fly
and clamber about in the branches. Sometimes they may fall to the ground, where they may be found by garden birdwatchers. Unless the youngster is in
immediate danger of being taken by a cat, it is best to leave it where found. Youngsters are quite capable of climbing back up tree trunks by using their
incredibly strong claws.
FEEDING HABITS: The diet of the Tawny Owl varies with habitat. Rural owls generally take primarily small rodents (bank vole, woodmouse, other vols and
mice, rats, moles, some bats, young rabbit etc.), whereas their city-dwelling cousins, especially in major conurbations like London, take more birds, especially
starlings, tits, sparrows, thrushes and finches. Other, less important, prey includes reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Up until the early part of the last century, The Tawny Owl suffered the same kind of persecution as other raptors - many
thousands were shot, trapped and displayed on gamekeepers' gibbets. This has improved steadily, with the decline of keepering, and changes in land use
generally.
Of all the owls, the Tawny Owl fares best in the very severe winters experienced from time to time in Britain. This ability, coupled with its dominance over
other owls and its rather catholic diet has left it in a relatively sound position. The loss of trees due to Dutch Elm disease, severe winters and troughs in small
mammal populations seem to have been largely countered by the widespread provision of nest boxes, and an increasing urbanisation of the species. The net
result of these and other factors (like road accidents) appears to be that the reduction in overall populations is less than in many other species.
VULTURES
Andean Condor
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Cathartidae
Genus: Vultur
Taxonomy
Wingspan: Male 160 - 170 cm ; Female 158 - 160 cm ; (approximately 10 ft.)
Weight: Male approximately 25 - 30 lbs. ; Female 17 - 22 lbs.
Scientific Name: Vultur gryphus
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The adult's head and neck are bare. The lower neck is encircled by a ruff of fluffy white down; except in the front
where the bare skin of the neck extends down to the crop. The body is generally glossy black. The upperwing coverts, secondaries and inner primaries are ashy
white, except at the base and on the inner vane, forming large white areas on the wing from above. The head has a large, fleshy, comb-like caruncle or wattle
that rests on top of it and the beak; and the skin of the sides of the head and throat form large, loose folds, especially on the throat. The chest has a pendent
wattle about 2 in. long. The bare skin and wattles are red or blackish red. The eyes are greyish brown in the male and garnet red in the female. The bill is ivory
with a well defined black area at the base and the feet are black. The female is smaller than the male and lacks the comb or wattles. The immature is a duller
black and the shoulders are paler; but not white. Adult plumage is attained at six years of age.
RANGE: The Andes, 1500 - 5200 m, of western and southern South America from Colombia and western Venezuela south through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,
Chile and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego. Ranges regularly to the lowlands of eastern Bolivia and southwestern Brazil, and to the Patagonian lowlands of
southern Argentina. Formerly widespread, now local and much reduced in numbers.
HABITAT: Found in open areas and mountainous regions; and found breeding on rocky cliffs.
NESTING: They roost and nest in the mountains. The nests are built on an exposed ledge and the reddish grey skin of the male's neck and head becomes bright
yellow during courtship displays. During displays, the male will spread his wings, raise his neck, which becomes filled with air, and slowly turn in circles. He
then emits a snorting sigh, releasing air from his air sacs. One white egg is laid on an edge or in a cave and both parents incubate for 54 - 58 days. Young are
ready for flight at 6 months of age but are cared for well into their second year. The combined period of laying, incubation, and parental care lasts over a year.
The adults, therefore, nest every second year or more; unless the egg or chick is lost or removed. Captive pairs will lay annually. Sexual maturity is often
attained at eight years of age. Condors have been documented in captivity living at least 75 years. Survival rates for Andean Condors are among the highest
estimated for any wild bird population from 75% in the first year to 94% in adult birds.
FEEDING HABITS: These birds are seen soaring singly, in pairs, or, occasionally, in large groups of up to 60 individuals at a carcass or seabird rookerie.
Condors locate food by sight and have a hierarchy at a carcass based on age and sex. They have no syrinx and are, therefore, silent except for low hisses made
by forcing air through air sacs in the chest and neck. Feeds mainly on carrion; also moribound or newborn animals and sea bird eggs. Carcasses washed up on
shore are extremely important to the survival of coastal populations, while carcasses of domestic stock are important for populations at higher altitudes.
CONSERVATION STATUS: The species is listed as endangered, primarily due to habitat destruction, lead poisoning from contaminated carcasses, and
shooting. It has been extirpated in some areas and the total population is probably only several hundred.
Egyptian Vulture
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Subfamily: Aegypiinae
Genus: Neophron
Length: 60-70 cm
Weight: 1600-2400 g
Wingspan: 146-164 cm
Common Names: Pharaoh's chicken
Scientific Name: Neophron percnopterus
is the first letter of the Egyptian alphabet. It is roughly pronounced "ah." The bird we see there is the
Egyptian vulture.
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The Egyptian Vulture grows to around 60-70 centimetres long and has white plumage with black wing tips. It is a
sociable bird and often to be found around villages or refuse dumps. The beak is thin with a blackish tip and the skin on the face and neck is yellowish. In young
birds the plumage starts out a blackish brown colour and lightens over successive episodes of molting. Along with this, the skin on the throat and face gradually
lighten up. It is not until they are six or seven years old that birds finally take on the full adult plumage. Unlike other vultures these birds do not require
thermals to ride the air and so fly lower to search for carcasses.
RANGE: India, Africa, a summer visitor to Southern Europe returning to Africa in the winter.
HABITAT: Rocky regions, often mountainous. Hills, lowlands, savannahs and semi-deserts. Occasionally seen around human settlements.
NESTING: Performs display flights of dives and swoops prior to mating. Birds pair up for life and breed from mid-March to late August. My be found nesting
at various altitudes from sea level up to 3,600 metres where it builds a crudely designed nest from branches, rags, feathers and other rubbish. The nests are
usually located in rocks, small caves, or occasionally in trees and may be used several years running. If the nest of another species is vacant it may occupy that
instead. At intervals of three or four days one or two, occasionally three, whitish or rusty-spotted eggs are laid. Incubation period is 42 days and this, along with
the rearing of young, is done by both parents. The young are initially covered with white down, but quickly turn dark. They are able to fly at around 90 days.
FEEDING HABITS: Feeds on carrion, rotten fruits, eggs (particularly those of the ostrich or flamingo), rubbish, snails, human excrement, also very partial to
lion's dung, but shows little interest in the dung of hyenas or wild dogs (lion dung is more nutritious). Occasionally catches live prey in the form of locusts in
flight, tortoises or lizards. Follows farmers plowing fields so it can catch disturbed insects. Often to be found hanging around slaughter houses.
The Egyptian Vulture has developed the ability to use an instrument and has become famed for its ability to open ostrich eggs using stones as missiles. Birds
pick up stones in their bills and throw them forcefully towards the ground. Normally they miss, but this bird is nothing if not persistent. It is the only bird known
to possess this ability, though in Australia Aboriginal folklore reports that the black-breasted buzzard drops stones onto emu eggs. As there is yet no scientific
proof to confirm this it is still the subject of conjecture. (The breaking of the much smaller flamingo egg is an easy process, with the Egyptian Vulture scooping
the egg up in its bill, carrying it aloft and dropping it to the ground).
Debate exists over whether or not the Egyptian Vulture is performing an instinctive or a learned behaviour, but it seems that they will attempt to break open any
egg-shaped object irrespective of what it is made of. Tests have been done using fibre-glass eggs, or eggs of various sizes and colours; the bird persisted with
their attempts to open them. Captive Egyptian Vultures show no inclination to break Ostrich eggs in this manner, however even very young vultures pick up
stones and toss them about. It may be that seeing another bird getting a meal from performing this action teaches youngsters what to do; the precise trigger for
this activity remains unknown. It is also possible that in years when ostrich breeding is down, many young vultures simply never learn the behaviour as they do
not see it demonstrated.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Rare. Declining within Europe, principally due to a lack of corpses to feed off, but also because of indiscriminate poisoning
campaigns in many parts of its range.
Reproduction:
King Vulture
Taxonomy
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Cathartidae
Genus: Sarcoramphus
Length: 28 - 30 in.
Wingspan: 4 - 6.5 ft.
Weight: 3200 - 4500 g ; (6.75 - 8.25 lb.)
Scientific Name: Sarcoramphus papa
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Immature birds are almost all black. They mature in 5 years. The adult is mostly white, with striking colors on the
head (reds, oranges, yellows, and purples). The flesh over the beak, called a wattle or caruncle, is also brightly colored. They are not sexually dimorphic. They
are the most colorful vulture. The bare head and neck enables them to become fouled up in their efforts to obtain food without endangering their plumage. Their
feet are designed for perching, and are not adapted to seizing and killing or holding prey, as are those of the Eagles, Hawks, and Owls. Their bills are quite tiny,
compared to other birds of prey, which make them unable to penetrate the carcasses of large animals. However, the King vulture has a more powerful bill than
other American vultures. It usually arrives on the scene well after other species of vulture. But when it does turn up for the feast the others give way to it,
apprehensive of its hefty bill.
RANGE: The Neotropical region from Sinaloa, Puebla and Veracruz south to Panama. And from Colombia, Venezuela and Guianas south and west of the
Andes to northwestern Peru and east of the Andes through eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, Brazil and Bolivia to Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina.
Found in tropical forest and savanna habitats; in lowlands to 1500 m.
HABITAT: The King Vulture is native to tropical lowland forests.
NESTING: King vultures do not build nests; the female simply deposits her single egg in the hollow of a rotten tree trunk or in a crack caused by age or
lightning. The parents take turns incubating the egg. The young are naked when hatched, but very soon they are covered with a white or buff down. They do not
acquire their adult plumage until 18 months of age. These birds breed well in captivity.Male and female King Vultures have no difference in plumage and little
in size (i.e. there is little sexual dimorphism). Usually only one egg is laid, and both parents incubate. Chicks have brown plumage, and do not acquire adult
coloration until about 18 months of age.
BEHAVIOR: King vultures stay in family units and do not congregate in large groups. They remain out of sight for the most part, sitting high in the canopy or
flying and soaring high in the air looking for food. They are not migratory and are seen in the same areas all year long. Unlike some other vultures, king
vultures do not have a well-developed sense of smell. They rely on other vultures to find prey and will then descend to take part in feeding. King vultures are
very rarely aggressive, and will usually back down before fighting. Because of their large wings and bodies they depend totally on air currents for flight, they do
not flap their wings unless absolutely necessary.
FEEDING HABITS: They feed on carrion, and soar looking for prey, but may also use olfaction to help locate it; however some authors claim that they rely on
Turkey Vultures and Condors to sniff out prey, and simply follow them to carcases. Large groups may gather at a suitable carcase. At a carcase, the King
Vulture is dominant over other species, but its greater strength means that it will often open carcases that others are then able to exploit. King vultures frequently
perch and are then inconspicuous, but at other times groups may gather to feed on a carcass and soar together over the trees. At times they will glide in wide
circles for hours at a time spying out their domain below. By making perfect use of the air currents, a vulture is able to soar for hours at a time, without once
flapping its wings.
NATURAL HISTORY: They seldom occur in groups except when on a carcass. They are the first type of vulture to feed on a carcass, the other species usually
wait due to the King Vulture having the strongest beak in the area, hence the name "King" Vulture. Their roosts are high in the tops of trees and they are
believed to have a good sense of smell. They have been observed nesting in rotted out stumps and scrub by palm trees. They breed in pairs, not in communities.
They have not been well studied in the wild. The King Vulture was the first legally protected animal in the world.
The Mayans believed King Vultures were gods associated with fertility and were also the written symbol for the 13th da
CONSERVATION STATUS: King vultures are rarely seen in large numbers and several have been sited in a areas where they were previously thought not to
exist. It is apparent, however, that human encroachment and habitat loss have had an adverse affect on king vultures. They are listed as Appendix III by CITES.
Turkey Vulture
Taxonomy
Class:Aves
Order:Falconiformes
Family:Cathartidae
Subfamily:Cathartinae
Genus: Cathartes
Length: 24-38 in.
Weight: 3.5-5.3 lbs.
Wingspan: 60-72 in.
Common Names: buzzard, carrion crow
Etymology: kathartes (Greek) - "a purifier"; aurum - most likely a Latinized
version of Latin American word for vulture
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: The turkey vulture is the most common of the New World vultures. It is a blackish bird usually seen
soaring over the countryside using long, narrow wings. On the underwing, silver flight feathers contrast with the black coverts on the leading edge of
the wing. In flight, wings are held in a slight "V" (dihedral). Turkey vultures have long tails; their head is small, bare, and reddish in adult.
RANGE: Turkey vultures are found throughout the entire continental United States and southern Canada. They are migratory throughout most of their
range.
HABITAT: Mainly deciduous forests and woodlands. Often seen over adjacent woodlands.
NESTING: Turkey vultures do not construct a nest. Instead, they usually use a cave, hollow tree or a fallen hollow. They normally lay 2 whitish eggs
with dark brown splotches. Incubation lasts from 34-41 days and nestlings are covered with almost white down. Turkey vultures are more passive in
nest defense than black vultures. Chicks are ready to leave nest in about 9 weeks, but will often stay in family groups until next breeding season.
FEEDING HABITS: Turkey vultures have weaker talons and beaks than many of the other raptors, and don't often kill their own food. They are
incredibly efficient scavengers; flying helps them to be more efficient than scavenging mammals, as vultures can get to the food faster and yet still have
the large size to defend a carcass. Vultures have great appetites, eating up to 20% of their body weight in one sitting. Turkey vultures find their food
using excellent eyesight and an incredible sense of smell. They can actually detect parts per trillion in the air and discern which direction they came
from. This is one reason you often see vultures soaring; they can soar at incredible heights, up to several miles in the air.
RAPTOR CENTER DATA: The turkey vulture is not a common patient, nor a popular one. In spite of having weak feet vultures have sharp beaks
and will regurgitate their last meal as a defense mechanism. Vultures have very hardy immune systems and can tolerate botulism, which is deadly to
humans even in a tiny dose less than a gram.
CONSERVATION STATUS: Considered common in its range, this bird is afforded no special conservation status.
NATURAL
HISTORIES
EXCERPT FROM BOOK OF FALCONS
In all the world, there are 61 species of falcons. Only five of them breed in the United States and Canada, but they include two
of the most famous of these birds. One is the Arctic-nesting gyrfalcon, the largest falcon in the world. The other is the crow
size peregrine falcon, possibly the fastest flying bird on earth. The peregrine is also one of the most widespread birds in the
world and lives on every continent except Antarctica. The other three falcons include the merlin, which nests in the northern
prairies and forests of Canada and Alaska. The second is the prairie flacon, which lives on the hot, dry western prairies and
desert. The third is the American kestrel.
The kestrel is the smallest falcon in Canada and the United States. It is only slightly larger than a robin. The kestrel hunts in
open areas throughout the two countries as well as in city parks and fields, cemeteries, airports and golf courses.
Hunting
Kinds of Prey
Falcons, like hawks and eagles, are birds of prey, or raptors. All five of the falcons in the United States and Canada hunt birds.
The gyrfalcon of the Arctic, mainly hunts birds such as willow ptarmigan and rock ptarmigan. A family of gyrfalcons may eat
200 ptarmigan during the four months of their nesting season
The merlin, on the other hand, is a fierce hunter of small to medium songbirds such as robins, starlings, swallows and sparrows.
Out west, the prairie flacon hunts horned larks, meadow larks and mourning doves.
Because the kestrel is so small, it hunts grasshoppers, dragonflies, scorpions, spiders and lizards more often than it hunts birds.
Scientists in New York State, however, watched one kestrel hunting at a colony of nesting bank swallows. It caught chicks as
they crowded at the opening of the family nest burrows.
The hungriest swallow chicks would sit as close as possible to the mouth of the burrow so they could get as much food as
possible when their parents came to feed them. The kestrel hung upside down above the burrows by one foot and grabbed the
chubby chicks with its other foot. In one day the falcon caught nine swallow chicks in a row.
The most famous bird hunter among the five falcons is the peregrine. Although this bold raptor commonly hunts shorebirds and
ducks, nothing with feathers is safe from attack. Scientists who study birds are called ornithologists. They have made a list of
the birds that peregrines eat. In North America, the list includes over 425 species, more than half of the birds that live there.
Worldwide the peregrine hunts more than 2,000 different species of birds.
The list is even longer if you include those birds that the peregrine doesn’t want to eat and just wants to scare away from its
nest and young. If a peregrine parent thinks its chicks are in danger, it will bravely attack birds much bigger than itself,
including hawks, owls, ravens, vultures, cranes and geese. One bold peregrine even attacked a bald eagle, killing it with a blow
to its head.
Though the falcons of Canada and the United States prefer birds, they also eat many other creatures. In some areas of the
Arctic, gyrfalcons hunt Arctic hares, and peregrines hunt lemmings. In the west coast of Canada, hungry peregrines will even
eat green, slimy banana slugs and kestrels will consume earthworms. Along the Snake River in Idaho, prairie falcons catch so
many Townsend’s ground squirells that many prairie falcons are able to nest close together in record numbers.
Falcons will also hunt bats, mice voles or shrews.
Caching
When falcons catch more food than they can eat, they store it in hiding places. This storing behavior is called caching (CASHing). Some favorite places for falcons to cache are in crevices in high cliffs, under a bush, in a large clump of grass, in an old
raven or hawk nest or in a hollow tree.
Falcons usually cache extra food any time they can, but they do it most often in the winter and during the summer nesting
season when they are busy raising chicks. In winter, high winds and snowstorms make hunting difficult and falcons may not
hunt for several days, this is when their caches may save their lives.
During nesting seasons, parent falcons must catch much more prey than usual, because they must feed their hungry chicks
many times each day. One peregrine that nested in Boise Idaho, cached more than 20 mourning doves on a building’s window
ledge near its nest.
Flying Techniques
Falcons hunt in several different ways. The most common way is to sit and wait quietly on an elevated place. At other times
they soar high over their hunting area to search for prey.
All falcons are strong flyers and sometimes they hunt by flying close to the ground using low hills, rocky ridges, and bushes to
hide their approach. They hunt like this to surprise birds and animals and scare them into the open where they can be attacked
more easily.
Another way for some falcons to hunt is to hover, but hovering is hard work. The large peregrine is too heavy to hunt this way
but the small kestrel can hover better than any other raptor.
When a flying kestrel locates a meal it may immediately begin to hover no higher than the roof of a house. A kestrel can hover
for as long as a minute, and even longer if there is a strong wind. When the moment is right, the bird drops like a rock and
grabs its prey.
Physical Traits
Like most birds of prey, a falcon has feet that are tough and strong. On the end of each toe is a long, sharp claw, called a talon.
Falcons do not kill their prey with their feet, but with their sharp beak. They bite the prey on the head or on the back of the
neck while holding it in their talons. Hawks and eagles use their long talons and powerful grip to squeeze their prey over and
over again until it dies.
All falcons have a special tooth called a tomial tooth, on the sharp edge of the upper beak. Ornithologists believe that falcons
use this tooth to cut or injure the spinal cord of their prey when they bite it on the neck. The tomial tooth can help falcons kill
prey that is larger than themselves.
Falcons need clean, healthy feathers to hunt and fly fast, and to stay warm in winter and dry in summer. They may spend
several hours every day caring for their feathers.
All falcons bathe when they can. When water freezes in the winter, a gyrfalcon may bathe in soft fluffy snow to clean its
feathers. In the deserts where water is scarce, the prairie falcon bathes on the bare ground and dusts its feathers with powdery
dirt. The dirt keeps lice and ticks away. Researchers once watched a merlin that had many lice on its body dust itself seven
times in one hour.
Preening
Falcons wipe oil on their feathers which comes from the preen gland on the bird’s rump at the base of its tail, this process is
call preening.
The falcon gently squeezes the gland with its beak and rubs its head over it. Then it uses its beak and its head to spread the oil
over its feathers. The oil keeps the feathers from drying and cracking and also protects them from harmful bacteria and fungi
that may damage them. Sleek shiny feathers are a good clue that a falcon is well fed and healthy.
Courting
To be a good partner, a male falcon needs more than sleek, shine feathers. He must also be a strong flyer and a good hunter.
Some falcons stay with the same partner for many years, and some choose a new partner every year. If a falcon’s partner dies
or disappears, the remaining bird usually finds another mate quickly.
When a male falcon is courting a female he tries to impress her with his flying and hunting skills. He circles and soars high
above her, screaming loudly. He performs steep power dives and climbs and flies past the female as fast as he can, doing
difficult half-rolls, dips and swerves to show off, while the female evaluates his skills.
Sometimes the female joins the make and soars and screams with him. He may climb above her and dive at her over and over
again, or chase close behind her in a high-speed race. One peregrine may fly upside down beneath the other and the pair may
grab each other’s talons briefly. The birds may even touch each other’s beaks in midair.
When the courting falcons finally land they usually perch, or sit, close together. They may stay like this for hours. Sometimes
they preen each other’s head feathers, or gently nibble on each other’s beak and toes.
Mating and Nesting and Raising a Family
Once the female chooses a mate, she sits and waits. The male hunts for both of them for at least two months. He may hunt for
one whole month before the female lays her first egg, and then continue for another month while she incubates her eggs. By the
times the baby falcons are about two weeks old, their fluffy down feathers are thick enough to keep them warm. Then the
mother can leave and go hunting by herself.
A male falcon delivering food may be afraid to land near a hungry female, even if she is his partner. Instead he may drop the
food in midair for her to catch. Or he may pass it to her foot-to-foot, as she swoops upside down beneath him.
A pair of falcons will breed in an area only if there is a good place to nest. Even when the hunting is good the birds will move
somewhere else if they cannot find a safe nesting site.
Falcons never build their own nest. Merlins often use the old stick nest of a raven, crow or magpie. Peregrines, gyrfalcons and
prairie falcons may also use the old nest on a bare ledge, high on a cliff.
The small kestrel is the least able to defend itself and its young from enemies; so it usually hides its nest inside an old
woodpecker hole, or a crack in a cliff or a hollow tree. Kestrels may even nest inside a box built for them by humans. A group
of researchers in Idaho founds that kestrels also nested in the wall cracks of abandoned farm buildings, in old chimneys, in
hollowed-out fence posts and even inside drainpipes.
Falcons prefer cliff ledges that have a floor of loose dirt or fine gravel and on overhang that protects them from hail and rain
and protects them from the hot afternoon sun. In some areas, such ledges are rare, so when the falcons find one, they may use it
for a long time.
Researchers in Alaska found a ledge that had been used by nesting peregrines for at least 100 years. A gyrfalcon nesting ledge
discovered in Arctic Canada was used for so many years that it was buried under 2 feet (60 centimeters) of bones mixed with
old falcon droppings. The bones belonged to Arctic hares eaten by the birds.
Ornithologists in England have discovered a ledge that peregrines have used for over 800 years. In Australia, falcons have used
one ledge for at least 16,000 years! At the beginning of time, there were no humans living in North America and most of
Canada was buried under ice 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) thick. In California there were elephants and sabertooth tigers roaming the
land.
Most birds of prey tend to avoid humans and nest away from cities and their skyscrapers. However, in the last 25 years, two
species of falcons have settled into city life.
Some merlins that used to nest in the prairies of Canada and fly south every winter now live year-round in large prairie cities
such as Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina. These adaptable falcons live in the suburbs and nest in evergreen trees
where there are old nests built by crows and magpies, and where there is a steady supply of house sparrows for food. One
ornithologist called house sparrows “rats with wings” because there are so many of them living in our cities. It seems that
merlins have discovered this and are taking advantage of it.
Another urban dweller is the majestic peregrine, which now lives in many cities, including some of the largest, such as New
York, Chicago, Milwaukee and Seattle. Most of these big-city falcons nest in the ledges of high-rise building surrounded by
traffic and crowds. They hunt pigeons, robins and starlings, swerving and swooping between towers of glass and steel.
In some cities these nesting falcons are observed by hidden video cameras wired to television monitors below. Without
disturbing the birds, interested people can watch the peregrines as they raise their chicks.
All of the falcons in Canada and the United States lay three to five rusty, speckled eggs. Many people think that the reddish
eggs of the peregrine are the most beautiful of any bird of prey.
Falcons never line their nest with twigs, leaves or grass. If the nest is on a bare ledge, the birds simply scrape a shallow hollow
in the dirt with their feet to cradle their eggs.
The falcons incubate their eggs for 28 to 35 days. The two largest falcons, the peregrine and the gyrfalcon, incubate the
longest.
Female falcons so most of the incubating, although the males may help for one of two hours each day while their partners eat
stretch and preen. Most male and female falcons have at least two small areas of bare skin on their bellies. These thick, soft
patches of featherless skin are called brood patches. They keep the eggs warm. Soon after the eggs hatch, the feathers grow
back and cover the skin.
Falcon chicks hatch within one or two days and grow at about the same speed so all the chicks are about the same size.
Many animals hunt falcon chicks. Great horned owls, golden eagles, goshawks, Cooper’s hawks, red-tailed hawks, ravens and
crows all eat baby falcons.
In Florida, yellow rat snakes and corn snakes may climb into kestrel nests and eat the eggs and young. In Texas, researchers
have even watched an army of fire ants swarm into a kestrel’s nest and sting the young to death.
Foxes, coyotes, wolves, black bears, grizzlies and wolverines also consume falcon eggs and chicks.
It is no surprise, then, that adult falcons defend their nest and young with courage and force. An angry peregrine parent will
attack any predator that comes near. Including a human. Many scientists have been struck and injured by falcons when they
went too close to the bird’s nest.
The larger the falcon species, the longer they need to mature. Merlin and kestrel chicks leave the nest when they are about four
weeks of age. Young prairie falcons and peregrines leave when they are five to six weeks old, and young gyrfalcons leave at
seven to eight weeks.
Birds that have left the nest are called fledglings. At first fledglings stay close to the nest and close to each other. After a month
or so they become brave enough to explore by themselves. They may fly as far away as one-half mile (6.8 kilometers).
Even after the chicks leave the nest their parents continue to feed them for one or two months. It takes time and practice for
fledglings to become skilled hunters. The meals from their parent help them while they are learning.
Play is an important way for young falcons to practice hunting and flying. They chase each other. They dive on birds much
larger than themselves such as geese and ravens, pretending to attack them. They also chase clumps of thistle down blowing in
the wind and feathers floating by.
One researcher watched a young peregrine chase a butterfly and another watched a fledgling prairie falcon play with a dried
piece of cow dung. The bird carried the dung into the air, dropped it, then swooped down and caught it again before it hit the
ground.
By the time most fledgling falcons are three months old they have left the nest and their parents. This is the beginning of the
hardest year of their life.
Only one young falcon in four survives to be a year old. Many die from starvation, unable to hunt well enough to feed
themselves. Others are killed by owls, hawks, eagles or other falcons. Some die in crashes with automobiles, power lines and
fences.
Today, the falcons of the United States and Canada are doing quite well. It was a different story about 40 years ago. After
World War II, farmers began to spray a chemical called DDT on their crops to kill insect pests.
No one knew at the times that DDT not only killed insects but also made birds sick if they ate the insects. Then, if falcons are
the sick birds, the chemicals also poisoned the falcons. Poisoned falcons could not lay normal eggs. The shells on their eggs
were thin and would crack when the parents tried to incubate them. Falcons could no longer raise chicks and the birds started to
disappear.
This poison affected peregrines and merlins the most, but the other falcons also suffered. In 1972, the use of DDT was banned
in North America. A few years after that, peregrine and merlin numbers slowly began to increase again. Today these
magnificent birds of prey are almost as plentiful as they were earlier.
People learned a valuable lesson from the results of using DDT. It was a warning. If chemicals can poison falcons, they can
poison humans as well. If we help care for the environment and keep it clean and free of chemicals, then we and the falcons
may continue to live healthy lives.
Falconry
Perhaps as long ago as 4,000 years, humans began to trap, tame and train peregrines and other falcons to hunt for them. This
was the beginning of the sport we now call falconry. In ancient times falconry was the sport of kings and emperors. One
powerful emperor in ancient China owned 200 gyrfalcons, as well as 300 other falcons and hawks. He had 10,000 workers
whose only job was to find prey for his falcons on hunting expeditions.
In those days, falcons were extremely valuable, sometimes worth more than gold. Royalty and other powerful people often
used falcons as expensive gifts and rewards. Sometimes falcons were used as payment for ransoms. One captured prince in
medieval Europe was freed from prison only after his family delivered a dozen priceless white gyrfalcons from distant
Greenland.
Even today the gift of a rare falcon may impress a king. The royal family of Saudi Arabia had a great love of falconry. In the
1980s, the Prime Minister of Canada gave a white gyrfalcon to the King of Saudi Arabia as a gift of friendship.
The sport of falconry has probably never been more popular than it is today. In the United States and Canada there are
approximately 3,600 falconers. Today most falconers use their birds for sport hunting, but some use their birds for business.
Airports in many large cities, including Chicago, New York, Milwaukee, Montreal and Vancouver, hire falconers to fly their
trained birds over the runways. The flacons scare away gulls, ducks and geese that can fly into the planes and cause serious
accidents or damage.
For many falcon lovers the power dive is the most exciting type of hunting to watch, and peregrines do it best. To see how fast
a peregrine could dive, a skydiver who was also a falconer jumped out of a plane with his trained peregrine at 12,000 feet
(3,658 meters). That’s over 2 miles (3.5 kilometers). As the skydiver did a free fall, the peregrine flew along with him and the
man was able to estimate the falcon’s speed. With its wings pulled tight against its body, the falcon flew at 200 miles (322
kilometers) per hour. It looked like a feathered rocket! The skydiver was unable to see if the peregrine could fly faster because
he had to stop the experiment and open his parachute.
Fun Facts
Hunting falcons commonly miss more prey than they catch. When peregrines hunt fast-flying shorebirds they may only
succeed at 1 in 10 attempts. They do better when they are hunting insects and small mammals, which do not see as well as
birds.
Most falcons have a dark streak below their eyes. This may reduce glare and help the birds see better in bright sunshine.
Football players smear black shoe polish under their eyes for the same reason.
Kestrels have two dark spots on the back of their nest that look like large eyes. Ornithologists think that eye spots fool
predators into thinking that the falcon is watching them. This may discourage them from attacking.
Many peregrines migrate as far south as Central and South America. They make round trips of over 10,000 miles (16,000
kilometers).
In captivity, kestrels and merlins may live for 10 years . Prairie falcons, peregrines, and gyrfalcons may live for 20 years or
more. In the wild life is much harder and most wild falcons live only half as ling as they so in captivity.
Falcons are quiet most of the year. They use their loud voices mainly during the spring and summer when they are courting and
to frighten away enemies.
Some falcons have been given nicknames. The American kestrel is called the sparrow hawk. Peregrine falcons are known as
duck hawks. Merlins are pigeon hawks.
FALCON STORIES
Hunting
Kinds of Prey
Scientists in New York State watched one kestrel hunting at a colony of nesting bank swallows. It caught chicks as they
crowded at the opening of the family nest burrows.
The hungriest swallow chicks would sit as close as possible to the mouth of the burrow so they could get as much food as
possible when their parents came to feed them. The kestrel hung upside down above the burrows by one foot and
grabbed the chubby chicks with its other foot. In one day the falcon caught nine swallow chicks in a row.
If a peregrine parent thinks its chicks are in danger, it will bravely attack birds much bigger than itself, including hawks, owls,
ravens, vultures, cranes and geese. One bold peregrine even attacked a bald eagle, killing it with a blow to its head.
Caching
One peregrine that nested in Boise Idaho, cached more than 20 mourning doves on a building’s window ledge near its nest.
Physical Traits
In the deserts where water is scarce the prairie falcon bathes on the bare ground and dusts its feathers with powdery dirt. The
dirt keeps lice and ticks away. Researchers once watched a merlin that had many lice on its body dust itself seven times in one
hour.
Mating and Nesting and Raising a Family
Researchers in Alaska found a ledge that had been used by nesting peregrines for at least 100 years. A gyrfalcon nesting ledge
discovered in Arctic Canada was used for so many years that it was buried under 2 feet (60 centimeters) of bones mixed with
old falcon droppings. The bones belonged to Arctic hares eaten by the birds.
Ornithologists in England have discovered a ledge that peregrines have used for over 800 years. In Australia, falcons have used
one ledge for at least 16,000 years! At the beginning of time, there were no humans living in North America and most of
Canada was buried under ice 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) thick. In California there were elephants and sabertooth tigers roaming the
land.
One researcher watched a young peregrine chase a butterfly and another watched a fledgling prairie falcon play with a
dried piece of cow dung. The bird carried the dung into the air, dropped it, then swooped down and caught it again
before it hit the ground.
Falconry
In ancient times falconry was the sport of kings and emperors. One powerful emperor in ancient China owned 200 gyrfalcons,
as well as 300 other falcons and hawks. He had 10,000 workers whose only job was to find prey for his falcons on hunting
expeditions.
In those days, falcons were extremely valuable, sometimes worth more than gold. Royalty and other powerful people often
used falcons as expensive gifts and rewards. Sometimes falcons were used as payment for ransoms. One captured prince in
medieval Europe was freed from prison only after his family delivered a dozen priceless white gyrfalcons from distant
Greenland.
Even today the gift of a rare falcon may impress a king. The royal family of Saudi Arabia had a great love of falconry. In the
1980s, the Prime Minister of Canada gave a white gyrfalcon to the King of Saudi Arabia as a gift of friendship.
The sport of falconry has probably never been more popular than it is today. In the United States and Canada there are
approximately 3,600 falconers. Today most falconers use their birds for sport hunting, but some use their birds for business.
Airports in many large cities, including Chicago, New York, Milwaukee, Montreal and Vancouver, hire falconers to fly their
trained birds over the runways. The flacons scare away gulls, ducks and geese that can fly into the planes and cause serious
accidents or damage.
For many falcon lovers the power dive is the most exciting type of hunting to watch, and peregrines do it best. To see how fast
a peregrine could dive, a skydiver who was also a falconer jumped out of a plane with his trained peregrine at 12,000 feet
(3,658 meters). That’s over 2 miles (3.5 kilometers). As the skydiver did a free fall, the peregrine flew along with him and the
man was able to estimate the falcon’s speed. With its wings pulled tight against its body, the falcon flew at 200 miles (322
kilometers) per hour. It looked like a feathered rocket! The skydiver was unable to see if the peregrine could fly faster because
he had to stop the experiment and open his parachute.
OWL FACTS AND STORIES
Owl Overview
Cherokee Indians believed if you washed a newborn baby’s eyes with water in which an owl’s feather had been soaked, the
child would see better at night. In the past people in Europe used to nail a dead owl over their front door to protect the family
from disease. They sometimes killed a second owl and hung its body on their barn to guard against heavy rain, hail, and
lightning storms. For many in Europe, an owl was a feathered witch that could forecast the weather, warn of death, or kidnap
naughty children.
Worldwide there are over 200 kinds, or species of owls. Most live in the dense forests of the tropics, only 19 are found in the
United States and Canada. Among these is the smallest own in the world, the elf owl. Another one, the snowy owl, is one of the
heaviest and most powerful owls in the world.
The elf owl is no larger than a house sparrow and it would take 60 elf owls to weigh as much as the snowy owl of the Arctic. A
hungry snowy owl could easily gulp down a dozen elf owls for lunch.
Owls are found in every corner of the United States and Canada. They live in the deserts of the Southwest, the grasslands of the
prairies, and on the Arctic tundra of Alaska. They also live in the Rocky Mountains, in the dark spruce forest of Canada, in the
cypress swamps of Florida and Louisiana, and in the forests of New England. The best places to find owls in North America
are Washington and British Colombia – each is home to 14 different owl species.
Owls are birds of prey, or raptors. In order to successfully hunt an owl has two important features, a hooked beak with razorsharp edges designed for killing and cutting, and 4 needle-sharp claws, or talons on each foot. The feet of many northern owls,
such as the great horned, great gray, boreal, and snowy owl, are covered with thick feathers to protect them from the snow and
cold of long winters.
Physical Traits
Vision
To help owls fly at night they have very large eyes. The eyes of a great horned owl are as big as an adult human eye. Large
eyes produce a large picture on the back of the eyeball, and a large picture has more details than a small one.
Also the pupil in the owl’s eye is very big. A large pupil lets more light into the eye, than a small pupil. Owls can focus their
eyes very quickly. This helps them see branches clearly when they are flying swiftly through a forest at night. An owl sees 2 or
3 times better than the average human at night.
Owls may also memorize the location and pattern of the trees in the forest where they live. Since an owl may hunt in the same
forest for months, and sometimes years, it learns where it can fly safely so it doesn’t bump into anything, Many nighttime
forest owls hunt in nearby fields and marshes where there are no trees to worry about.
Hearing
Owls have better hearing than any other group of birds. The owls that hear the best are those that live where deep snow covers
the ground in winter. These owls, such as the great gray, the northern say-whet, and the boreal owl, rely on their sensitive ears
to hear voles, lemmings, and mice underneath the snow. A great gray owl can hear a vole hidden under as much as 18 inches
(46 centimeters) of snow.
Wings and Flying
Flying quietly is important if a hunting owl is to succeed. It needs to be quiet for two reasons. First, an owl always wants to
attack by surprise. Any sound might warn the prey and give it time to escape. Second, noisy wings make it difficult for an owl
to hear the faint sounds of its prey in the snow or grass.
To prevent the sound of air rushing by, or turbulence, many owls have a fine feathery fringe along the front and rear edges of
their wings. This muffles the noise of their flight. They also have fuzz on the surface of their flight feathers to prevent noise
when the feathers rub against each other. Owl wings are very large for the size of the bird and this also helps the birds to fly
silently. The outstretched wings of a great gray owl can measure 5 feet (1.5 meters). With its wide wings and tail the bird can
fly so slowly it almost seems to float.
Nocturnal?
Most owls are nocturnal, meaning they mostly move around and hunt at night. In the daytime, they quietly hide in buildings,
bushes, hollow trees, or on branches surrounded by thick greenery. The body feathers on most owls are shades of gray and
brown to help them blend into the shadows of their hiding places. The feather patterns on an eastern or western screech owl
look like the scaly bark on a tree. By hunting at night, owls avoid competing with daytime hunters such as hawks, falcons, and
eagles. They also lessen their chances of being eaten by these hungry raptors.
Although most owls in the United States are nocturnal, at least six species are diurnal, which means they hunt in the daytime,
or crepuscular, which means they hunt at dusk and dawn. The great gray owl, northern hawk owl, snowy owl and northern
pygmy owl are good examples of owls that are diurnal and crepuscular. All of them live in northern forests or the Arctic where
the nights are very short in the summer.
Hunting and Diet
Most owls use the perch-and-pounce style of hunting. They quietly sit on a branch, a ledge, or a telephone pole and wait for
some careless animal to flutter, scurry, or squeak and them they swoop down on it. A hunting boreal owl may perch only 6 feet
(1.8 meters) off the ground, watch and listen for two or three minutes, then fly to another perch and start again if there are no
prey animals in the area. The owls may do this for many hours each night.
Some owls use other methods to catch their meals. The long-eared and short-eared owls hunt in open spaces, such as meadows
and marshes, where they fly slowly back and forth, close to the ground. The great horned owl and the northern hawk owl
sometimes flap-and-glide through open woods, hoping to frighten an animal and make it run from its hiding place.
The main diet for most owls is easy to remember: small mammals. Favorite mammals include mice, voles, lemmings,
chipmunks, tree squirrels, pocket gophers, flying squirrels, pack rats, rabbits, and hares. A family of snowy owls may feed on
2,600 lemmings in a summer.
Some of the smallest owls, including the tiny elf owl and the flammulated owl, hardly weigh more than a mouse themselves.
These small owls are mainly insect hunters, preying on crickets, spiders, beetles, grasshoppers, and moths.
Many owls hunt other birds when they get a chance. In winter the northern hawk owl often hunts grouse and ptarmigan, and the
fast-flying northern pygmy-owl attacks small songbirds such as juncos, redpolls, and chickadees. In New Jersey, a bold eastern
screech owl once flew down the chimney of a house and ate the family’s pet canary. It had pulled the unhappy bird through the
bars of its cage!
Owls sometimes kill more prey than they can immediately eat. They store the surplus food for later. This is especially common
for northern owls in winter. They may be unable to hunt for a week because of blizzards. In these cases the stored food may
freeze, before a small boreal owl or a northern saw-whet owl can eat its frozen meal, it must thaw it out, by sitting on it.
Many owls also store extra food during nesting season to help them feed their hungry chicks. They may store the extra food in
a hollow tree, under a bush, in a woodpecker hole or in their own nest. One great horned owl nest in the Yukon was found with
12 uneaten snowshoe hares in it. Of all the owls the barn owl stores the most for a rainy day. It often piles 30 to 50 voles, mice
and shrews around its nest. The record for hording in a barn owl nest is, 189 voles.
Snakes are an easy target for a hungry owl. Barred owls catch these reptiles when they can. The eastern screech owls in Texas
hunt nine different kinds of snakes. Some great horned owls may attack fairly large snakes, even deadly rattlesnakes. One great
horned owl in Florida tackled a 6-foot-long (2 meter long) indigo snake. The owl won.
The eastern screech owl brings one kind of snake, the slender blindsnake, back to its nest alive. The owl does not eat the tiny
snake but lets it go free inside the nest. The snake becomes the owl’s housekeeper. It eats the worms, called maggots that feed
on the dead animals the owl stores in its nest.
Biologists discovered that baby screech owls sharing a nest with a live blindsnake are healthier than baby owls without a snake.
The researchers believe when there are many maggots in the nest they gobble up the stored food and the growing owls get less
to eat.
Biologists know more about the diet of owls, than any other aspect of the birds’ lives. The reason for this is pellets. Once or
twice a day an owl vomits up a pellet, or a wad of undigested food from its stomach . Owls often swallow their food whole and
the pellets contain the leftovers from the bird’s last meal that were difficult to digest, Pellets usually consist of small bones,
teeth, claws, or insect parts stuck together with bits of fur or feathers.
The pellet of a barn owl is about 1.5 inches long and as thick as your thumb. Great horned owls regurgitate pellets 3 to 4 inches
(7.6 to 10 centimeters) long, and a snowy owl pellet may be almost as big as a hotdog.
Owl Calls
Spring is one of the best times to find and watch owls. This is when they hoot and holler a lot and are busy raising a family.
Owls call the loudest and have the greatest number of calls of all birds of prey. The hoot of a great horned owl can be heard 2
to 3 miles (3.2 to 4.8 kilometers) away, and the hoot of a snowy owl, 7 miles (11.3 kilometers) away. Most owls have 6 or 7
different calls, but the long-eared owl has at least 12 different calls, and a barn owl has 15.
Most people think that all owls hoot. Some of the large owls, including the great horned, spotted, barred, and snowy owls are
good hooters. Others whistle or bark, scream and screech, chatter or toot. Barn owls do not hoot, instead they make ghostly
screams. These large whitish owls often nest in abandoned houses, old barns, and churches. Due to their haunting calls and the
places where they live barn owls are sometimes mistaken for ghosts.
Every owl has its own alarm call to scare away predators. The burrowing owl, as its name suggests, nests underground. To
keep predators from entering their burrow, adults and chicks make a harsh buzzing sound like that of an angry rattlesnake. The
trick is clever; rattlesnakes commonly use abandoned burrows as a place to hide.
Owls, especially chicks, also have a special call when they beg for food. It sounds like someone slurping soup. The loudest call
that an owl makes is normally the one it uses to advertise its territory. The loudest owls are usually makes trying to attract a
female partner and also frighten other males away. After a male and female get together, they use quiet calls to talk to each
other when they are courting.
Nesting
After two owls mate they prepare to raise a family. The first step is to find a nest. Most small and medium sized owls nest in
hollow branches or tree trunks, or in old woodpecker holes. Where they are hidden from predators and sheltered from bad
weather.
Several weeks before egg laying begins, a male northern pygmy-owl may show his mate several different nest cavities. She
may squeeze inside each of them, or just peak through the entrance hole. In the end the female chooses which nest the pair will
use.
Old stick nests of hawks, ravens, and crows are favorite nest sites for larger owls such as the great horned, spotted and great
gray. Owls may use an old hawk nest several years in a row. They never fix it up or add anything to it, so the nest eventually
falls apart and the pair must search for a new one.
The burrowing owl is the only species of owl that nests underground, sometimes at the end of a tunnel 10 feet (3 meters) long.
In Florida, these birds often dig their own burrow, but in the prairies they use old burrows dug by foxes, badgers, prairie dogs,
skunks, or ground squirrels. These long-legged little owls like to nest in open spaces. When prairie areas are scarce they move
to cemeteries, empty fields, golf courses and airport runways. Unlike other owls, burrowing owls do add things to their nests.
Many of them line their tunnel and nest chamber with dried bits of cattle or horse manure. Biologists think the birds do this to
hide their own odor and fool predators such as red foxes, badgers and long-tailed weasels. The manure may also attract dung
beetles, which owls, especially chicks, like to eat.
Most owls lay3 to 6 round white eggs. The eggs of the tiny elf owl are smaller than a grape. Those of the great horned owl are
the size of chicken eggs. When food is scarce owls lay fewer eggs than when food is plentiful. Voles and lemmings are the
main food of snowy and short-eared owls. When these rodents are plentiful, the owls may lay as many as 13 eggs. When the
rodents are scarce, the hungry birds may not lay any eggs at all.
All male owls start to hunt for the female a few weeks before the female begins to lay eggs. The female’s job is to sit on the
eggs and warm them, this is called incubation.
About five or six times each day, she may leave the eggs for a few minutes to poop, regurgitate a pellet or preen her feathers.
After the chicks hatch the mother owl stays with her young for one or two weeks to keep the chicks warm. During this time, the
father owl hunts for the whole family.
Most birds begin to incubate after all their eggs are laid. Owls, and many other birds of prey are different. They begin to
incubate after the first or second egg is laid. As a result, the early eggs develop sooner and hatch earlier. The first chick may
hatch two weeks before the last one. The earlier chicks are bigger. They beg the loudest and get the most food, so the smaller
chicks often go hungry.
When hunting is poor, the smallest chicks may die of starvation. Dead baby owls are often eaten by their mother, or fed to the
other chicks. When food is scarce nothing is wasted. Owl chicks are eating machines, often by the time the oldest chick is two
weeks old the father owl can no longer catch enough food to feed his family. The mother owl then has to hunt as well.
Most young owls, or owlets, leave the nest when they are four to six weeks old. Some of the smaller kinds of owls can fly
when they leave, although not very well. The larger owls cannot fly at this age, but they can glide on the air currents and climb
with their feet and beak.
It is important for owlets to leave the nest as soon as they are strong enough. When they are crowded together in one spot it is
easy for a predator, such as a pine martin, black bear, or goshawk to prey on the whole family. When the owlets leave the nest
they hide by themselves in different places, which makes them more difficult to find.
After the owlets leave the nest they are still offered food by their parents for many more weeks. During this time, the young
owls must learn to fly well. Once they can fly they must learn to hunt for themselves. They start with things that are easy to
catch, such as crickets, grasshoppers and frogs. Later they hunt lizards, birds and mammals.
Family life for most owls ends in late summer or early autumn. The owlets spend more time alone and are fed less by their
parents. One day they leave the family territory and fly away. Some owlets settle close to their parents while others travel far
away. In Ohio, biologists observed two barn owlets from the same family leaving home. One went 600 miles (966 kilometers)
north to New Hampshire and the other went 500 miles (805 kilometers) south to Georgia.
A young owl faces many dangers when it leaves home. Some are killed by automobiles when they try to hunt in the grassy
areas beside highways. Others fly into power lines and fences. Some are killed by other birds of prey such as eagles and hawks
and even more are killed by other owls.
Many big owls eat little owls. The great horned owl includes eight different owl species in its diet. The most common reason
for the death of young owls, however, is starvation. The first year of life is the most difficult for young owlets because they are
not very good hunters yet. More than half of them die before their first birthday.
Fun Facts
A group of owls is called a parliament.
A snowy owl of the Acic has the warmest coat of feathers of any bird of prey. It stays warm even when the temperature is –40
degrees Farenheit.
The great horned owl is the most common owl in the United States and Canada, living in many different areas such as cypress
swamps, northern spruce forests, deciduous forests, prares, mountains, and deserts.
Female owls are larger and stronger than the males. This may help them keep the eggs warm and defend the nest and chicks
better.
Small songbirds, crows, and jays often gather around a sitting owl and call out loudly. This gathering is vcalled a mobbing, and
is a way for the birds to drive the dangerous owl away.
It is rare for owls to feed on dead animals that they have not killed themselves. Dead animals, called carrion, are readily eaten
by other birds of prey, including hawks, eagles and vultures.
The northern spotted owl is the most threatened owl in North America. It lives in western forests many of which have been cut
down for lumber.
Some winters when voles and lemmings are scarce in the north, owls such as the great gray, snowy, boreal and northern hawk
owls fly to southern Canada and the United States.
Both the northern pygmy-owl and ferruginous pygmy-owl have two dark spots on the back of their head that look like eyes.
These false eyes may fool predators into thinking that the owl is looking at them and prevent an attack.
A hundred years ago, former president Theodore Roosevelt said that people should wage war on the great horned owl because
it killed ducks. Today people think differently and all owls are protected.
VULTURE FACTS
General Facts
Overview of Vultures
In times gone by, many people viewed vultures with respect and admiration. The ancient Egyptians worshipped vultures as
gods. Mayan kings in Central America wore jewelry shaped like vultures, and Haida Indians in British Colombia carved
vultures on their totem poles.
World wide there are only 22 kinds, or species, of vultures. Compare this number with 222 different types of hawks and eagles,
61 kinds of falcons, and 212 kinds of owls.
There is at least one species of vulture on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
There are 11 species of vulture in Africa.
In the United States there are three kinds of vultures; the turkey vulture, the American black vulture, and the California condor.
The Two Vulture Families
Biologists divide vultures into two groups, or scientific families:
1.Old World vultures; this group includes 15 species of vultures that live in Africa, Europe and Asia. Old World vultures
are related to hawks and eagles.
2. New World vultures which include 7 species that live in North America, Central America and South America. New
World vultures are cousins of the long-legged storks
The two groups of vultures look alike and behave similarly. All vultures are birds of prey, which means they eat other animals.
Old World and New World vultures live in different habitats. Old World vultures live mainly in open areas such as grasslands
and desert. There are not many trees hiding the ground, so when the birds are flying overhead they can easily spot dead
animals. New World vultures live mostly in tropical rainforest where there are many trees and where the ground is difficult, or
impossible to see.
New World vultures living in those habitats – turkey vulture, lesser yellow-headed vulture, and greater yellow-headed vulture
have an ability that very few birds have: a good sense of smell. These vultures can find a dead animal on the forest floor just by
following their noses, even when the carcass is hidden under grass and leaves.
None of the old world vultures has a good nose, this explains why there are no vultures living in the tropical rainforests of Asia
and Africa. The dense tress would prevent them from finding a meal.
Physical Traits
Bald head
Vultures are usually easy to recognize. Most vultures have no feathers on their head or neck, or only fine feathers that resemble
cotton wool. If a vulture becomes overheated from sitting in the hot sun too long, it can simply increase the blood flow going to
its face. This gets rid of some body heat and cools off the bird.
A vulture can use the colors in its face to quickly tell other vultures what kind of mood it is in. For example, the facial colors of
a hungry, excited vulture are usually much brighter than they are when the bird is calm.
Probably the most important benefit of having a naked head is that it helps the vulture keep clean. When vultures feed on
carrion (decaying animal bodies) their heads can become dirty and smeared with dried blood and rotting bits of flesh. With
bare skin on its head, it is easier for a vulture to wash and clean itself after eating, than if its head were covered with feathers.
Size
Vultures are big birds. Even small vultures, such as the American black vulture
(the smallest vulture in North America), turkey vulture and hooded vulture are three times heavier than the common American
crow.
The largest vultures could eat two crows in one meal. Some of the biggest vultures are the Andean condor, the Eurasian black
vulture and the bearded vulture. All of these large vultures live high in the mountains in South America, Asia and Africa. These
birds can weigh more than 20 pounds (9 kilograms), or about the weight of a large Thanksgiving Turkey.
The Andean condor of South America has the largest wings of any bird, with a distance from wingtip to wingtip of ten feet (3
meters). A wandering albatross has a slightly longer wingspan, 11 feet (3.4 meters) but its wings are narrow and much smaller
in total area than the condor.
Feeding/Scavenging
At a carcass, a big vulture can bully foxes, jackals and other small animals and take most of the food for itself. Also, being a
big bird, it can last longer between meals than a small bird can. Because dead animals are usually scarce and difficult to find,
vultures must often wait many days between meals.
All vultures can go without eating for at least one week and still stay healthy. Some of the largest vultures can even go two
weeks or more between meals. When they find food, however, vultures stuff themselves. Because vultures are such big birds,
they can gulp down three or four days’ worth of food in a single meal. And they can do it in five minutes!
Vultures are scavengers because they mostly live off dead animals. They are some of the most effective scavengers in the
world. This is true for three reasons:
1. When vultures soar they get a wide view of the land.
2. When they see a carcass they can get to it fast. Some vultures can glide downward at nearly 100 miles (161
kilometers) per hour.
3. Vultures hunt in the daytime. Many animals that die of disease, old age, or starvation, die at sunrise. This is usually
the coldest time of day or night and an animal that is very sick may become chilled at this time and die. The other
scavengers hunt mainly at night.
Hunting vultures often search in groups. The birds spread out across the sky, each one searching a different area of the ground.
When a bird sees a dead animal, it swoops down as fast as it can fly. If no other vulture is watching, it can feed on the carcass
by itself, but this rarely happens. Vultures watch each other almost as much as they watch the ground. When a vulture drops
suddenly from the sky, it can be followed by dozens of others from miles around. The largest groups of vultures are often seen
in Africa. Researchers once counted 250 Cape griffon vultures and over 1,000 white-backed vultures feeding on the bodies of 3
dead elephants that had been killed by poachers.
Most New World vultures, especially the king vulture and the American black vulture, have a poor sense of smell, so they
watch the keen-nosed turkey vultures and yellow-headed vultures, follow them and steal their food.
When vultures arrive at a carcass it is usually the hungriest birds that test to make sure the animal is really dead; they often go
for the eyes. While eating, vultures fight with each other, shove, hiss, peck and scratch. Because many vultures may try to feed
at the same time, each bird eats as fast as it can. A lappet-faced vulture can stuff itself in 15 minutes, A Cape griffon can do the
same in 5 minutes. The fastest feeder is the African white-backed vulture, which can tear off and gulp sown about 3 pounds
(more than a kilogram) of meat in 2 minutes flat.
The birds do not swallow food into their stomach right away. It first goes into a stretchy sac in their throats called a crop. When
a vulture’s crop is full you can see a bulge in their throat, which looks like a grapefruit. Usually the crop has no feathers and is
brightly colored. Biologists think the colorful bulging crop is used as a clue to let the other vultures know if the bird is full, as a
full bird is less likely to fight for food.
Even after a carcass has been cleaned many vultures may remain for two or three hours, to lie in the sun or clean and straighten
their feathers. For young birds carcasses may be an important place to learn and practice vulture behavior.
Live prey and insects also provide food for vultures. The white-headed vulture of Africa often hunts and kills animals, such as:
stranded catfish, adult and young flamingos, baby gazelles, young ostriches, bat-eared fox pups, tortoises, hares and lizards.
These bold vultures may even attack a dangerous rock python or a puff adder, a deadly venomous snake. Biologists have also
recorded 70 lappet-faced vultures, 2 white-headed vultures 12 hooded vultures scurrying around like barnyard chickens to feed
on termites.
Preening
Vultures are sometimes thought of as dirty, but they actually spend two to three hours a day nibbling and preening their
feathers. They also enjoy bathing in rivers.
Flight
No bird of prey uses the power of the wind better than vultures. They are masters at finding winds and using them to soar high
into the sky.
One soaring Ruppell’s griffon vulture in West Africa flew into a jet airliner at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,000 meters)! That
is about 7 miles (11 kilometers) high. The air temperture at that altitude is a very icy – 50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 degrees
Celcius).
Vultures rarely flap their wings when they are flying. Most if them cannot flap for more than one or two minutes without
becoming exhausted. Instead they depend almost completely on soaring when they fly. It is almost as easy for a vulture to soar
or glide as it is for it to stand quietly on the ground.
Mating and nesting
Vultures take a long time to mature. Turkey vultures and American black vultures so not find a partner until they are at least 3
years old. Egyptian vultures wait until they are 4 or 5. Condors, griffons, and lappet-faced vultures stay single until they are 6
or 7. Once a vulture chooses a mate, however, the two usually stay together for life. Courtship is not very exciting. A mating
behavior of male vultures is to hiss, grunt and snore. The most courting ceremony one will see, is in New World vultures who
may puff up their colorful necks and dance around a little.
New and Old World vultures choose different places for their nests. Old World vultures build their nests with sticks and line
the inside with dry grasses. Usually they build their nests in the top of a tree or on the ledge of a high cliff. Most of their nests
are easy to see. The nests can be up to 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter and 3 feet (1 meter) deep. They are strong enough to
support the weight of a human standing in them.
New World vultures prefer their nests to be dark and hidden. Most of them are difficult to find. In fact, no researcher has ever
found the nest of a greater yellow-headed vulture. These nests are commonly hidden in caves, in hollow tree, under tangles of
vines or brush, or among piles of rocks. Turkey vultures in Canada often nest in the attic of upper floor of an old, abandoned
farmhouse. The birds come and go through broken windows. New World vultures do not build nests. They lay their eggs
directly on the ground.
Like most huge birds with long life-spans, vultures lay very few eggs. All large vultures lay just one large white egg often
marked with brown or rust-colored spots, streaks or speckles. If you made an omelet with the super-sized egg of a lappet-faced
vulture it would be the same size as one made with six chicken eggs. The three small vultures – turkey vulture, Egyptian
vulture and the American black vulture – lay two eggs each.
Female hawks, eagles, falcons and owls care for their young by gently sitting on the eggs and covering them to keep them
warm. This is called incubation. During this time the male hunts for the two of them. When the chicks hatch the female stays in
the nest for several weeks huddled over the small downy young to protect them. This is called brooding. The male continues to
hunt for the whole family during this time. When the chicks are about half grown the mother starts hunting again to provide for
the hungry family.
Vulture parents, however, both take turns incubating, brooding and feeding the chicks. Every one or two days they switch jobs.
The eggs of many falcons, owls and hawks usually take about 30 days to hatch, Vultures typically take longer; for smaller
vultures about 40 days, for larger vultures about 55 days. Vulture chicks never seem to leave the nest! Whereas young hawks
and owls leave the nest in about 4 to 6 weeks, many vulture chicks stay in the nest for 16 to 20 weeks. Even after they leave the
nest, many vulture chicks are fed by their parents for another 16 weeks. Some adult vultures feed their chick for almost a
year!!!!
One of the main reasons that vulture parents care for their chicks so long is that scavenging is a difficult thing to learn. Even
with their parents’ help, only 2 out of 10 young vultures live to be one year of age. Most die of starvation. Others fly into
power lines or are killed on highways when they try to feed on road-killed animals. A few accidentally eat poison, and some
are shot.
Vultures’ Status
Twenty years ago, many vultures were in serious trouble. Today their future is a little brighter, For example, the California
condor almost disappeared from the skies of the American West, and at one time there were only 22 birds left. Today there are
over 200 condors. Nearly 100 of them are once again flying free in the skies of California, Arizona, and Baja, Mexico. The
remainder are living and breeding in zoos.
Recently both American black vultures and turkey vultures in Eastern Canada and the northeastern United States have moved
north and expanded the area in which they live, called their range or territory. In Europe and Africa biologists and landowners
have set up vulture “restaurants” to feed the local birds and help them survive, Vultures watching has even become a tourist
attraction. Many people in southern Africa visit these vulture feeding stations to get a close look at these magnificent birds of
prey.
There is some bad news for vultures in India. More than 95 percent of all the Indian white-backed vultures and long-billed
griffons have died in the past 10 years. At first, researchers thought the cause of the birds’ deaths was some kind of disease,
insecticide or poison. The reason turned out to be an unusual poison. The vultures started dying after eating dead farm animals,
something they had done in India for hundreds of years. The difference now is that many of the dead animals had been given
an anti-fever drug just before they died. When the vultures ate the carcasses, they were slowly poisoned by the drug.
The disappearing vultures in India have caused some unexpected and serious problems in that country. With no vultures
cleaning up the dead animals in the countryside, the number of wild dogs has increased greatly, because there is more food for
them to eat. Wild dog often carry rabies, a deadly disease. Today in India, about 30,000 people die from rabies every year, and
this number is expected to increase.
This example shows how humans are still connected to the other living things in the natural world. When one small part of the
world is damaged or destroyed, humans may suffer because of it.
We must remember this lesson and use it to protect the vultures and the other wild creatures in the natural world. If we do this,
we may also protect ourselves.
Fun Facts
The people in the small town of Hinckley, Ohio, love vultures. Every spring they have a Buzzard Festival to celebrate the
annual return of the turkey vultures to their area.
The largest flying bird that ever lived on earth was a kind of vulture called a teratorn. It lived in South America during the Ice
Age. It had a wingspan over 22 feet (6.7 meters), and weighed 175 pounds (79 kilograms)!
The legs and feet of many New World vultures are black, pink, or red , but they look white with the birds squirt their liquid
droppings on themselves to cool off.
Vultures are the only birds of prey that commonly sleep together in large groups. In Florida, as many as 4,000 turkey vultures
and American black vultures may sleep in the same clump of trees.
Though they prefer carrion that is only one or two days old, vultures often eat rotting flesh that would make other animals sick.
They can do this because they naturally have a very strong acid in their stomach that kills many dangerous bacteria.
Vulture parents feed their chicks mouth-to-mouth. As soon as the hungry chick pecks at the parent’s beak, the adult bird vomits
up a hot meal from its bulging crop. The young bird takes the food directly from the back of the parent’s mouth, or sometimes
even reaches deep into its parent’s throat.
Some of the cliff-nesting vultures in the Old World, such as the Cape griffons, form large nesting colonies. In East Africa, one
colony of Ruppell’s vultures has 4,000 birds in it.
VULTURE STORIES
Overview of Vultures
In times gone by, many people viewed vultures with respect and admiration. The ancient Egyptians worshipped
vultures as gods. Mayan kings in Central America wore jewelry shaped like vultures, and Haida Indians in British
Colombia carved vultures on their totem poles.
Feeding/Scavenging
The largest groups of vultures are often seen in Africa. Researchers once counted 250 Cape griffon vultures and over 1,000
white-backed vultures feeding on the bodies of 3 dead elephants that had been killed by poachers.
The fastest feeder is the African white-backed vulture, which can tear off and gulp sown about 3 pounds (more than a
kilogram) of meat in 2 minutes flat.
Biologists have also recorded 70 lappet-faced vultures, 2 white-headed vultures 12 hooded vultures scurrying around like
barnyard chickens to feed on termites.
Flight
One soaring Ruppell’s griffon vulture in West Africa flew into a jet airliner at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,000 meters)!
That is about 7 miles (11 kilometers) high. The air temperture at that altitude is a very icy – 50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45
degrees Celcius).
Mating and Nesting
No researcher has ever found the nest of a greater yellow-headed vulture.
Vultures’ Status
The California condor almost disappeared from the skies of the American West, and at one time there were only 22 birds left.
Today there are over 200 condors. Nearly 100 of them are once again flying free in the skies of California, Arizona, and Baja,
Mexico. The remainder are living and breeding in zoos.
Recently both American black vultures and turkey vultures in Eastern Canada and the northeastern United States have moved
north and expanded the area in which they live, called their range or territory. In Europe and Africa biologists and landowners
have set up vulture “restaurants” to feed the local birds and help them survive, Vultures watching has even become a tourist
attraction. Many people in southern Africa visit these vulture feeding stations to get a close look at these magnificent birds of
prey.
There is some bad news for vultures in India. More than 95 percent of all the Indian white-backed vultures and long-billed
griffons have died in the past 10 years. At first, researchers thought the cause of the birds’ deaths was some kind of disease,
insecticide or poison. The reason turned out to be an unusual poison. The vultures started dying after eating dead farm animals,
something they had done in India for hundreds of years. The difference now is that many of the dead animals had been given
an anti-fever drug just before they died. When the vultures ate the carcasses, they were slowly poisoned by the drug.
The disappearing vultures in India have caused some unexpected and serious problems in that country. With no vultures
cleaning up the dead animals in the countryside, the number of wild dogs has increased greatly, because there is more food for
them to eat. Wild dog often carry rabies, a deadly disease. Today in India, about 30,000 people die from rabies every year, and
this number is expected to increase.
This example shows how humans are still connected to the other living things in the natural world. When one small part of the
world is damaged or destroyed, humans may suffer because of it.
We must remember this lesson and use it to protect the vultures and the other wild creatures in the natural world. If we do this,
we may also protect ourselves.
Fun Anecdotes
The people in the small town of Hinckley, Ohio, love vultures. Every spring they have a Buzzard Festival to celebrate the
annual return of the turkey vultures to their area.

Wildlife Center, Inc. Animal Fact Sheets

Transcription

Similar documents

A BUG`S LIFE Legend of the Guardian: The Owls of Ga`Hoole

HOW TO BUILD A SCREECH OWL BOX (Adapted from Audubon

Owls are amazing! - National Wildlife Federation

Brochure

educators - National Wildlife Federation

Owls Overhead

Staghorn Fern or Platycerium What`s In Store For Fall

Guardians of Ga`Hoole

disney game for web

Davidsonville Wildlife Sanctuary Fall

Clipbirds - Concord Consortium

GREEN-WINGED MACAW