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arwulf — Red-tailed Hawk: Soaring
Published: 2006-01-24 06:02:46 +0000 UTC; Views: 1059; Favourites: 22; Downloads: 49
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Description
My first wild hawk! This beautiful bird has made my favorite park, Commonwealth, its new home. Today was a sunny day in Portland and I was lucky enough to have this guy pose for a photo-op. Full-view is a mustRed-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) These birds wait on a high perch and swoop down on prey; they may also patrol open areas in flight. They mainly eat small mammals, birds and reptiles. Throughout their range in the U.S., Red-tailed Hawks receive special legal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. They have a complex relationship with humans, capable of both controlling rodent and other mammalian pests, and of on occasion being one, taking valuable fowl. More
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Comments: 9
May I use this picture in a power point presentation I'm making for my wildlife science class? I'll give you credit, of course. Please respond A.S.A.P.
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Wow, fantastic shot. The details are all so crisp and clear. I am very jelous of your skill and patiance.
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Thank you! Patience is certainly a must when it comes to birds.
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Oh wow it's a beaut' isn't it? Excellent shot! I'm glad you got this opportunity. I don't know much about your vicinity but where I live it's pretty densely wooded and getting a clear view of one for an extended period of time mid-flight is almost impossible!
I love hawks. We have a dominant male Red-Tail in our vicinity here in Indiana. He pretty much decimates the population of water-snakes and garters! Before we had him around I'll bet we easily had hundreds of garters and perhaps twenty water snakes (in out maintained yard) which is far too many. Boy he sure thinned 'em out in a hurry! I like it - the snakes were getting so populous that they weren't getting very big anymore (gluttons ate up all the mice and starved). Now that the hawk is around I'm starting to see fatter, longer snakes in the yard (they're the sneaky ones that manage to avoid him!).
Every now and then I'll see him perched in a tree just... having at one, content in his grisly work. Then sometimes I'll be watching Jays, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Titmice, and our one Wren (and the hundreds of Sparrows) out on the feeders and he'll swoop in like a flash and snag whichever unsuspecting flutterer he can get his claws on. Once I actually (honest truth) saw a flash and a few feathers and looked up to see him perched in a tree gnawing on a female Cardinal!
He's a very curious bird. He's got a really patient personality though. A lot of the young females (and any of the males he doesn't chase off) just fly at anything that moves. He'll sit in nook of a tree, sometimes for fifteen to twenty minutes (which is pretty long for a hawk) just watching all the birds congregate. And when one gets perched just right... BAM! I haven't been watching them much lately now. It's kinda icky outside and looking at the weather gets me depressed about this time. Everything's muddy and cold and leafless. I dislike the Midwest during winter when there's no snow on the ground... Okay now I'm ranting. SNOW ALREADY!! (sorry for the novel)
I really like your photograph. The other snap you got of him/her is a really great shot as well. Your work is very interesting and I'm always excited to see something new from you! Keep it up!
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Thank you so much for such a detailed comment. I appreciate you sharing about your locale and experience with wildlife. I just can't get enough of what the world has to offer. I really do appreciate your encouragement!
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Congrats on your first wild hawk capture, and what a fantastic capture it is! It's a great feeling isn't it? well done.
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It's a wonderful feeling. Thank you!
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