Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate as much as we had hoped it would this last week. We were out of commission 1.5 days due to high winds speeds and heavy rain. Several of the days that we were in the field, the winds were blowing out of the west and north. North winds are particularly unfavorable as they propel the birds south, away from us. However, we didn’t come away empty handed!
This week brought two firsts for the season: an American Kestrel (AMKE) and a Red-shouldered Hawk (RSHA). AMKE have been on the decline for years now, so we do not get the opportunity to band many. Habitat loss is a large contributor to this issue. At our blind site we also have a resident pair of AMKE who do their due diligence in being territorial… so you can imagine why we don’t band very many in that regard!
Pictured above: a female AMKE; you can tell males and females apart by their wing colors: males would have blue wings
Pictured above: a second-year (SY) RSHA; one of the key characteristics of RSHA in flight are the whitish crescents in the outer primaries which can be seen in the second photo
A nice addition to the week also included another Northern Harrier (NOHA). This time it was a female! Last week we caught an adult male, nicknamed Gray Ghost due to their distinctive gray plumage. Female NOHA have a brown plumage. Juveniles also have a brown plumage. The best way to distinguish if it is a female or a juvenile male is by their eye color. Female NOHA have dark brown eyes while male NOHA have light yellow eyes in juvenile plumage and bright yellow eyes in adult plumage. This is easiest to discern in hand, of course, but can be seen in photos as well.
Pictured above: a second-year (SY) female NOHA; note the dark brown eyes and brown plumage
Now, for the most exciting news of the week: the 500th Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) for our site was banded! What a milestone! Nick got this project up and running officially in the spring of 2020, and here we are four years later banding the 500th RTHA. It was a truly incredible moment to be a part of. Lots of time, energy, emotion, and grit have been put into this project over the years. It has produced so much new and interesting data. This RTHA just showed how far everything has come since the beginning and what lies ahead, not only for MSRW but for understanding the migration patterns and habits of this species.
Left: Nick and I with the 500th RTHA for our site (we are just a tiny bit excited); Right: Nick showing different features on the same RTHA to visitors at the hawk watch
Our totals for the season are as follows:
Red-tailed Hawks: 27
Red-shouldered Hawks: 1
Northern Harriers: 2
Cooper’s Hawks: 2
Sharp-shinned Hawks: 16
American Kestrels: 1
Total: 49
