![]() ![]() Young-of-the-year are easily distinguished by a rusty band across the breast, rusty markings on the head, and a thin gray band near the end of the tail. Above, they are light gray with black shoulder patches. Dark crescents on the underwing can be seen when a bird is flying or hovering. The tail is entirely white, as are the head and the underparts. White-tailed kites in Oregon often roost communally in winter, but they disperse in early spring and are more difficult to find during the breeding season.īy day, they are conspicuous as they hover over rural fields searching for prey, in part because of their pale appearance. The Peregrine falcon is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Coast Range and Northern Basin and Range ecoregions.Īs the winter day turns to dusk, White-tailed kites drop into their roosts and Short-eared owls rise to take their place on the local hunting grounds. It is a regular breeder and uncommon migrant. In Oregon, Peregrines occur as resident and migratory populations. Peregrines are medium-sized raptors, and share characteristics with all falcons: bill conspicuously toothed and notched, presence of a nasal cone, and pointed wings for swift flight. It has, for perhaps 4,000 years, been used by falconers because of its skill in capturing game birds in tandem hunts with humans. They are one of Oregon's boldest raptors, and have been observed usurping active Golden eagle nest sites, stealing fish from Ospreys and ground squirrels from adult Bald eagles who stray into their territory. They are described as the fastest animal on the planet, and have been recorded reaching speeds in excess of 240 miles an hour in dives after prey. Peregrine falcons are among the most charismatic and noted of the world's birds. The American kestrel breeds statewide in open terrain from sea level to the alpine zone in the mountains. These birds soar with their long and pointed wings flat, and regularly hover over open and partly open country with scattered trees, including cultivated lands and occasionally suburban areas. Females are slightly larger than males and have reddish-brown backs and upper wing coverts that are barred with dark brown. Juvenile males are similar to adult males but have heavily streaked breasts. The tail has a wide black subterminal band. Adult males have rufous backs and tails with blue-grey upper wing coverts. It has two considerably different plumages: adult male and female and juvenile males differ somewhat from adult males until post-juvenile mold in fall. This high-elevation "melanistic" form, however, was born black, and its offspring will be black.Formerly known in American literature as the Sparrow hawk, this is the smallest (dove-sized) and most familiar and abundant member of the family Falconidae in North America and one of the easiest raptors to observe. Except for their rusty tails, most Red-tailed Hawks are brown and white. It's "melanism" - an instance of an animal being black or nearly black, when most of the members of its species are otherwise. It's playing with the facts that black objects and black organisms absorb more sunlight energy than lighter colored ones, and that organisms at high elevations need all the help they can get staying warm. Nature is doing something interesting here. Of course, it's just an old friend in a different guise, a black form of the Red-tailed Hawk. Wind lashing all around causes the black bird's binocular image to jiggle and then suddenly the black-hawk mystery is solved when the bird draws near the sun: With sunlight filtering through it, the black silhouette's tail glows a rusty red. The sky is evenly dark blue and the high-elevation sun fairly screams its bright glare. With broad, rounded wings and a stocky body, it's obviously one of that group of hawks birders call buteos, but it's completely black.Ĭold, wet wind hisses through the boulders, thundering in the ears, burning cheeks, numbing the hands and stiffening the binoculars' focusing wheel. One hawk dives at something but misses, and this hawk is unlike any portrayed in the field guides. There are no trees or bushes to hide under, so all these creatures must make attractive targets for sky-high predators. It's surprising how many lizards and grasshoppers loll on sunlit rocks. Tunnels and earthen mounds among the boulder fields and along talus-slope edges show that many mammals live here. ![]() Adapted from Jim Conrad's online book A Birding Trip through Mexico, this excerpt from " Nevado de Toluca Volcano" in México state ![]()
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