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Tuesday, January 25, 2000
Drought, mild temperatures bring 'country' hawks to city
Raptors are on ledge, waiting to take pigeons, backyard rodents and seed from well-stocked feeders
Jim Rabelais called to tell me of a close encounter ... with a hawk. He didn't know what kind it was but it had made a swoop on some small creature in his yard and then settled, bold as brass, to enjoy its meal, on the fence. Rabelais lives near open land at the south end of Seaside Memorial Park and Funeral Home. Small rodents from this neighboring land often come across to his yard and may originally have been the attraction.
Some winters, what we consider our "country" hawks discover that the pickings are easier and better in town near a well-stocked bird feeder. This seems to be one of those winters. Drought is probably a factor, also mild temperatures.
Other readers have observed the visitors.
Stu McLeod noticed that a large raptor was stopping regularly on a telephone pole overlooking Carmel Parkway, alternating between the pole and a tall palm tree. Joyce Jarmon's new pond has attracted not only doves and flycatchers, but also a sharp-shinned hawk. Tom Ammermon from his overview in Trinity Towers continues to see and report peregrine falcons on the nearby Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. building. One sometimes stops on his balcony to give him a thrill. Peregrines also have been seen around and on the ledges of higher buildings downtown.
A hawk that stakes out a feeder will usually end up scaring all the birds away, then give it up because there are no birds. It is not unusual to see our smallest hawk, an American kestrel, in town. This robin-sized falcon is easily identified by its russet back and tail and by double black stripes running longways on a white face. The male has a blue back. A distinctive call, which says it all, is often heard: "killy, killy, killy."
Two other small raptors next likely to move to town are similar and are difficult to identify. These are Cooper's hawk and sharp-shinned hawk.
Accipiters with comparatively long tails and short rounded wings, these woodland hawks can move with great agility in close quarters. Their flight is several quick wingbeats and a glide. The field guides recommend distinguishing them by the shape and size of their tails. The sharp-shinned variety has a square-tipped tail that may appear slightly notched when folded. Cooper's has a rounded tail. A problem in identification is that the sizes of a male Cooper's and female sharp-shinned overlap, so sizes are seldom a reliable field mark.
Besides these small hawks, we are seeing in town this winter larger buteos such as red-tailed hawks. I have seen them perched on poles and in the air in the vicinity of Doddridge and Alameda streets, and in several locations along Santa Fe Street. The attraction, I think and hope, is increasing flocks of pigeons in these areas. I have not actually seen a hawk take a pigeon. If anyone else has, I would like to hear about it.
An excellent book to use, as a reference in identifying hawks is, "A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors," by Brian K. Wheeler and William S. Clark, published by Academic Press.
Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi
resident, has studied birds of Texas since 1960.
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