Nature Watch: Hunting the Hunters

About the author: Steve Ellis is a naturalist and Land Trust member who enjoys sharing his love of the natural world. His blog series, “Nature Watch,” will appear each month in “Habitchat,” chronicling native plants and wildlife you can expect to see during that particular time of year. We thank Steve for sharing his passion, illustrating the importance of island conservation.

Red-tailed Hawks have broad wings designed for soaring. Photo by Martha Ellis.

Overview

December is the ideal month for seeking out raptors. Many have migrated here from Alaska and Canada, or have come downslope out of the mountains. The shortened daylight hours means they need to be hunting nearly constantly in open areas where you can see them.

It’s realistic to expect to see at least five raptor species on Camano or Whidbey Islands.  Knowing where to look and some of their behavior will increase your odds.

Our resident Red-tailed Hawks are buteos – a group of hawks that have broad wings designed for soaring. They often perch on poles, powerlines or trees when not soaring over open country.

Another buteo, Rough-legged Hawk, is known for perching on spindly bushes or the tops of small trees. Their tundra breeding grounds are forestless, so they are unaccustomed with tall trees.

Accipiters are hawks with short, rounded wings and long tails. These characteristics allow them to chase birds through the forests’ tight turns. Often mistaken for falcons, accipiters can be identified by their flap-flap-flap-glide flight pattern. Birds suddenly scattering from your feeder or out of a field and into a hedgerow are also indicators of an accipiter’s presence.

Aerial ambushing is a favorite hunting technique of Cooper’s Hawks. They will fly low, shielded behind a bush, building or vehicle, and then suddenly pop up and over to grab a victim.

Charismatic falcons make up a third group of raptors. These birds have long, thin, pointed wings that show a bend at the “wrist”. Falcons have the ability to reach great speeds, especially in aerial dives known as stoops. Peregrine Falcons have been clocked at speeds of over 240 mph in a stoop.

Merlins are smaller falcons that have their own telling behaviors. When approaching a perch such as a pole, they aim directly for a lower spot and then pull up to land on top. They also can’t resist making dives on larger raptors. A third giveaway is when they make large circles in the air, bending their head forward and down to feed in flight on a bird clutched in their talons.

Peregrines and Merlins hunt beaches and mudflats for shorebirds. Anytime you notice the whole shorebird flock become airborne and executing tight turns, look for the presence of an attacking falcon.

A third falcon is the small, colorful American Kestrel. About robin-sized, kestrels hunt in open areas near trees or powerlines. They usually attack prey on the ground instead of aerial pursuit as do the larger falcons.

Bald Eagles hunt from favorite perch trees or by swooping on flocks of ducks in a field. Any duck that is slow or injured becomes a meal. Eagles can be distinguished in flight by their long, broad wings.  With their white heads and tails less visible against a gray sky, they’ve been described as resembling dark airborne 2×6 boards.

Our nearby Samish and Skagit flats on the mainland are well-known raptor hotspots. I’ve seen up to ten species on a good day of raptor spotting. Closer to home, Iverson Spit on Camano and Crockett Lake on Whidbey are two great places to check.

There are many fine birding apps and field guides that can help you identify the raptors you see.  An interesting book is Hawks From Every Angle by Jerry Liguori, a volume that helps identify raptors in flight.

Hunting the hunters is a great excuse to get outdoors during our coldest months. Please do not intrude on a feeding hawk, falcon or eagle. This will allow them to fly another day.

Northern Harrier by Martha Ellis.

Fauna: Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)

Northern Harrier is the only member of its genus in North America.

This hawk of open country is 16 to 24 inches in length and has a wingspread of up to 4 feet. The genders are colored differently, with the males having gray upper parts and white underneath. The wingtips are black. Females are brownish overall and tend to have buffy underparts.

Long tails and white rump patches are hallmarks of harriers.  A trait they share with Short-eared Owls is a facial disk consisting of stiff feathers that funnel sounds to the ears.

Harriers are buoyant and agile in flight, using slow wingbeats to stay aloft. They fly low to the ground while hunting, actively watching and listening for prey. Wing flapping is followed by gliding, and often the bird will rock from side to side.

Prey consists mainly of voles, reptiles and grasshoppers.

Females of the species generally outnumber males. A male with a productive hunting territory may have multiple mates. The male initiates nesting by bringing sticks, grass and cattails to an area with tall vegetation. His mate completes the nest and lays four to six eggs. He will feed her and bring prey to the nestlings, but it’s the female that actively feeds their chicks.

A few harriers breed on Whidbey. An influx from Alaska and Canada augments these numbers in winter.

Harriers can be seen coursing over fields, prairies, wetland margins and beaches. Their “low and slow” approach to hunting is far different from the frenetic falcons and accipiters and the soaring/pounce of buteos. A harrier quartering over a field on a blustery December day is the epitome of winter raptor watching.

Eagles in a hayfield. Photo by Martha Ellis.

Flora: Fields

Fields and meadows have many enticements for raptors. They attract small mammals and birds of all sizes.

Not all fields are equal in attracting potential prey. Much depends on what was grown in the field and how it was harvested. A barley field after harvest attracts ducks and blackbirds. The former are favorite targets of Bald Eagles and the smaller species are preyed on by falcons and Cooper’s Hawks.

Many local fields are planted with winter cover crops. These are ideal for providing cover for Townsend’s voles, the main menu item for Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers and species of owls.

Other productive fields are those that grew seed corn and alfalfa. Ducks show little interest in alfalfa but big flocks of blackbirds and starlings visit these fields regularly. Low spots in fields inevitably develop shallow pools that attract shorebirds, particularly Dunlins. These fat birds are Target #1 for falcons.

Care should be shown when viewing fields. Do not trespass in a field or block access for working vehicles. We have farmers to thank for the sight of a Red-tailed Hawk soaring overhead and the thrilling stoop of a falcon.

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