Biologybase: The Birds of Prey Outline

BiologyBase
Base Museum Life Sciences Dept

The Birds of Prey

by Robert B. Hole, Jr.

This is the outline of a talk I've given on birds of prey.

go to The Birds of Prey of North America
go to Checklist of the Birds of Prey of the World
go to Checklist of the Owls of the World

Raptor books of potential interest.
Raptor related gifts of potential interest.

Raptor: 1) a plunderer 2) a raptorial bird
(Webster's unabridged dictionary)

Falconry: a long history:

earliest recorded about 4000 years ago, in China
supposedly introduced into Europe by the Crusaders,though Aristotle wrote about it
introduced to England in about 860 A. D.
in the 1600¹s, there were a set of rules of ownership - only certain social classes could own a particular type of bird:

Emperors: Eagles
Kings and Queens: Gyrfalcons
Earls: Peregrine Falcons
Yeoman: Goshawk
Lady: Merlin
Priest: ³Sparrow Hawk² (Sharp-shinned Hawk)
³to a knave or servant, the useless kestral²

Why are Raptors popular?

They have power, grace, beauty and the history of being ³Royal² birds

What are the Birds of Prey:

They have raptorial (=grasping, siezing, holding) feet
All are carnivores
Order Strigiformes: the ³Nocturnal Birds of Prey²: the Owls
Order Falconiformes: the ³Diurnal Birds of Prey²: the Old World Vultures, Eagles, Hawks and Falcons
Order Cicconiiformes (in part): the New World Vultures

The smallest birds of prey are the Falconets of southeast Asia (Genus Microheirax)
The largest bird of prey is the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) the largest flying bird

The Owls (Order Strigiformes):

mostly night hunters
hunt by sound, have a facial disk to direct sound toward their ears, and their ears are off set - one is slightly higher than the other. This allows hearing in three dimensions. We have to cock our heads slightly to get the same effect in order to tell whether a sound is above or below us.
adapted to silent flight have feathered feet and soft feathers to muffle the sound of air moving over them.

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)

diet includes: mice, rats, rabbits, owls, the only animal to regularly eat skunks
habitat: forest, plains, almost anywhere
predators: automobiles, eagles
nests: tree hollows, old eagle and hawk nests
notes: "horns" are tufts of feathers, not ears or tru horns

Western Screech Owl (Otus kennicottii)

diet includes: mice
habitat: forest, plains, almost anywhere, often denser foliage than Great Horned, shyer
predators: Great Horned Owls
nests: tree hollows

Barn Owl (found world wide) (Tyto alba)

diet includes: mice, rats, shrews, any small mammal
habitat: now most common in cities and around human habitation
predators: automobiles
nests: attics, barns, silos and tree hollows

Diurnal Birds of Prey:

Wing types show differences in the way they make a living. The three primary types are:

long broad soaring wing (Vultures, Eagles, Redtails)
short round flapping wing, manuverable (Cooper¹s Hawk)
long tapered zooming wing (Falcons)

General adaptations:
eye: fovea lateralis increases the accuety of vision, overhanging brow shades the ey from the sun
sense of smell in some vultures, particularly the Turkey Vulture is accute.

New World Vultures (Order Cicconiiformes):

Turkey Vulture (Buzzard) (Coragyps attratus):

eats carrion
habitat: open country
predators: man
nests: trees, cliffs
range: western hemisphere south of the line between Brittish Columbia - New Jersey to Tierra del Fuego

California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus):

eats carrion (will not eat anything alive)
habitat: open country
predators: man
nests: cliffs, trees
range: San Diego Wild Animal Park (in the Condorminium), Los Angeles Zoo, there are reintroduction efforts underway. The number of California Condors in the wild varies from time to time.
notes: largest flying bird at 22lbs, 9 1/2 foot wing span,

Hawks (Order Falconiformes, Family Accipitridae):

Red-tailed Hawk (Buzzard) (Buteo jamaicensis):

eats mice, rats, birds, reptiles
habitat: open country, a soaring bird
predators: Eagles
nests: large stick nests in trees
range: northern hemisphere, South America

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

eats mice, rats, reptiles
habitat: open country
predators: eagles
nests: trees
range: California, west coast of Mexican mainland (not Baja penninsula), U. S. east of Rockies (three subspecies)

Eagles (Order Falconiformes, Family Accipitridae):

Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos):

eats mice, rats, rabbits, carrion, birds, reptiles
habitat: open country
predators: man
nests: cliffs, large stick nests in trees
range: northern hemisphere

Bald Eagle (American eagle, fish eagle, sea eagle) (Haliaeetus pelagicus):

eats fish, birds
habitat: near water (winters in SLO county at Lake Naciemento and Lake San Antonio, also at Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County. These are also good places to see Golden Eagles and Osprey).
predators: are you kidding?
nests: cliffs, large stick nests in trees, breeds in the Northern part of the range

Falcons (Order Falconiformes, Family Falconidae):

American Kestral (Sparrow Hawk) (Falco sparverius):

eats insects, mice (often hovers)
habitat: open fields
predators: Hawks, Falcons
nests: holes in trees

Peregrine Falcon ("Wandering" Falcon) (Falco peregrinus):

eats birds
habitat: open country, locally near ocean, cities
predators: man
nests: cliffs, high rises
notes: Though it has been claimed that this is the fastest terrestrial organism, reaching over 200 mph in stoop (power dive after prey) it is more likely that is incorrect and the true speed is something like 90 miles per hour. Became extinct in eastern U. S. until reintroduction, in early 1970¹s there was only one pair breeding in California at Morro Rock in Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo County.

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