Friday Feathered Fact
The Short-eared Owl, as its name suggests, has only the tiniest hint of little tufts on the top of its head – quite dissimilar from its nearest cousin, the Long-eared Owl. Short-eared Owls are crepuscular, meaning they hunt primarily during sunrise and sunset. However, they can still often be seen hunting in the […]
Friday Feathered Fact
The most variable (and common) of the raptors in the US is the Red-tailed Hawk. Identifying this bird is even more complex when you realize each subspecies can have a dark, medium, and light “phase” or “morph” – sometimes within the same nest of young. Additionally, a young hawk can look different from […]
Friday Feathered Facts
A frequent question asked about our raptors is “How long do they live?” As a general rule in all animal life, the larger the species, the longer their life span. Tiny Elf Owls will live 5-8 years in the wild and the small screech-owl will live to be about 10. The larger Barn […]
Friday Feathered Fact
Spring migration has nearly finished which includes not only the familiar song birds but, many of our raptors. Some, such as the Swainson’s Hawk, travel a one-way journey of 6,000 miles between wintering in Argentina and nesting in Canada. Another long distant migrant, the Peregrine Falcon, has the greatest migration of any raptor, […]
Friday Feathered Fact
The Owl that Wasn’t. During each spring and fall migration, rescue calls come in for a “tiny owl” lying on the ground. Quite often, the tiny owl turns out to be one of two unfamiliar look-alike birds. These are the poorwill […]
Friday Feathered Fact
A Barn Owl family is somewhat unique by having many (up to a dozen) nestlings that range dramatically in size from a 2-inch new-hatch to a sibling 10 inches tall. This occurs because the Barn Owl immediately sits on the first egg while adding a new egg each day. A two-week size difference […]
Friday Feathered Fact
As rare as hen’s teeth. This idiom refers to the fact that no birds have teeth. However, all baby birds (except the kiwis of New Zealand) have a handy “egg tooth”. This temporary deposit of calcium carbonate on the tip of the bird’s beak has a dual purpose. First, the chick punctures through […]
Friday Feathered Fact
Since it is the height of baby season, we will look at these youngsters. While most hawks and owls take 28-37 days for the eggs to incubate, the time to reach independence varies greatly. The tiny Elf Owl can be out hunting on its own within 5-6 weeks of hatching and the Barn […]
Friday Feathered Fact
The Harris’s Hawk — named after Edward Harris in the early 1800s by his friend, John Audubon — […]
Friday Feathered Fact
A wolf in the fold? In Arizona, there are two raptors that can look remarkably alike. These are the abundant Turkey Vultures that often soar in large flocks (called kettles) […]
