Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey

American Black Vulture

· These are very large birds of prey at 65cm length and with a 1.5m wingspan.

· Their plumage is mainly glossy black; they have broad wings with white tips, a short tail and a featherless greyish head.

· They eat mainly carrion and may scavenge at garbage dumps, but take also eggs and decomposing plant material, and can kill or injure new-born or incapacitated mammals.

Turkey Vulture

· Is the most common vulture in the Americas.

· The typical adult bird is an average 76 cm (30") long with a 185 cm (6 ft) wingspan, and weighing 1.4 kg (3.1 lb).

· The sexes are similar, with the female being slightly larger.

· Their body feathers are mostly brownish-black, but the flight feathers on the wings appear silvery-gray beneath, contrasting with the darker wing linings. The adult head is small in proportion to its body, red in color with few to no feathers, and has a relatively short, hooked, ivory-colored bill.

Ospery

· The Osprey is 3-4.4 pounds and 20.5-24 inches long with a 5-5.9 ft wingspan.

· It has mainly white underparts and head, apart from a dark mask through the eye, and fairly uniformly brown upperparts. Its short tail and long, narrow wings with four long "finger" feathers (and a shorter fifth) give it a very distinctive appearance.

· In flight, Ospreys have arched wings and drooping "hands", giving them a diagnostic gull-like appearance.

Bald Eagle

· The species was on the brink of extinction in the U.S. late in the twentieth century, but now has a stable population and is in the process of being removed from the U.S. federal government's list of endangered species.

· The Bald Eagle was officially reclassified from "Endangered" to "Threatened" on July 12, 1995 by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

· The Bald Eagle's natural range covers most of North America, including most of Canada, all of the continental United States, and northern Mexico.

Northern Harrier

· In North America it is known as the Northern Harrier or Marsh Hawk.

· It breeds throughout the northern parts of the Northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA, and northern Eurasia.

· The male is grey above and white below, with balck wingstips.

· The female is brown above and white above with white upper tail coverts.

· Hen Harriers hunt small mammals and birds, surprising then as they drift low fields and moors.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

· Their breeding habitat is varied forested areas across most of North America and parts of Central America.

· Males are 9.5 to 11 in long, have a wingspan of 20 to 23 in and weigh from 3.1 to 4 oz.

· Females are rather larger at a length of 11.5 to 13.8 in, a wingspan of 23 to 27 in and a weight of 5.3 to 7.7 oz.

· Adults have short broad wings and a long square-ended tail with dark bands. Adults have short broad wings and a long square-ended tail with dark bands.

Cooper’s Hawk

· They are permanent residents in most of the United States and their breeding range from Southern Canada to Northern Mexico.

· The average adult male, at 11 oz, 15 in long and a wingspan of 29 in, is considerably smaller than the female, at 1.1 lb, 18 in long and a wingspan of 33 in.

· Adults have short broad wings and a long round-ended tail with dark bands. They have a dark cap, blue-grey upperparts and white underparts with red bars. They have red eyes and yellow legs.

· These birds capture prey from cover or while flying quickly through dense vegetation, relying almost totally on surprise.

Red-shouldered Hawk

· Males are 17 to 23 in long, weigh about 1.2 lbs and have a wingspan of 38 in.

· Females are slightly larger at 19 to 24 in in length, a weight of about 1.5 lbs and a wingspan of about 42 in.

· Adults have a brownish head, a reddish chest and have a pale belly with reddish bars.

· The red "shoulder" is visible when the bird is perched.

· Usually, while in forested areas, these birds wait on a perch and swoop down on prey. When in clearings, they sometimes flying low in order to surprise prey.

· Small mammals are typically the most important prey, with voles, mice and chipmunks locally favored. Other prey can include amphibians, reptiles (especially small snakes), small birds and large insects.

Red-tailed Hawk

· It breeds almost throughout North America from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far South as Panama and the West Indies.

· This is one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk."

· Males can weigh from 1.5 to 2.9 pounds and measure 18 to 22 in.

· Females can weigh between 2 and 4.4 pounds and measure 20 to 26 inches in length.

· Red-tailed Hawks generally prefer to wait on a certain perch and swoop down on prey; though they will also patrol open areas in flight. They mainly eat small mammals, birds and reptiles.

American Kestrel

· American Kestrels are widely distributed across the Americas.

· Their breeding range extends from central and western Alaska across northern Canada to Nova Scotia, and south throughout North America, into central Mexico, the Baja, and the Caribbean.

· American Kestrels are found in a variety of habitats including parks, surburbs, open fields, forest edges and openings, alpine zones, grasslands, marshes, open areas on mountainsides, prairies, plains, deserts with giant cacti, and freeway and highway corridors.

Barred Owl

· It goes by many other names, including eight hooter, rain owl, wood owl, and striped owl, but is probably known best as the hoot owl.

· Its breeding habitat is dense woods across Canada, the eastern United States and south to Central America; in recent years it has spread to the western United States.

· The adult is 44 cm long with a 112 cm wingspan.

· It has a pale face with dark rings around the eyes, a yellow bill and dark eyes. The underparts are light with brown streaks; the upper parts are mottled brown. There are brown bars on the chest. The legs and feet are covered in feathers up to the talons.

Eastern Screech Owl

· Adults have either rusty or dark grey intricately patterned plumage with streaking on the underparts.

· Small and stocky, short-tailed and broad winged, they have a large round head with ear tufts, yellow eyes and a yellowish bill.

· Rusty birds are more common in the southern parts of the range; pairings of the two colour variants do occur.

· A pale grey variation also exists in western Canada and the north-central United States.

· The color variations are referred to as "red-phase" and "grey-phase" by bird watchers and ornithologists.

· Their breeding habitat is deciduous or mixed woods in eastern North America.

Great Horned Owl

· The breeding habitat of the Great Horned Owl extends almost throughout both North America and South America.

· The habitats they can take up residence in include deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests, tropical rainforests, pampas, prairie, mountainous areas, deserts, subarctic tundra, rocky coasts, mangrove swamps, and some urban areas.

· An average Great Horned Owl is 55 cm (22 inches) long, has a wingspan of 124 cm (49 inches) and weighs about 1400 grams (3.1 lbs)