The Twins Meet the Blue Jay! And a Territory Question

Photos and commentary by Cheryl Cavert
VIOLA GETS MOBBED!

Donegal,
Wanted to share some of the latest sightings of Red Tails in Tulsa. I watched the two Langenheim Twins for a bit this morning as they waited, calling for breakfast, and being repeatedly mobbed and chased by irritable birds and non-friendly humans.

I was told by one person that was outside with their camera, that one had perched near her window but a coworker banged on the window to scare it off and was ready to run outside and chase the other one away too. Then another person chose to take the short-cut across the bridge where the hawk was perched, rather than going a different route around, which scared Viola off the bridge (and he thought she was an owl!!)

Rose, one of our spotters who first brought the Langenheim juveniles on our hawk-radar, has named them Sebastian and Viola.

Cheryl
(Rose also sends us updates! D.B.)

SEBASTIAN GETS MOBBED- incoming, duck!!


Viola cooling off in the grass.
(Remember it was 100 degrees plus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. All pretty lively for such hot weather.)

Viola taking off for a different bridge perch.

Sebastian getting mobbed yet again!

(I wonder if the angry smaller birds ever use the light patch on the hawk's heads as a target? Looks awfully handy to me. D. B.)

From the Tulsa Forum, Catbird had a question about territory--

From Calvorn's site: "In a study commissioned last year by Audubon, pairs of red tails were spotted breeding in nests at 32 locations throughout the city and hawk watchers say they have spotted hundreds of unattached red tails across the five boroughs."

Does this mean that the unattached red tails (juvies??) live / hang out, sort of in between the claimed adult territories?

Catbird,

Some of the unattached Red-tails are juveniles and some are matures without mates or territories as yet. For instance in the winter the Ramble, a wooded section of Central Park, is crawling with RTs, Pale Male and Lola don't care. It isn't breeding season and Central Park has so much prey that there is plenty of food for everyone and more.

During breeding season the unattached will sometimes sneak into other RT territory just to hunt new ground but also they can appear to challenge the pair. There have been several instances in Pale Male and Lola's territory (and I'm sure others but because of location and clear sight lines you can really see what is going on at Fifth Avenue), in which a pair of RTs will appear and there is a pitched battle over the land and nesting site. Pale Male and Lola never have any trouble running them out but you have never heard so many Red- tail battle cries in your life.

There are some portions of the city, where I'm betting Red-tails are sighted and have territory but either they haven't attracted a mate, or they have a mate and nest but no hawkwatchers have as yet nailed down the location. There are parts of town where there are no hawkwatchers living locally, or they aren't in touch, so they are, so to speak, "under the radar"..

I don't believe that the "hundreds of sightings" referred to, were all of different individual birds. I'm sure a number of them were sighted more than once. Territory size differs. Outside breeding season the Red-tails go exploring farther afield. And of course, there are the juveniles who are hanging around waiting to grow up.

In places with a lower prey base and/or seriously cold or snowy weather, Red-tails migrate to more fruitful areas during the off season. John Blakeman tells that country hawks will also, come winter, chase their previous seasons young away from the natal territory when the prey base is low. Sounds mean but it's perhaps better for everyone. It saves wear and tear on the prey population of the natal territory and also gets the youngster into the floating population of RTs that are likely on their way to greener pastures, open territory, and possible mates.

The Manhattan Red-tails, and most probably those in the other boroughs as well, but I can't speak from experience, don't migrate. There is plenty to eat year-round and it usually isn't all that cold. We can't be sure as they aren't banded but there are juveniles in Central Park until the following spring when the adults start paying a good deal of attention to boundary lines. Come Spring the previous year's young either find areas that haven't been claimed or take off for perusing vacations.

Donegal Browne

P.S. For the next two weeks I'll be more out of contact with technology than I'll be in contact with it due to the Pennsic War therefore, just keep sending in your updates and checking for new posts. I'll pop in and post as often as I can!

Blakeman on RTs and Snakes, Cavert on Tulsa RTs and 100 Degree heat, Kolling Gets the Scoop on Condors

Photograph by Chery Cavert
Jay does his duty as sentinal of the territory in 100 degree Tulsa heat.

Hi Donegal,
It is hot in Tulsa - the high was 100 today!! As it has gotten hotter, the trail of the Red Tail Hawks has gotten colder. We have not spotted Kay or Thunder again for over a week. Jay waits patiently at the KJRH nesting tower on a variety of shady perches every evening and has also been spotted on the tower perches in the morning.


Photograph by Cheryl Cavert

I posted the one of him trying to stay cool on the KJRH observation thread, right after someone posted about how hawks handle temperatures --

"An interesting observation about our current temperatures and birds. This from a paper published online at Stanford University..
The ability to maintain a high and constant body temperature enables birds to exploit a remarkable range of habitats -- tropical, temperate, and polar. This achievement is not without cost, however. The "expense" of metabolic heat production must be repaid by taking in sufficient energy to balance what has been expended, and mechanisms must be available to shed excess heat when necessary. If the environmental temperature falls, birds raise their metabolic rate to prevent their internal temperature from falling as well. In contrast, if the environmental temperature becomes too hot, birds must mobilize water to lose heat through evaporative cooling (as we do when we perspire) and avoid death from overheating. Since birds have no sweat glands, heat must be lost through the respiratory tract by panting, or in nonpasserines by the rapid vibration of the upper throat and thin floor of the mouth ("gular flutter").


This can pose a pretty big threat to urban birds as the concrete jungle acts as massive heatsink during the day and takes a long time to cool. A bunch of strenuous activity late in the day can be hazardous to the birds (like being pursued by Blue Jays). That's probably why the hunt to so much at dawn, besides catching nocturnal prey heading back to the den."

Forecast calls for a string of days flirting with 100, lows in the mid 70's.

We have had some sightings of the Langenheim Twins.
(More on the Langenheim Twins tomorrow, plus Cheryl's photos of them being mobbed. D.B.)

The hawk hangout in my neighborhood has not produced any sightings of red tails lately, but I have seen a Cooper's hawk hunting there about every evening.

I have attached a couple of photos of Jay on one of his evening perches. This evening he looked particularly hot - photo is blurry due to the distance and lighting, but his beak is open and he was not calling out!

We will keep exploring and mapping our various sightings, always hopeful that we come across Kay and Thunder hunting or hanging out in the cooler shade of Tulsa's urban forest.
--Cheryl


JOHN BLAKEMAN ON PALE MALE'S FOOT, RED-TAILED HAWKS, SNAKES, AND HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WHEN THE TWAIN DID MEET.

Donna,

Yes, Red-tails commonly sit on one foot and extend the other one out into the air, with the clinched fist you described so accurately. They do this when they are utterly contented, usually when they aren't even watching things in the landscape.

And the Oklahoma Red-tail capturing a rattlesnake is also not uncommon. Red-tails find snakes of all kinds pretty easy to capture and kill, and apparently good tasting. Of course, a bite from a rattlesnake could be fatal, but the snake apparently can't so easily sink its fangs deep enough through the feathers to inject venom.

Actually, the snake usually has little opportunity to strike. The hawk takes the snake as it is seen slithering along in the grass. The snake never knew what hit it. An adult hawk has the good sense and experience to nail the serpent in the head, not on the back.

Inexperienced immature Red-tails, however, can get themselves into trouble trying to take a larger snake. I watched a falconer's first-year Red-tail try to take black snake, and it hit the snake in the back, not the head. Wrong move for a constrictor snake. We got to the writhing ball of snake and hawk in just a minute. The snake had wrapped itself around the now startled hawk, who had no idea how to extricate itself from the writhing contractions of the encircled snake. We two falconers had to be rather careful ourselves, trying to untangle this avian-reptilian mass. We weren't too concerned about the snake biting us. But the hawk kept lashing out with its talons, trying to strike something. Had the hawk landed a pair of talons on one of our hands, it would have never let go.

Fortunately, it was a smaller black racer, just about three feet long or so, and we were finally able to unwrap if from the terrified hawk -- who I'm sure never deigned a feeding attempt at a slow-moving snake again. Lesson learned.

Those who watch rural Red-tail nests commonly see snakes being brought to feed the eyasses. Red-tails will eat just about anything they decide to capture. Snakes, when available, are common culinary fare, even poisonous ones.

--John Blakeman



Photograph by Karen Anne Kolling

Karen Anne looks out her deck door and sees a very strange bird at her feeding station. Gosh, it looks remarkably like a chubby Ground Hog. But Karen Anne has been a busy woman and tracked down some information that we've been looking for--

HOW ARE THE CONDORS AFTER THE BIG FIRE IN THEIR NECK OF THE WOODS? FROM KAREN ANNE-- "Here's an email I received in response to an inquiry I sent about the condors."


Hello,

We have confirmed that 2 of the 3 chicks survived the fires, and based on GPS data, we believe the third also made it, but have not been able to confirm this due to the nests' remote location.

We have been able to account for all but two of our wild birds, and it has been over a month since we last saw these two. We have not given up on them yet, however, as time goes by, it is not looking good.

Please visit our website to learn more, and perhaps make a gift to the condor emergency fund that will help us get back on our feet after this crisis.

Thank you for your interest!
Sincerely,
Sayre

Sayre FlannaganWildlife Biologist
Species Recovery
Ventana Wildlife Society
19045 Portola Dr. Suite F-1
Salinas,CA 93908831-455-9514


And remember photos and more on Tulsa's Langenheim Twins tomorrow--and their new names!
Donegal Browne

Pale Male's Foot, Charlotte Does Air Conditioning, The Tulsa Hawks, and Red-tailed Hawk vs Rattler

Pale Male on occasion will stretch his foot out, turn his talons in, ting, ting, ting, tingggg, and just sit there. It does give a lovely view of his well turned tarsus but still, it can look, well lets face it-- odd. Particularly when compared with the startlingly taloned view of the other foot.

Red-tails have special rules for behavior while on the nest, and I've seen them walk gingerly by the eyasses with their talons all turned under making them rather look like they've lost their toes somewhere. But no, I'm assuming that they're curled under to avoid any unsightly mishaps with sharp objects and the babies.


And now for something completely different, a pair of demonstrative pigeons snuggle on the edge of the Model Boat Pond. Or the Conservatory Waters if you happen to be looking at your Central Park Map. It's just that they never got around to building the Conservatory and they did get around to sailing model boats there.

Some complete with their own grog barrels.


Remember when poor Charlotte double clutched and then spent the hottest part of the summer roasting on the corbel of the Trump Parc with her young? Well, Brett Odom, the man with the view of the 888 7th Avenue nest site, reports that Charlotte was standing, wings spread, breezin' her body, right in front of the air vents enjoying the air conditioning from the room within. No dumb hawk she.

Photograph by Amadeusmax
For awhile this was the mystery eyass in Tulsa. Who was she? Where did she come from? Eventually when things were sorted she turned out to be one of the Langenheim Twins. Whose photos I was going to put up for comparison but the computer seems to have momentarily eaten them. Tomorrow is another day.

THE TULSA HAWKS--How many are there?

The local folks first brought together by watching the KJRH nest atop the TV tower on a CAM have now taken to the field as bona fide Hawkwatchers in the flesh. And they are going to town!

Rose Culbreth, discoverer of the Langenhiem Twins, reports hawk watchers popping out of the woodwork in droves along with experienced and budding wildlife photographers.

Jackie Dover has developed into the Map Mavin, and her maps are extremely helpful with new hawks popping out at nearly the rate of the hawkwatchers. Check them out, they're downright nifty.

Hi, Donna:

We had a busy weekend, as you probably know by now. Here is the latest map update on what we're now calling the South Tulsa Map, with two sightings added (Remington Tower--just off the map a tad; and Manion Park).

We have also added two other sightings in North Tulsa, in the general area of the Tulsa Int'l Airport and Mohawk Park. I'm enclosing a new map of this latter area, as it is not included on the original map (now called South Tulsa).

We have also added two other sightings in North Tulsa, in the general area of the Tulsa Int'l Airport and Mohawk Park. I'm enclosing a new map of this latter area, as it is not included on the original map (now called South Tulsa). And I'm sending another new map, of all the sightings in the entire Greater Tulsa area. One new sighting is noted on this map--near the Tulsa Fairgrounds. At this time, neither of the other two maps --North Tulsa nor South Tulsa--happens to display that particular area. The Greater map will help you out with that one.

Jackie Dover (Bville)

Tulsa Hawk Forum

And Tulsa Irregular Sally of Ky posted this marvelous link on the Tulsa Hawk Forum from youtube of a Red-tail nabbing a Rattle Snake. It's rather a stunner. The topic came up because one of the Tulsa watchers reported that snake was served up to the eyasses from one of the nests. (I wonder if they thought "it tasted just like chicken" too?)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CeskXKz765g


Donegal Browne