Is That a Kid?
By Claudia Kirscher
Liberty Wildlife Contributor
Red-Tailed Hawk Rapture
By Gail Cochrane
Liberty Wildlife Volunteer
Overheard one day: “Look! What is that big bird circling overhead?” And the answer, “Oh, it’s just a red-tailed hawk.”
Really? We seem hardwired to most search out and admire the rare. So yes, commonly seen birds and mammals are often considered ho-hum. Lest you be tempted to yawn at yet another red-tailed hawk sighting, let’s remember what an impressive raptor this is.
Found across North American, red-tailed hawks are usually migratory. But our Sonoran Desert red-tails stay on their territory for life, often two decades or more. Mated pairs renew their bonds every spring with dazzling courtship displays of aerial prowess performed high in the sky.
I am fortunate to have a pair in my neighborhood, and I even know where the nest is. It’s been there for years, built of sturdy sticks high on a cliff ledge. The two hawks come out in the late afternoon most days now, to circle and soar. It is a performance worthy of attention. They fly in wide lazy circles and only tiny adjustments of feathers, or a slight shift in the angle of wings creates acceleration, a sweeping turn or an outright stall.
I usually hear their piercing cries before I notice them up in the sky, but sometimes they fly so low, a shadow crosses the yard. Occasionally a third hawk circles with them, and then there is even more vocalizing. Perhaps this is a migratory hawk passing by and checking out the situation.
For all this circling and ranging overhead, red-tailed hawks actually hunt from perches. Along some rural roadways you might see a red-tailed hawk on every third or fourth utility pole. This is a perfect time to admire the great variety of plumage on these beautiful hawks. From their lofty vantage point, red-tailed hawks scan for movement with their laser sharp eyes, and drop quickly on their prey. Rodents, rabbits, snakes and reptiles have this fierce predator to fear.
So far from ho-hum! To me these common hawks are as dear friends, always a welcome sight, and one that always lifts my heart.
Kid Stuff
Nurturing Nature
By: Carol Suits
Liberty Wildlife Volunteer
Happy Spring
Liberty Wildlife Superhero kids know that Spring is a time for animals to nest and have babies. To help nature, the superheroes finished building bird houses, found nesting material for inside them, and decorated the houses to hopefully attract a couple of backyard birds to move in! A couple of the bird houses even had arrows help birds find the opening and had some welcoming words, too!
Serious birdhouse work A bag full of nesting material
Picking out paints and markers Finished Superhero Birdhouses
How can you be a Superhero when spring is here?
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Nesting material can be put on the ground for small mammals in holders you can make! To help birds, reuse plastic bottles by making holes along the sides and add nesting material. Hang them where birds can find them.
Videos of birds making nests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EPJEg6R3SM – Watch this bird make a nest inside a birdhouse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ_-6Rtlv0o – I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this bird tie knots in long blades of grass, hanging on a branch, using his bill and feet! Amazing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOfukj1aM1E – The great bower bird builds a bower!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpDCQBPPTFM – Hummingbirds build great (but tiny) nests
Puzzles about Partner Pals!