Birds in general, not necessarily raptors learn from each other and mimmick the behavior of other birds. For example, the male hawk had no interest in me what so ever until he spotted the female eating food I provided for her, now he's highly aggressive about feeding.
There is a really good article about the cognitive skills of ravens and crows on the science channel, it was to say the least eye opening.
The hawks are year round occupants, if they were migratory I wouldn't have fed them. The female was born 200 ft from my front door and has never left the area for the past 2-3 yrs, I just started feeding her this past month or so.
I'm pretty cognizant of altering their natural behaviour and will reframe from doing so.
As soon as the lighting is ok I'll try and take a video of each, male and female. I've learned quite a bit about these birds behavior from mating calls of the female and male, territorial issues, and flight patterns when feeding. The male is smaller than the female and a lot better flyer than she is. She likes to glide in, slowly, flare up and land on the food. The male on the other hand is all about speed, wings tucked in, talons down, swoops past the food with out flaring at all.
Tried to get a pic of the mating but finger was over the lens of my phone. The male has mated with the female 3 times that I've witnessed, I wouldn't have thought it would have been an on going process. Haven't seen them building a nest yet, sure it will start soon.
This will be the last year these birds will hang out here as the field they hunt in will be developed into housing.
I live with in the city limits, no hunting or open shooting allowed here.
There is a really good article about the cognitive skills of ravens and crows on the science channel, it was to say the least eye opening.
The hawks are year round occupants, if they were migratory I wouldn't have fed them. The female was born 200 ft from my front door and has never left the area for the past 2-3 yrs, I just started feeding her this past month or so.
I'm pretty cognizant of altering their natural behaviour and will reframe from doing so.
As soon as the lighting is ok I'll try and take a video of each, male and female. I've learned quite a bit about these birds behavior from mating calls of the female and male, territorial issues, and flight patterns when feeding. The male is smaller than the female and a lot better flyer than she is. She likes to glide in, slowly, flare up and land on the food. The male on the other hand is all about speed, wings tucked in, talons down, swoops past the food with out flaring at all.
Tried to get a pic of the mating but finger was over the lens of my phone. The male has mated with the female 3 times that I've witnessed, I wouldn't have thought it would have been an on going process. Haven't seen them building a nest yet, sure it will start soon.
This will be the last year these birds will hang out here as the field they hunt in will be developed into housing.
I live with in the city limits, no hunting or open shooting allowed here.
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