Posted on 03/20/2024 8:40:48 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Angel the red-tailed hawk is leucistic, which is similar to being albino.
Almost 2.5 million rad-tailed hawks call North America home, but one of those birds in Tennessee is changing how scientists think, thanks to her survival story.
Angel, the red-tailed hawk, is leucistic, similar to being albino. While an albino animal loses all of its pigmentation, a leucistic animal only loses part; both conditions, scientists say, can lower survival rates.
“Back in the early 2000s, scientists and conservation biologists would say that leucistic and albino animals cannot exist in the wild.” Window to Wildlife’s Connor O’Brien said. “It would be very rare for them to survive.”
O’Brien is a project manager and biologist who installed a camera on Angel’s nest. He said her coloring makes it harder to hunt prey.
“Having no camo is just really bad, but she has been able to figure out how to hunt even though it’s a bit easier for prey to see her coming,” O’Brien said.
A big reason O’Brien thinks Angel is thriving as well as she is? Love.
“She’s had to rely more on her mate to help with that, especially during the nesting season,” O’Brien said, talking about Angel’s mate, Tom. “Tom has become an excellent hunter; he catches significantly more than she does.”
Tom’s presence makes Angel’s life easier, O’Brien said, protecting her from intruders in the nest.
“We have a lot of blue jays that harass red-tailed hawks, specifically Angel, when she’s in the nest,” O’Brien said. “Last season, every 10 seconds, blue jays would hit Angel’s head all day, but when Tom gets in the nest, the blue jays just leave them alone.”
O’Brien said that love has made Angel’s survival even rarer, changing how scientists think about leucistic birds.
“Scientists don’t think they can mate with their own species because species can’t identify them,” O’Brien said. “So Angel is shifting that narrative and giving us new data on leucism.”
Angel has produced four offspring in the last few years, marking a love story that defies the odds.
Not upset, just observant.
Several years ago, I looked out my kitchen window and saw a momma turkey with nine chicks following her. A few days later, there were five chicks, then two. After that, I never saw her or the chicks again.
I once counted a covey of about 25 quail moving from one cover to another in my back yard. A couple of minutes later, there was another similar sized covey making the same trip. The following hunting season, there were none to be found.
Last spring, I saw a group of 14 pheasant chicks moving from underneath a tree to a bush, one at a time. By autumn, there were only one or two moving through the same area.
We can’t keep a cat. The longest survivor lasted about two years because it was black and white like a skunk, but now she’s gone too. About 20 other cats have disappeared in the same time.
Pheasant, quail and turkey are tasty, and I would like to eat them a couple of times a year, but there are too few to harvest by the time hunting season comes around.
However, every fence post is decorated by a fat red tailed hawk because somehow that particular bird is venerated by those who don’t understand nature, and are off limits. I have seen literally hundreds of them at one time sitting in a wheat field.
Years ago, every boy on the plains had a .22 rifle and the standing order was to kill every hawk they saw to protect the chickens. We don’t do that anymore and the hawks have taken over.
Red tailed hawks are a nuisance and a detriment to biodiversity where I live.
LOL.
I don’t think I’d eat one unless I was really hungry, but I can understand wanting to shoot them.
What with redtails, owls, and especially coyotes, our cats stay indoors at all times. Plenty of Gambel’s quail around despite the predators, though. I keep a couple of brush piles out back for nesting.
My experience is that among the ignorant hawk hating community, all hawks are “Chicken Hawks”
Angel the red-tailed hawk is leucistic, which is similar to being albino.
I think I graduated with Lou and Al.
Here’s the link to Angel’s nest cam.
They've been there several times already this morning, bringing more sticks to the nest.
“He came back up with a cat in his talons and flew off to a large oak to enjoy his snack.”
Domestic cats kill vast numbers of birds in the United States. There’s always someone or something badder-assed than you.
Great anecdotal story that doesn’t seem to have much meat to it...
Here is an interesting tidbit though. 60-70% of wild turkey poults die in the first four weeks after birth. So maybe it’s just nature and not one particular “predator”.
And I highly doubt you’ve seen hundreds of red tailed hawks sitting in a wheat field. Red tails don’t generally flock and don’t hunt together.
Thank you.
I’m going to enjoy this.
Actually, that was about six different stories, and never did I say that one particular predator was responsible for all the game being killed.
What I did say is that red tailed hawks eat a lot of game animals and their numbers are at nuisance levels where I live.
If you want to see red tailed hawks congregate, all you have to do is brush hog my pasture. Within about thirty minutes, you will be swarmed by a kettle (funny how they have a name for a group of birds that don’t group up) of them.
I was born and raised in the southern plains. I know how to identify a red tailed hawk. I also know how to count. I know what I saw and I used the word “literally” literally, not figuratively. But then again, maybe you know more about my land than I do. Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.
You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It’s one of many nests I keep tabs on.
So in a conversation distinctly about red tail hawks you mention “numerous anecdotal stories” about the loss of various “game animals” and other wildlife but somehow you now want to say you weren’t necessarily attributing that to red tail hawks? Christ you sound like a typical liberal...
And BTW, a kettle is generally attributed to Hawks when in flight, usually during migration. But rarely for Red Tails as they do not tend to congregate for migration. Either way kettle is used for all hawks not directly to Red Tails.
In a conversation about RTHs, I mentioned some of the problems they cause or contribute to where I live.
You assumed misguided and erroneous things that I never said, and called into question the veracity of my comments. So I clarified and reinforced my comments.
Rather than step back and say something like, “Maybe I don’t know everything I thought I did.” or “Maybe things are different in other places.”, you resort to name calling. You don’t want to have a discussion in which information can be shared and added to the knowledge of the participants, you just want to be right, no matter what. Apparently it hurts your self esteem to be shown incorrect or mistaken on anything.
You sound like a typical woman.
And BTW, a short and simple web search yielded this:
A group of hawks is commonly referred to as a kettle, boil, or cast. These terms have been used since the Late Middle Ages and still have a place in society to this day.3 Hawks form large flocks during migration, taking advantage of rising thermal air currents. These swirling, circling flocks are called kettles.2 A cast of hawks is used to describe a group of hawks that are in flight, usually in a V-formation.4 Other terms used to denote a group of hawks include pot, an air pocket, and wake.
I guess there are not one, but SIX different names, used since the MIDDLE AGES for a group of hawks.
Try doing some specific research on the Red Tailed Hawk. My citation:
Red-tailed hawks usually remain alone or in family groups, but they will soar together in flocks. Migrating hawks move by day, catching warm thermals high in the air.
And no one called you any names. But now I will. Calm down Karen...
I’m thinking slow is probably your top speed.
The problem here seem to be poor reading comprehension coupled with diminished cognition.
The word “generally” means most, but not all of the time.
That means there could be an instance of something that doesn’t follow the “general” (this means prevalent, not army guys) rule.
Also, I think you have a problem understanding “anecdotal”. Because something is anecdotal, that does not mean it is untrue. In fact, it means that it is true, just that there isn’t enough evidence to make a “general” rule.
If I see a flock of canadian geese flying south in January, that is anecdotal evidence that geese fly south in the winter. That evidence fits with the general rule.
I may also see a flock of geese flying north in January. That actually happens quite frequently. This is also anecdotal evidence and is also true. However, this anecdotal evidence does not match the preponderance of evidence that shows geese generally fly south in the winter.
So when you say that anecdotal evidence shows something that doesn’t match the preponderance of evidence, and therefore, cannot be true, you are displaying your diminished cognitive abilities.
I found six different names for a group of hawks dating back about 1000 years, yet you insist that it doesn’t happen and definitely didn’t happen here where I live, a place you have never seen or visited. You choose to argue that point to no end, which further demonstrate your counterintuitive thought processes. The funny part is, that I never claimed to see a flock of hundreds of hawks. Your poor reading comprehension caused you to make that erroneous assumption and come to a flawed conclusion. You brought a flock of hawks into this conversation, not me. You didn’t ask any questions about what I was describing, you just attacked what I said based on your own flawed conclusions. You could have asked what the hawks were doing, or even how big is the wheat field. Nope, just going to keep rolling with your flawed conclusions based on erroneous assumptions.
Then, when you’re finished with that, it’s back to the name calling. Calling me Christ is really blasphemous. I didn’t want to bring it up because I’ve found most people with diminished cognition blaspheme regularly and I didn’t want to shame you because I have hope for all people. Then you call me a Karen, because that’s what the cool kids do when they have nothing left.
I do think your reading comprehension could be improved by reading a book or two. You might want to start with something that isn’t too complicated. I used to read Dr. Seuss when I was about your intellectual level. Comic books may work because they have a lot of pictures that go with the words, but try to move on so that you are constantly challenged and don’t get stuck in a rut. Eventually, you should find that as your reading comprehension increases, your cognitive abilities will increase as well. Just make sure to manage your expectations. This will not happen overnight, it is a lifetime effort.
There are resources available at your local library, and these people may be able to help as well:
https://www.pdesas.org/Page/Viewer/ViewPage/21/
The main thing is to not give up hope. You aren’t defeated until you give up!
So you are now trying to say what you posted first was something you now want to portray as "generally".
Let's dissect what I called into question. Your comment: "I have seen literally hundreds of them at one time sitting in a wheat field." Now you are stating: "The funny part is, that I never claimed to see a flock of hundreds of hawks." So which is it? Or are you now gonna state you didn't see them flying together or that they weren't grouped together (which has been your defense that hawks do congregate together all the time?)
Secondly, no one called you Christ. I hope your ego can handled that. But maybe the reading comprehension you eagerly have tossed around may be better suited for you. My statement that seems to offend you: "Christ you sound like a typical liberal..." You see my use of the word Christ was an interjection to start my comment. I apologize for not including a comma to help you better understand my profound surprise at your Karen like responses...
Thank you for my morning entertainment.
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