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12:08 a.m. - 2005-02-23
The Noble Hawk
Monday marked a milestone event in my life. Well, that's an exaggeration, but I went skiing for the first time in nine years! The quality of rental skis has improved during that interval! R, his brother and sister-in-law and their friend S have a quad pass to Welch Village ski resort. It was fun and the experienced snowboarders listed above were very supportive. I only fell once! Along with my nerves about the sport I felt excitement about running into some wildlife.

The ski area was busy, so not much mammal movement could be seen as we rode up the picturesque hill on the ski lift. But on our journey from the Cities to Welch we saw several hawks!

I was debating on putting the hawk in the Bad-ass Animal category...I'll let the reader decide.

Hawks are members of the Raptor family of birds; birds of prey. All hawks have three front-facing toes and one rear-facing one. There are three genera of Hawks distributed around the US: Accipters, Falcons and Buteos.

The Sharpshinned hawk, Cooper's hawk and the Goshawk are members of the Accipters group. These birds are small, fly low and have rounded wings and long tails. These qualities allow them excellent maneuverability for hunting their meal of choice: other birds.

The Falcon group, which contains the Peregrine, Prairie and Merlin Falcons, share the Accipter trait of feeding on other birds. The exception is the American Kestrel, which flies low and hovers in forested areas, the better to find rodents and insects! Falcons are streamlined and have long wings and tails.

It is because Falcons and Accipters fly at low altitudes that they are not seen as commonly as the last genera of hawks, the Buteos. Chances are, if you see a hawk soaring high above, or roosting in a tree near a highway, you're seeing one of the Buteos, which are the largest of all hawks. AND, it's very likely that you're seeing one of the 14 sub-species of Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), one of the most common hawks in the U.S.

These birds weigh two to four pounds, with the female being the larger of the sexes. Red-tailed hawks eat 85 to 90% rodents, except in the spring and summer when they will hunt pheasants. (Wouldn't it be weird to see a hawk swooping on a pheasant?)

The primary Superpower of the hawk is their eyesight, which is eight times better than humans! This is hard to quantify...is it the same as eight times faster, or eight times stronger? Talons are the main weapon of the hawk. (What is the quote from "Napoleon Dynamite"? 'Do the chickens have talons?' Or something like that?!) Anyway, hawks squeeze their prey with these powerful claws. I guess falcons bite the head and neck of their victims. Since raptors don't chew, they use their hooked beaks to tear swallowable chunks.

Yikes, this is too violent. Onto the love! Hawks mate for life. There are often spectacular courtship displays involving chasing each other, diving, and even locking claws in the air. The couple then shares a territory. In March, hawks build large and shallow nests 35 to 75 feet high. (Please email me if you see any!) The female lays two to three blue eggs with brown speckles, and then sits on them. The male brings her food, and when the eggs hatch both remain close by to guard them. After a month and a half the babies can fly, and but still rely on their parents for food until the autumn. After two to three years, the youngsters will find love of their own. Hawks usually live six to seven years.

We have a special opportunity to observe hawks in Minnesota: the Hawk Ridge Nature Preserve in Duluth has 93,000 raptors passing through on their migration south from Canada. This occurs between August and December, and would be worth checking out. (Mr. and Mrs. J & J S, have you been there?!)

This spring and summer, I hope you see many hawks as you are driving along. And if you see one while walking, make sure not to pick your nose, because you know that hawk can totally see what you're up to!

xo, Wendell

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