One of the surprises when traveling in North America is that our most common hawk in Pittsburgh, the red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), looks very different out west.
In western Pennsylvania, red-tailed hawks are best identified by the belly band of stripes below their breasts and dark patagial marks on their underwings. Some have dark markings, some are pale. Adults are redder than immatures.
Red-tailed hawks in western PA: Adult (by Steve Gosser) and immature (by Donna Foyle)Red-tailed hawk at the Allegheny Front, PA, 2016 (photo by Steve Gosser)Adult red-tailed hawk at the Allegheny Front, PA, 2016 (photo by Steve Gosser)Red-tailed hawk, Lawrence County, PA, 2013 (photo by Cris Hamilton)
Though most western red-tailed hawks are similar to their eastern cousins they are generally darker, as shown below in Washington state. There’s also a dark morph that’s completely chocolate brown as in the photo at top from San Mateo County, California.
Adult red-tailed hawk in Kirkland WA, Immature red-tail in Stanwood, WA (photos by Mick Thompson via Flickr Creative Commons license)
Here are more examples.
Arizona: Underwings on this adult are darker and redder than back east.
This is not a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) but it sure resembles one. The augur buzzard (Buteo augur) of Africa also has a lifestyle that resembles North America’s red-tailed hawk.
Take a 6-minute trip to Kenya and learn more about augur buzzards in this video from the Kenya Bird of Prey Trust. You’ll see some parallels with our most familiar hawk.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original)
Merlin at Homewood Cemetery, 26 Dec 2020 (photo by Michelle Kienholz)
28 December 2020
Pittsburgh’s Christmas Bird Count dawned bitter cold (13o F) and overcast on Saturday 26 December 2020. The weather was daunting, city roads were snow-covered, and birds were very hard to find. Though the official count isn’t in yet, there were notable exceptions less than three miles from my home — merlins, peregrines, 20K+ crows and a Baltimore oriole.
CROWS: Counting crows is always a challenge despite our best laid plans. At dusk at the Allequippa Street Parking Garage, Claire Staples and Joe Fedor counted crows arriving from the north, west, and Allegheny Valley. At Schenley Park golf course I counted them flying in from the east. (The eastern group can’t been seen from Allequippa Street.)
It was so cold! The crows felt it too and used different flight paths than the day before. Erf! Even so, the three of us counted 20,000 to 24,000 crows.
Here’s what they looked like at Allequippa Street on 18 Dec 2020, photos by Mary Brush.
Crows near the Petersen Center, 18 Dec 2020 (photo by Mary Brush)Crows near the Petersen Center, 18 Dec 2020 (photo by Mary Brush)
BALTIMORE ORIOLE (Icterus galbula): Most likely the rarest bird of the count was the Baltimore oriole at Izaguirre’s feeder in Oakland. Frank and Adrienne have been keeping him happy since he showed up on 20 December. In Frank’s photo below he’s slurping jam from the top of the suet cake. Yay!
Baltimore oriole at Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count, 26 Dec 2020 (photo by Frank Izaguirre)
In the typical absurdity of 2020, the weather on the day after the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count was partly sunny and 47oF.
Dorothy bathing at Duck Hollow during the 2013 Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count (photo by Michelle Kienholz, 28 Dec 2013)
26 December 2020
The success of a Christmas Bird Count really depends on the weather. If the weather is good the birds are active and easy to find. In bad weather — heavy rain, snow, fog, high winds — birds are scarce.
Today is the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in the circle shown below. At 8am it’s 14 degrees F with gusty winds, overcast skies and light snow showers. It feels like 2 degrees F. What birds will I find in my city neighborhood under these conditions? Not many I fear.
Seven years ago the 2013 Pittsburgh CBC had a Falcon Sweep at a single location. In one half hour there was a peregrine falcon (Dorothy), a merlin, and an American kestrel at Duck Hollow — all the possible Falco species — described in this 2013 article: Take Me To The River.
Merlin bathing in the Mon River, 28 Dec 2013 (photo by Michelle Kienholz)
Today if I’m lucky in bad weather I’ll see a peregrine at the Cathedral of Learning and a merlin at dusk in Schenley Park. It would be a miracle if I saw a kestrel.
For old times sake, here’s a kestrel in June 2016 at an unusual city location.
American kestrel at the Gulf Tower peregrine nest on 9 June 2016 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
More news later. Brrrr!
(photos by Michelle Kienholz and the National Aviary falconcam that used to be at Gulf Tower)
City lights glow on the snow and clouds, Pittsburgh at dawn 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
18 December 2020
It began snowing here in Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning, 16 December 2020, and didn’t stop for 17.5 hours. By 7:30 the next morning there were 9.25 inches of snow in Oakland. City lights glowed against the snow and clouds.
9.25″ of snow in Oakland, 17 Dec 2020, 7:30am (photo by Kate St. John)
Yesterday I took a long walk to Pitt’s campus, Carnegie Library and Schenley Park to appreciate the beauty. Here are a few of the scenes I encountered.
Red Euonymus leaves peek out of the snow, Univ of Pittsburgh, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)White trees frame the Cathedral of Learning, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
Bach, Shakespeare, and Dippy wear snowy blankets at Carnegie Museum, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Richard St. John)
This meadow near Schenley’s Westinghouse Fountain offers seeds for sparrows and juncos, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)Sweetgum seed balls wear snowy caps, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
On my way home I found one of Santa’s elves near the Library!
Santa’s elf or fire hydrant? 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
Though the snow didn’t melt it did compress in 24 hours. Here are two snapshots of the Pitt peregrine nestbox at 7:30am on Thurs 17 Dec and Fri 18 Dec. Though there is still a lot of snow it is not as daunting, even if it hasn’t been shoveled.
No peregrines visited the nest yesterday but I know they are present. I saw Morela perched on a gargoyle.
UPDATE 18 Dec 2020, 4:08pm: Morela examines the snow.
(photos by Kate St. John; statues photo by Richard St. John)
Merlin eating a junco at sunset, 7 Dec 2020, Schenley Park golf course (photo by Kate St. John)
12 December 2020
If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you’ve seen my best photo of the week, perhaps for the whole year, with only a brief description: Merlin eating a junco at sunset, Schenley Park golf course, 7 December 2020. Here’s the back story.
This week Pittsburgh suffered through six days in a row of unrelenting overcast “Pittsburgh Gray” skies. During that period there was only one moment when the sun made an appearance and I was determined to be outdoors with a big view of the sky when it happened: The Gleam At Sunset on Monday December 7.
During winter Pittsburgh often has overcast skies all day and clear skies at night. When the transition happens at sunset you can see clear sky approaching from Ohio but it will arrive too late to enjoy the sun. We have 10 minutes of happy sunshine and then it’s dark. The Gleam At Sunset.
The Gleam at Sunset, 30 Jan 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
A gleam was predicted for Monday so I walked to Schenley Park golf course to reach high open ground. The sky started to clear. The sunset was going to be beautiful.
Passing through Fezziwig Grove, I began to think about the merlin(s) that visit the golf course in winter. As I scanned the dead snags a merlin flew in with prey, a dark-eyed junco. My cellphone is not a robust camera so I positioned myself for the merlin silhouette.
I was lucky to photograph both: a merlin and The Gleam at Sunset.
Sometimes you hear songbirds calling nearby, “Danger! Watch out!”
In July and early August young red-tailed hawks whine for food. Here’s one in July 2018 at New York’s Botanical Garden with an American robin raising the alarm.
And here’s one on a windowsill in Austin, Texas, July 2011.
Red-tailed hawks raise one brood per year. The female lays eggs in March or April. The eggs hatch in 28-35 days and the young fledge 42-46 days later. That’s when the begging begins.
For three weeks juvenile red-tailed hawks depend on their parents and are not shy about asking for food. Whine!
The whining doesn’t end there. Though the youngsters become increasingly self sufficient they still want a handout if they can get one. Whine! Whine! Whine! Their parents ignore them.
Self sufficiency is the first big hurdle on their way to becoming successful adult red-tails. Some youngsters take longer than others to get the hint.
Meanwhile, whine, whine, whine, WHINE!
(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original. Audio from Xeno Canto, videos from YouTube)
Immature bald eagle, March 2015 (photo by Steve Gosser)
21 July 2020
Something is happening among nesting bald eagles in the James River watershed that may explain what we’re seeing among peregrines in western Pennsylvania. There are lots of eagles at the James River but less nesting success than in the past. The Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) in Williamsburg, Virginia has figured out why.
CCB has been conducting bald eagle nesting surveys every March since the 1970s. Seven years after DDT was banned they found only one pair of bald eagles in the watershed. This year there are 319 pairs.
Lower nesting success is not a food problem, it’s a competition problem. CCB explains:
The mechanism causing the decline does not appear to be traditional resource competition where pairs scramble for their share of limited fish. Rather, the mechanism appears to be young marauding eagles that are disrupting territory holders and competing for a limited set of viable breeding territories.
Young bald eagles are harassing adult pairs in an attempt to gain a territory — so much so that some pairs fail to nest successfully.
Adult and immature bald eagles jousting (photo by Steve Gosser)
This sounds like what happened at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest this year. In February a young male, Ecco, showed up at the Pitt nest and persistently vied for the site — so much so that Morela didn’t lay eggs until May and her eggs were never incubated. Hmmmm.
Young bald eagles are home wreckers. Maybe young peregrines are, too.
I don’t know about you but I really need uplifting news today. Here’s a dose of motherly love and cuteness as two barred owl chicks (Strix varia) grow up.
Thanks to The Dodo and Cornell Lab of Ornithology for brightening our day.
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