Harris Hawk: The Cooperators

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Arizona Photos, Birds, Evolution

 

Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)

At the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum the last raptors we saw in flight were Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)  which I have seen a number of times before.  I was very lucky to have captured an image of this wonderful bird in flight,

 

This bird is unusual because it is one of the few birds of prey that hunts in packs. As a result, Harris Hawks  are more successful at capturing prey than individuals that hunt alone, but, of course, that means they have to share.

Harris’s are one of only two truly cooperative hunters in the raptor world. They will live in pairs in the tropical areas, or places where prey is abundant. In areas such as the Sonoran desert where prey has a lot of good cover because this desert contains a lot of vegetation,  they have been documented in groups as large as 9 birds.

That is why they are sometimes called ‘wolves of the air‘ taking their turns harrying a rabbit or squirrel and then chasing it out of cover towards other members that catch it. Here at the Museum they did not have to harry prey because the food was laid out for them. Briefly, the commentator giving us information through a loudspeaker tried to trick us into thinking they had found some prey were trying to pursue it into a corner. She soon acknowledged that this was not the case.

Sometimes Harris Hawks have been electrocuted by hydro lines, but sometimes other members of the group will return to help the injured hawk.  Thus, they carry their cooperating to extremes.  This cooperative view of species is sometimes controversial, as some evolutionists believe there is no cooperation in nature, just competition, but I think the better view is that cooperation is real, and Harris Hawks are an example of that.

They also nest in social groups that allows them to bond before they venture out together on hunting raids.

 

Crested Caracara

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Birds, photography

 

 

I have been to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum many times, but this year we saw a new species the Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway). This  bird is a fairly recent immigrant to Arizona that flew in over Trump’s vaunted wall. Actually, it arrived before the wall, but the wall would not have bothered it.

This bird is very rare in the United States, but it has been expanding its range into the southern United. So far it has only reached a few of the most southerly states.

It was a treat to see this magnificent bird up close.

It is a falcon but looks a little like a vulture. It acts a bit like a vulture too usually dining on carcases or otherwise immobile prey that it locates by soaring or cruising over pastureland or grassland. Sometimes it can be found in a group of vultures participating in a feast.

It is easy to recognize this bird as it stands tall on yellow-orange legs with a sharp black cap set off against a white neck and yellow-orange face

 

The Crested Caracara is a bird of open country and reaches only a few states in the southern U.S. It flies low on flat wings, and routinely walks on the ground.

 

 

 

A silent hunter

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Arizona Photos, Birds, photography

 

 

The Great Horned owls fly extremely quietly to avoid giving themselves away to their prey. I learned this personally and directly when I was at the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum one came up from behind me and flew right over my head and I never heard it. It was so close I could have touched it. I did hear excited people gasping near to me and I did not why until it had flown by . It was so close I could have touched it. I pretended to be brave. It gave me a personal feeling of what it must be like to be a prey of such a magnificent raptor. It was thrilling.

These owls have very good low-light eyesight, and hearing that allows them to spot prey in difficult circumstances. I don’t think they saw an old fat guy like me as prey.

These owls don’t actually have horns. They have tufts near the ears that gives them their names. They also have deep yellow eyes

They will eat a great variety of prey including large insects, reptiles, amphibians, other birds, and small mammals such as skunks and jackrabbits. I don’t know about you but I have no intent to add skunk to my diet.

The Great Horned Owl is a generalist raptor that captures a very wide range of prey, including reptiles, amphibians, rodents, and birds and can be found throughout the U.S. and even Canada in many different all habitats.

Owls do not build their own nests; because they lay eggs earlier in the year than most other species, they use old raven and hawk nests to raise their young. As a result, in Manitoba I have managed to see them early in the year where their young must battle the cold.

 These owls sometimes fall prey to Golden eagles or Northern goshawks.

Today was the first time I managed to capture a photo of these magnificent birds in flight. It was a great experience for which I was very grateful .

 

Great Horned Owl

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Birds, Natural History, photography

 

 

 

At the Arizona- Sonoran Desert Museum I saw a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) can close its feet with 500 psi (pounds per square inch). I have seen these before in Manitoba but never this close. This was a treat.

The average human exerts- squeezing as hard as 80-150 psi. However, the story that owls will eat your dogs/cats is an mainly an urban legend because an owl cannot lift more than its own body weight of (2-3 lbs).

These owls are found around North America, and owls are found throughout urban areas. Many people fear they will attack their pet cats.  While we don’t like to say it ‘never’ happens, it certainly doesn’t happen with frequency. Owls will dive at cats, dogs and even people if they have a nest in the area, sometimes misconstrued as a hunting attempt.

 

The Great Horned Owl is a generalist raptor that captures a very wide range of prey, including reptiles, amphibians, rodents, and birds and can be found throughout the U.S. and even Canada in many different all habitats. Today was the first time I managed to capture a photo of these magnificent birds in flight

These owls are found around North America, and owls are found throughout urban areas. Many people fear they will attack their pet cats.  While no one should  say it ‘never’ happens, it certainly doesn’t happen with frequency. Owls will dive at cats, dogs and even people if they have a nest in the area, sometimes misconstrued as a hunting attempt.

 

Sonoran Desert Museum Tucson

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Birds, Natural History, photography

 

This is a Great Horned Owl which I saw in Tucson Arizona this winter.

In Arizona this past winter, we went to one of my favorite places in Arizona, the Arizona- Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson Arizona. The word “museum” however is very misleading. You have to put all of your preconceptions about what a museum is on the shelf. This place is very different.  As they say here, “this is a place to turn your idea of museum inside out.”

It is almost entirely outdoors and consists of a 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum, publisher, and art gallery that was founded in 1952 and is located west of Tucson adjacent to the Saguaro National Park and closely integrated with it. It  features 2 miles of walking paths through a 21 acres of desert landscape. It is a place of wonder. If you want to learn about the Sonoran Desert this is a great place to start as it contains much of the flora and fauna of that special North American desert.

My favorite part of this museum is the Live Raptor display that is held each winter. Here you get to see a variety of desert flying raptors flying in the wide open spaces. The birds are actually free to fly away and sometimes do exactly that. They don’t usually fly away because they know if they show a bit of patience people will place food for them in the surrounding shrubs, cacti and other plants. Why would you leave this place if food in convenient bite-sized chunks will soon be available? This food is place on shrubs close to where the people stand with cameras at the ready.

I have tried a number of times to get photos of raptors in flight and failed each time until this year. This year I was thrilled with my results. I have will show more of my photos in future posts.

The Museum  contains only birds that can be found in the Sonoran Desert.  The birds are completely untethered and without any jesses (leg straps) and mainly even without bracelets. A narrator tells the story of each specie on display that day including their habits, diets, hunting strategies, behaviors, and fun facts that I usually end up forgetting because I get to wrapped up in the raptor display. But that’s me.

The thing that is most surprising about this place is how close the raptors come to us. It turned out today that as far as the raptors were concerned, I was the centre of attention. A number of times they swooped right over my head. I could have touched them were I not such a smart guy (big chicken) who knew better than to touch them in flight. A few times I missed a great shot of a bird because I was too close to photograph it with my zoom lens.

This was a sensational day!

The Ocean is our Friend

Bio-Diversity, Ecocide, New Attitude to Nature

All life on the planet relies on our oceans for survival. As David Attenborough said,

“The animal world can’t operate without a healthy ocean and neither can we. The ocean is a critical ally in our battle to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. The more diverse it is the better it does its job.”

 

The nations of the world recognized in 2022 at the UN conference on bio-diversity, held in Canada, that bio-diversity was vital to the world but was under attack by human activity.

The ocean is also a vital source of food and again, that source is under siege as a result of human actions. The healthier our oceans are the more food it can supply. What’s bad for the ocean is bad for us too.

Our world with its growing populations needs all the healthy food it can get. We must be careful not to ruin good sources of food. It would be in our best interests to conserve those sources, including clearly, the oceans.

Palau is an island nation that recognized the importance of its marine life and also recognized that the marine life was disappearing. As a result, it established reserves where fishing was not permitted. Consequently, those actions were so successful that the fish population increased substantially. In fact, fish populations were so healthy and abundant that marine life spilled over into unprotected areas where fishers could catch the prey. The local fishers benefited as their coral reefs recovered too. That is a win/win situation, to use an over-worked phrase. Why don’t we do that around the world?

According to Attenborough,

“Estimates suggest, that no fish zones in one third of our coastal seas would be sufficient to provide all the fish we will ever need.  In international waters, the UN is attempting to create the biggest no fish zone of all. In one act this will transform the open ocean from a place where fish are exhausted by fishing fleets to a wilderness that will help us all in our efforts to combat climate change. The world’s greatest wildlife reserve in the world.”

 

And of course, at the same time, such measures will increase our supply of healthy food immensely!  And, to get mushy, millions of fish will be happier.

The ocean is our friend.

 

This can be done

Climate change, Decline of the west, Environmental Apocalypse, New Attitude to Nature

 

 

 

 Sunset at Peggy’s Cove

David Attenborough reminded us in his testament statement that

 “The living world is essentially solar powered. The world’s plants capture 3 trillion kilowatt hours of solar energy each day. Almost 20 times the energy we need just from sun light. Imagine if we phase out of fossil fuels and run our world on the eternal energy of the natural energy of the sun too.”

Of course, we could add wind and geothermal and other unlimited sources of energy. We could transform the world. For example, Morocco used to get all of its energy from foreign oil and gas and now it gets 40% of energy from internal natural renewable sources. It might be an exporter of energy to Europe by 2015. By 2015 renewables are predicted to be the main source of power.

However instead of changing with the times, our banks, our pension plans, our business leaders, and some of our governments, like Canada are investing Bigly in fossil fuels. Canada spent billions on a gas pipeline as it promised to get off fossil fuels.

Renewables are also a smart investment for many reasons. The energy will be more affordable. It will make our cities quieter and with cleaner air. We never have to worry about running out of sunlight and wind and heat from under the ground. Added to that, we won’t be subject to extortion from undemocratic dictators like Putin or sheiks from the Middle east when we rely on renewables obtained from inside our own borders. Currently air pollution is a major health consequence of our reliance on fossil fuels when there is a better way. We can avoid many of these problems if we switch our reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy. Yet we find that difficult.

We have to change our attitudes so that we can change our ways.

Re-wild the Planet

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Anthropocene, Bio-Diversity, Decline of the west, Environmental Apocalypse, New Attitude to Nature

David Attenborough in his testament statement on  his show A Life on the Planet, said there was a straightforward way out of our world crisis. I found this very difficult to believe.  He said we had to re-wild the planet and we could do it, so that 100 years from now the planet will be wild again.

One of my favorite environmental writers, George Monbiot, a columnist for the The Guardian said something similar. Since two of my favorite environmentalists made a similar statement, I decided I should pay attention.

Attenborough said every species reaches a natural limit of its population. That is the population that can be supported by our planet. Anything more makes our life here unsustainable.

Because there is nothing restricting us, during my lifetime, the human population has been growing dramatically. During my lifetime so far, the population has grown from approximately 2.5 billion people to 8.2 billion. That is a pretty big increase. Scientists are predicting that there will be 11 billion people on earth by 2100. That is about when my youngest granddaughter will reach 80 years old (I hope).

We could stop population growth before it reaches that point. Japan has stopped its population growth. They are actually worrying about not having enough people and are encouraging their citizens to have more children, but the people of Japan are resisting.

The birth rate fell in the last half of the 20th century as their standard of living grew. Their population growth has stabilized. Attenborough says, there are signs that it is happening around the world. The number of children being born around the world and the growth of the population is about to level off. It is likely that the population growth of the world will peak in the near future for the first time. That will make everything we have to do easier, says Attenborough. But not easy.

What we need to do is help people to live better! In other words, we should help people get out of poverty, give all access to health care, and enabling people, girls in particular, to stay in school as long as possible, we can make the world’s population peak sooner and at a lower level.

 

Why wouldn’t we want to do that?  Many will say they don’t want to pay for this. But this would benefit all of us! Not just those in the poorer countries. All of us benefit from this approach! We should help others to reach these goals for our selfish reasons! Because it will be good for us!

 

But we have to raise the standard of living of people around the world without raising their impact. Attenborough says there are ways that we can do this. That is the challenge.