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|
Information
on Banded Hawks Wanted
|
We
need your help to locate banded Red-tailed & Red-shouldered
Hawks in Orange County |
| |
We
need the following information: |
| |
|
| 1. |
Your
name, address, phone number and E-mail address |
| 2. |
The
date and specific location of the sighting |
| 3. |
The
species of hawk, if possible |
| 4. |
Which
leg the aluminum band is on |
| 5. |
The
letter or number and color of the band, as well as any
marks before the letter or number |
| 6. |
The
location and proximity to any known hawk nests |
| 7. |
Any
information about breeding behavior, such as courtship,
nest building, territorial behavior and/or repeated vocalizations |
| Example:
A
Red-shouldered Hawk was spotted with an aluminum band
on its right leg, and a red band with "J" on the left leg.
The bird was soaring with another hawk near a nest site at
the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary on 12/31/01. |
| . |
| Although
we would, of course, like all the information to be complete,
we realize that partial information may also be of some help. |
Please
mail or phone your information to:
Scott or Cheryl Thomas
24911 Hayuco
Mission Viejo CA 92692
(949) 472-6405
|
| Background
Information: |
| For
the last three decades, Sea & Sage member Pete Bloom has
been studying and subsequently banding hundreds of raptors
in Southern California. Pete has returned to higher education
in order to complete his Ph.D.. His thesis will include natal
dispersal (the life history of chicks from known nest sites)
and breeding success of Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks.
The data for his research will come from his thirty years
of mark and recovery (banding) research completed in Southern
California. |
| |
| The
vast majority of banded birds were originally banded as chicks
or trapped as adults in open spaces and parks surrounding
Orange and northern San Diego counties. More recently, Sea
& Sage member, Scott Thomas, has banded hundreds more
raptors in the urbanized areas of Orange County. |
| |
| The
purpose of banding the birds is to gather information on the
dispersal, nesting success and life expectancy of hawks in
this geographical region. Many have been tracked over the
length of the study through various methods, including recapturing
previously banded birds, reports from the recovery of injured
or deceased birds, tracking individuals with radio transmitters,
and viewing specialized, easy to read color bands. |
| |
| Much
has been added to our understanding of raptor ecology, and
the success of the study has been enhanced by contributions
from Sea & Sage members. |
| |
| We
need your help again in order to locate the hawks which we
may have missed, particularly in the urban areas and parks.
For the next few years, we will be concentrating all our efforts
on locating the many banded Red-tails and Red-shouldered
Hawks here in Southern California. |
| |
| Most
of the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks fall into two "banding
categories": |
| Category
1: Birds that were banded
as nestlings. These will have
one aluminum band which is silver in color and will most likely
be on the right leg. Most of these birds were born in nests
somewhere in Southern California and banded as chicks. We
need to attempt to recapture them in order to identify
them. |
| Category
2:
Birds that have 2 bands, one of each leg.
These birds will have an
aluminum band on either the right or left leg. The other leg
will have a "color band" made of either metal or plastic.
These "color bands" have either a number or letter on them
that is large enough to read with an average spotting scope
or a very good pair of binoculars. |
Special
Circumstances:
When we band resident adult hawks, we often put the bands
on in a specific arrangement in order to more easily distinguish
the male from the female. Example: On females, we often put
the aluminum band on the left leg with the color band on the
right. |
A
Little Information about the Bands:
The aluminum bands are issued
to researchers from the US Fish & Wildlife Service. They
have a two-part number that is issued only once, which will
identify the bird both to the Fish & Wildlife Service
and to us. The
color bands are our own bands and identify these birds to
us only. Although the Fish & Wildlife Service receives
data on these color bands from us when they are installed,
they cannot cross reference them to our particular hawk. These
color bands will have some sort of marking. Example:
a "red-P" on the left leg of a Red-shouldered Hawk. |
| . |
| Send all reports of banded raptors to the Bird Banding Laboratory at: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/ |
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