We have been studying raptors in northern California for 40 years. In particular, our research has been trying to understand a population of Swainson's Hawks.
Joined December 2018
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Governor Ron DeSantis holds an accountability roundtable for mRNA shots. nitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1LyGBqkmz…
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What do #swifts eat? - a thread 🐦 more accurately what do they feed their nestlings 🐣 as this is from 3 lumps of swift regurgitate that @GrahamDenny9 collected from adults coming back to nests @Rothamsted @Rothamsted_RIS #farming #wildlife #wildbirds #ornithology
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Avian influenza is a very nasty disease. And also raptors are at risk. Either by scavenging on diseased birds, or preying on them. The last meal of this Marsh Harrier, dying a miserable death, may well have been an infected duck or coot.
Al een tijdje zag ik jonge bruine kiekendieven 'verdwijnen'. Dan denk je tegenwoordig meteen aan #vogelgriep. Vanmiddag vond ik deze zieke vogel op een akker. Deze heftige beelden bevestigen mijn vrees. De gevolgen van onze omgang met natuur zijn steeds tastbaarder. 😔
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My latest, with AP colleagues Christina Larson and Patrick Whittle: a look at once-troubled wildlife species now causing problems for others.
apnews.com/article/science-l…
This year the Swainson's hawks in our area seem late. Probably a week behind most years on average. This guy is only around 3 weeks post-hatch.
Sometimes nature conspires to prevent you from doing your work. Like when this giant swallowtail showed up on this phlox in the yard. Loved seeing the airfoil form in its wings in slow motion.
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RRF is pleased to announce a Virtual Speaker Series organized by the Early Career Raptor Research Committee. ECRRC will host @arjundevamar on July 21, @RuthTingay on Aug 18, and @wildfarms on Sept 15! Students and early career members with active memberships are invited to attend
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comunicacion.jcyl.es/web/jcy… One hundred griffon vultures poisoned un Spain. @4Vultures @and_san_vult @munirvirani @YayVultures @ron_efrat
So this Swainson's hawk should be setting up to breed for the first time this year. She's not... She's all over the place. The yellow circle (top center) represents the average territory size in this population.
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** Raptor Biologists/ People that study Peregrine Falcons **
So I had an AWESOME sighting today at the hawk watch: a Peregrine Falcon migrated past with some sort of tracking unit backpack attached (I could see a little bump on the back plus antenna) ⬇️
She's alive! She may be the oldest known living Swainson's Hawk. Fledged in 1998, she started breeding in 2000. She seems to be on her third mate - or at least her second mate hasn't shown up yet and she was mating with her next-door neighbor. Did she break up another pair??
This is blue A9 - he was the last Swainson's hawk fledged in 2019. He fledged a month later than most. He likely only had a couple of weeks. I didn't think he had any real chance of making it through even his first migration. 1/3
However, this February farmers found him in a field in Tolima, Colombia. He was tired, but otherwise healthy and released after this picture. That means he made it down to South America from California, back to North America, and back down to South America. 2/3
As @birdturntable pointed out yesterday, mortality is already very high for young raptors - probably at least 50% in their first year. For A9 to make it this long is really quite impressive when the odds were stacked against him.
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So sorry to hear about the death of Nick Williams @TheFalconBirder
He made a considerable contribution to the conservation of raptors, with the CMS @BonnConvention raptors MOU
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I am very excited to see that finally this project has been finalized. Unfortunately, Michele Panuccio cannot see it, but I believe he would have been more than satisfied, and already looking forward to going back in the field to fill new knowledge gaps.
