Not-so-injured Western Screech-Owl

The phone rang late two nights ago. It was David B., one of our avian caretakers, who had driven right over a lump in the road, realizing at the last minute that it was an injured owl. He stopped, gathered up the bird, and was anxious to get medical care for the stunned owl. As I set about making calls to find the nearest person, he called back again. This time he reported that he didn't think there was anything wrong with this owl. Apparently when he got the owl home and was attempting to put it into a box, the owl wriggled free and led David on a merry chase throughout his house. Still, I knew that the owl would need to be examined by a wildlife rehabilitator prior to release to ensure there were no underlying problems. David and owl arrived at my home about an hour later, with the little screecher secured in a well-taped cardboard box.

All was well until about 5:30 a.m., when I gathered up little owl, huddled in the corner of his box to give life nourishing fluids. Same scenario: owl wriggles free, flies all over my house, and finally gets chased into the bathroom (where the kestrel sleeps at night). Whew! Owl seems fine to me too, but I know the drill. It's off to a rehabilitator for a better evaluation.

So, yesterday, I took little owl to the office where Kristin and Peggy are both wildlife rehabilitators (I am only an emergency back-up for the real thing - sort of like a bird EMT). Kristin drew the short straw and took Little Owl out of the carrier for evaluation. A strong sense of deja vu came over me. Sure enough, Little Owl wriggled free and was free-flying in our office, at one point perching atop the coat tree right in front of the photo of our educational screecher. Ron K. snapped this photo, and then it was off again. Did you know that a screecher can hang upside down from the ceiling tiles? Fortunately, we have large nets in our office for the precise purpose of catching injured birds.

In the case of Little Owl, the odds are excellent for release, probably within a day or two. However, it does graphically illustrate the power of an observant human. Had David not come upon Little Owl at that precise moment, the next car may have created road kill instead of saving a life! Thank you David!

Mexico, an Elder Statesman

Mexico's wintertime, indoor space

One of the responsibilities that we have is providing the best possible care for our educational ambassadors. This includes being aware of any special care requirements for a particular species as well as the idiosyncracies of the different individuals. Such is the case with our elderly Mississippi Kite, whom we call Mexico, so named because the entire population flies south to Mexico, Central and South America for the winter. Mississippi Kites are insectivores that forage aerially for moths, grasshoppers, cicadas, flying ants and more. As the insects decline with the onset of cooler temperatures, so does the kite population. Mexico, already wearing adult plumage, arrived in 2000. This means that he is at least 11 years old now, the upper limit of a life span of a wild Mississippi Kite. He is not equipped to winter outdoors. During the fall as nighttime temperatures drop, he is only outside during mid-day, and by November he is a permanent indoor resident. However, he seems to take it all in stride and easily transitions to his indoor environment near a sunny window with several perches, a water pan, and food stump. In fact, he seems so comfortable that he spends much of the winter months courting his human companion and artfully arranging towels and stuffed toys in a nestful sort of way.

Songbirds and Russian Olive Berries

Cedar Waxwings feeding on Russian olive berries

Yellow-rumped Warbler feeding on Russian olive berries

Currently, we are categorizing the berry production on selected Russian olive (exotic vegetation) and New Mexico olive (native vegetation) plants located on transects in our middle Rio Grande study area. The berries of these two plants provide an important food source for wintering (and to a lesser extend, migrating) birds that frequent the middle Rio Grande bosque. Russian olive berries are particularly important to wintering birds because they remain a viable food source throughout the winter or until the resource is depleted. In contrast, New Mexico berries tend to desiccate as winter progresses, and become a decreasingly useful food source. To date, we have documented over 30 bird species foraging on Russian olive berries, and a similar number exploiting New Mexico olive. Ultimately, we hope to generate a long-term berry production data set (10+ years) that can be compared to environmental conditions (i.e. weather patterns, river flow levels, etc.) to gain insight regarding factors that impact berry crop size in the middle Rio Grande bosque. -- written by Trevor Fetz, avian biologist

Raptors of the Rio Grande Gorge

This Golden Eagle nestling fledged prematurely. However, it still has a good chance of survival because of its large size, and because its parents will continue to provide care while it is on the ground.
Golden Eagles continue to add to existing nests for many years, eventually amassing a massive structure several feet tall and several feet wide.

There is a fissure, a crack of basalt that runs through north central New Mexico. In it lies a river, the hydrologic aorta of the state, the Rio Grande. Within this canyon nesting Golden Eagles thrive, along with Prairie Falcons, and Red-tailed Hawks. Commonly known as the Rio Grande Gorge, it contains some of the largest Golden Eagle nests that I have ever seen. Some of which attain heights nearing 10 feet, attesting to fact that Golden Eagles have been using these nest sites in the gorge for a very, very, long time.

Written by Ron Kellermueller, raptor biologist

Fall Songbird Migration - Albuquerque Bosque

MacGillivray's Warbler. Photo by Doug Brown.

Fall migration is now clearly in full swing. Large numbers of MacGillivray’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Virginia’s Warbler are currently moving through the bosque. Wilson’s Warbler numbers are currently comparable to those of the three warblers mentioned above, but are small compared to the numbers that will be present in the bosque during the coming weeks. Orange-crown Warbler and Townsend’s Warbler are also moving through in relatively large numbers. Western Wood-Pewee numbers have greatly increased this week compared to earlier in the month. We undoubtedly undercount vireos in the bosque because they rarely vocalize during this time of year, but we have recorded three species so far this week. Warbling Vireos are regular right now, and we finally detected our first Plumbeous Vireos this week. Most exciting, however, is the detection of three Red-eyed Vireos over the past eight days, a species that is normally very rare in the bosque.

Songbird Migration Is On!

Yellow Warbler. Photo by David Powell.

Migration is beginning to pick up steam in the bosque. Among warblers, Yellow Warblers are currently moving through in the largest numbers, with smaller numbers of MacGillivray’s Warblers and Virginia’s Warblers also popping up. Wilson’s Warblers are just starting to trickle into the bosque, and we have also recorded Black-throated Gray Warbler and Orange-crowned Warbler over the past week. Other migrants currently moving through include Western Tanager, Warbling Vireo, Rufous Hummingbird, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Calliope Hummingbird, and Gray Flycatcher. Other species of note include Lark Sparrow and Chipping Sparrow, both of which are moving around in large numbers, the occasional Red-breasted Nuthatch, and increasing numbers of Bullock’s Oriole and Lazuli Bunting

Golden Eagle Nestlings

These Golden Eagle nestlings were filmed through a spotting scope by Hawks Aloft raptor biologist, Ron Kellermueller. The parents had just made a prey delivery as Ron and his son, Malcolm watched. Check out the size of this nest!

Avian Awareness Training

Did you ever wonder who or what might be staying in the room next door at your hotel? I'll bet you never imagined that it might be a few hawks, a couple of owls, and a crow! Well, that is exactly what was spending the night in southern New Mexico hotel earlier this week. You can see the tons of sheets and towels covering the area surrounding the ferruginous and Swainson's hawk that night.

Gail Garber and Kristin Madden traveled to Artesia with a vanload of birds to participate in an avian protection training session for utility workers. What a wonderful event it was! All 6 birds were perched around the room for the duration of the session. The crow happily accepted grapes and hard-boiled egg from one gentleman. Our Swainson's hawk captivated everyone at the end of the program when she caught mice tossed by another gentleman and chowed them down right in front of everyone.

The linemen that attended the session were wonderful. They were all interested in meeting the birds and learning more about compliance with the laws and the development of avian protection plans. A few myths were dispelled and everyone had a great sense of humor. In spite of the dry nature of some of the topics covered that day, the faces of the audience lit up when we talked about the birds and shared something about their individual personalities.

After a delicious lunch at a restaurant that was clearly a local favorite, Gail & Kristin headed home. Pulling into Albuquerque around 6:20 p.m., they congratulated each other on arriving home early enough to put birds back in their mews (raptor cage) before dark. They obviously spoke far too soon. What they encountered was one of the worst traffic jams they could remember. Finally, arriving at an exit, they ditched the freeway and south another way across the river. Every crossing was packed! Neither of them arrived home before 8 p.m. It was a very long day.

Indigo the American Crow

Indigo is the newest addition to the Hawks Aloft family of education ambassadors. Found in Oregon as a youngster, she was kept as a pet indoors. We assume that her rescuers, who cared for her very much, were not aware that it is illegal to keep a crow without the appropriate permits. When her rescuers needed to move, they turned her in to the Cascades Raptor Center. So the little beauty grew up with nearly constant human contact. As you can imagine, she is a human imprint. When she arrived, she was afraid to be outside, particularly after dark, and was terrified of anything flying near her.

Indigo has an immediate and very humorous reaction to being in the sun. She starts by fluffing out all the feathers on her neck. Then one wing comes out and her head drops to one shoulder. She opens her mouth and looks as if she is about to pass out. It doesn’t matter if she is outside in the heat or sitting near a window in the air-conditioned Hawks Aloft office.

One thing that Indigo absolutely loves is a good bath. Here you can see her during bath time at the Hawks Aloft office. She does look a little like a drenched cat, doesn't she? You can see right into her ears when she's wet. Of course, she doesn't care how she looks. Bath time is her favorite game and she will dive back in over and over until the whole area is soaked and her bowl is empty. It is obviously great fun!

Indigo is a beautiful, engaging bird. In her short time with us, she has already captivated her fair share of utility workers and children, eliminating many negative beliefs regarding crows. As you can tell, she is quite the character, so you can expect us to post more amusing stories about her.

Beaks and Talons

In the wild, animals keep their claws and beaks trimmed down by all the movement they do in the course of everyday living. We clip our dog's nails - most of the time they don't have to go far for food - but wolves, which run for miles, don't need our help in that regard! So, too, our Educational Raptors, which are all unreleasable due to injuries, occasionally need a pedicure!



Our birds, which are conditioned to stand on a glove, are still wild animals! So a certain amount of wrestling is needed to accomplish this very necessary task. So, out comes the towel, along with a Dremel tool, which does a quick and precise job on overgrown beaks and talons.



Although the birds don't like the initial grabbing, they are remarkably quiet while being "coped", as the trimming is called in the falconry world. Being wrapped in a towel, like a Bird Burrito, is much like using a hood.

After trimming, the slightly ruffled raptors hop back onto the glove. We also weigh them, and it's amazing how quickly they settle down after the ordeal! Of course, just like people, our birds have individual personalities. So our Swainson's Hawk is letting us know he did NOT enjoy that!

Bathtub Bird

Early Monday morning we got the call. A woman in Los Lunas had a bird in her bathtub (No water). Could Hawks Aloft come get it? The first thing to establish: was it a hawk?

We have a series of questions we ask to determine, as closely as possible, what type of winged creature a member of the public has. This person was adamant she had a small hawk, probably a Kestrel. Transporting and handling a raptor usually takes special skills. Before driving an hour to pick up a bird, we ensure it is one of our target species; raptor, corvid, or roadrunner, because anyone can transport a songbird to the Wildlife Rehabilitator.

The next question: was it truly injured? Many fledgling birds, including raptors, are "kidnapped" from the wild each year because well-meaning people pick them up when they are in the awkward "just out of the nest" stage. They will be clumsy fliers for a few days, but their parents continue to care for them. Even trying to watch the bird to determine if it is abandoned will keep the parents away. Right now, it is mostly passed fledgling season. So the little bird was probably not a "brancher" learning to fly. The Los Lunas folks were able to easily scoop up this particular bird with a towel, and the husband proceeded to examine its wings and legs without the bird retaliating (i.e. grabbing him back!). So this bird was probably injured.

Our Raptor Biologist, Ron Kellermueller, found on his arrival that the bird in the bathtub was indeed a hawk - a Sharp-shinned Hawk, smaller relative of the Cooper's Hawk so ubiquitous to the Rio Grande bosque. When he arrived at the office with his feathered charge, we did a quick once over and found no broken bones, but a marked discrepancy in the fleshiness on either side of the keel. Just like our muscles atrophy without use, if a bird has an injury that prevents proper flying, the muscles of the keel will wither from disuse. The one-sided nature of this bird's muscle problem pointed to a possible fracture of the coracoid, a collar-bone like part of a bird's skeletal system. This bone provides muscle attachment for the strong flight muscles of the chest. A fractured coracoid will prevent flight. The good news is, with cage rest and supportive care, this little bird should make a full recovery, and be back to terrorizing songbirds soon!

2008 New Mexico State Fair

On Friday, September 12, Hawks Aloft set up a booth at the State Fair for Celebra la Ciencia!, their Science and Technology day. Our booth was outside on the main concourse, strategically placed AWAY from the chemistry booth, where they were firing off rockets! We were next to the Rio Grande Nature Center and Outdoor Space booths, which turned out to be excellent company.

Attending the event were Kim Villescas, Hawks Aloft Educator; Sandy Skeba, Biologist and Outreach Coordinator; and wonderful volunteers Chuck Brandt, who has been with Hawks Aloft since its inception in 1994, and Jim Lakatos, who just started volunteering with us a month ago. Also attending were four Avian Educational Ambassadors: a Mississippi Kite, a Merlin, a Burrowing Owl, and a Red-tailed Hawk. They stole the show!

Visitors to the booth ran the full spectrum from nature lovers who marveled at the beauty of the birds, to people who were afraid (that type of bird ate my chihuahua!), to people who wanted one of their own. All of us explained politely, many times, the wonderful facts about each bird and how, sorry, it's illegal to own one unless you go through lots of training and permits. And no, they don't like being petted! As always, the kids were the most responsive and awed by our raptors.

So, despite it being a wearying day mentally and physically, we contacted lots of people and hopefully instilled a little bit of our enthusiasm about protecting birds and the habitats they need to survive.

Trailer Hawk

During breeding bird season, my job is to arise before the sun to conduct songbird surveys. An 8 hour day usually means I'm headed home by 2 pm. And so it was that hot afternoon in mid-July. My little Toyota was almost through the Tijeras pass when my cell phone rang. An injured hawk was reported in Cedar Crest, not too far from my current location. I did not have a net or box for capture purposes, but I always carry light leather gloves for just such an emergency!

When I arrived, the distraught homeowner pointed out a Red-tailed Hawk perched quietly on her horse trailer. She and her family had been watching the hawks raise a family nearby, and the young ones had recently fledged. The human's joy at this happy event had turned to dismay when they discovered this apparently injured juvenile.

Armed with the knowledge that one of the horses had been nuzzling up to the ruffled raptor, I took the stealth-and-grab-approach. The hawk was no less surprised than the owner when he found himself firmly in hand! A cursory exam revealed no obvious problems, but due to the relative ease of capture and his history of sitting in one spot all day, the decision was made to transport him to a wildlife rehabilitator. The homeowner dredged up a diaper box, which was the perfect fit for the young hawk.

Because I was pretty tired by that point, an office relay was set up for hawk delivery. The office manager met me at a nearby shopping center, and he took the package to the office, where our educator ferried the diaper box (and contents) to the rehabilition facility. I was surprised to learn that the only injury found was a large thorn imbedded in his foot! Once this was removed, he ate like a champ.

I am happy to report that the young Red-tailed Hawk recovered completely, and proved his mouse-catching prowess well enough that he was recently released back into the wild!

Sandy Skeba, photos by Theresa Falzone

Banshee or Barn Owl?

Dear Hawks Aloft:

I'm not sure that the question I have is about a hawk/owl/or what. We have a relatively large bird that comes out at night and makes a horrifying SCREEEEEECH sound. I listened to the screech owl sounds on line and it sounds nothing like it. I would estimate the size to be about 12" tall. Got any suggestions? I am really interested in what it is. Thanks!
Pam
Midwest Wisconsin, near the Mississippi

Hi Pam!
As you may guess, it can be very difficult to identify a bird through an e-mail! You have, however, provided two essential details: that it comes out at night, and that it makes a horrible screeching noise! To help further identify, we might need some more information, such as:


-Is the bird calling from on the ground, or up in a tree?
-Can you see anything at all that gives you an impression of shape or color, or even pale vs. dark?
-Are you in a rural area or in the center of a town or city?


Based on the information we have, though, one bird that springs to mind is a Barn Owl. Barn Owls are large, pale birds that frequently live in barns or other man-made structures (hence the name). They can even be attracted to Barn Owl-sized birdhouses! Their typical call is a horrid, squealing screech. While they don't often make noise, they will do so if they are disturbed, such as by human presence! They have a wide habitat range, and can be found in agricultural areas as well as suburbs. The male Barn Owl is smaller than the female, just above 12 inches long.
I copied a link that contains some Barn Owl information, as well as some of their calls. The "typical" call is the one that sounds the weirdest, to me! So listen to that call, and if that's not the bird you are hearing, try to get a little bit better of a look. If you get some more information, please let me know - We'd like to help you solve your mystery bird!

www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Tyto&species=alba

Burrowing Owl Release, Santa Fe, NM

Malcolm Kellermueller, Fledgling Biologist, is shown releasing Burrow Owls that were relocated from a construction site in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Four owls, one adult and three young, had to be safely excavated from three burrows and relocated to an area where they would not be disturbed. Malcolm is the son of Ron Kellermueller, HAI Raptor Biologist