Vultures - talking the stork!

Turkey Vulture - Luke Tiller

During the summer I was lucky enough to go spend a few hours at an incredible bird and raptor spot just a stone’s throw across the Kern County line from Los Angeles, CA. Here a number of California Condors spend their summer months loafing around a piece of private property that is almost the size of the five boroughs of New York! It’s amazing to see these birds back from the brink, and worth remembering that without the work of many different organizations they wouldn’t be.

It’s not like the California Condors are the only attraction here, we also ran into a Peregrine Falcon that was out hunting the fields (hopefully not for the cute Burrowing Owls we saw along the fence line), soaring adult Golden Eagles with a recently fledged juvenile, a myriad of dark and light calarus Red-tailed Hawks and light Swanson’s Hawk (a localized breeder in the region). Even with the other raptor goodies, I have to say that getting incredible perched and flight views of these magnificent vultures is pretty much enough in and of itself.

Anyway the reason I bring my weekend up, apart from birding bragging, is that I again found myself hearing that old chestnut that New World Vultures are less closely related to hawks and eagles, than they are to storks. It’s one of those stories that has an appeal as it allows the teller to discuss things like convergent evolution and, thanks to their obvious physical differences, to also get an amazed response from the person you’ve told it to. Unfortunately it’s also essentially a story that hasn’t been believed by most ornithologists for at least five years now.

If you’ve spent time though at a hawkwatch I’m betting it’s a story you have both heard and perhaps even told yourself. Essentially historically there have been three trains of thought with New World Vultures (Cathartidae): that they should be included in the order Ciconiiformes along with storks, that they should be included in the Accipitriformes with hawks and eagles or that they should be in an order all of their own.

Basically what happened is that an early DNA study (unfortunately based on erroneous data) seemed to suggest that vultures were more closely linked to storks than hawks and eagles. This was also backed up by some behavioral, morphological and karyotype similarities. Recent multi-locus DNA studies, however, now seem to suggest that the vultures are more closely related to hawks and eagles. As of current writing if you check the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American Birds you will find them sat among the Accipitriformes which includes kites, harriers, eagles and hawks among others. This decision to put them in this new order was made in the 51st supplement which is based on committee deliberations between January 2009 and March 2010 and published in the summer of 2010.

Interestingly the same supplement announced another big change for raptor aficionados by the AOU. I had been hearing rumors from scientists I knew, for a few years, that there was little to suggest that hawks and falcons were closely related and it was in this supplement that the AOU decided that DNA comparisons showed that these birds (which had previously been lumped in the Order Falconiformes) are not closely related. The hawks, eagles etc were split out into the new order Accipitriformes (which also included the New World Vultures ), while the Falconiformes held on to just falcons, forest falcons and caracaras. These birds were agreed to be much more closely related to parrots and passerines than they were to hawks.

Though the relationship between vultures and hawks is still somewhat in flux highlighted by the South American Classification Committee decision to place the birds into their own order: Cathartiformes, rather than putting them back into an order with hawks, eagles, kites, harriers etc, there is no longer much evidence to suggest that they are that closely related to storks or that they are more related to storks than they are to hawks.

So latest studies seem to suggest that we don’t need to worry about the validity of counting vultures at our hawkwatches, but what to do about those pesky falcons?!?

And they are off!

Clickers - Catherine Hamilton

It's started! Southbound migration. Here in Los Angeles those tiny terrors: Rufous Hummingbirds are back and bullying all and sundry at the feeders as they make their way south for the winter. Down along the LA River and out in the desert beyond the San Gabriel Mountains, shorebirds, terns and swallows are starting to pile up at the usual watery oases. Though just a trickle of landbirds so far, we aren't so far removed from the migrant flood.

Though most 'Fall' watches won't start up for a couple of weeks yet it was exciting to see the first flight of raptors reported on Hawkcount from Congaree Bluffs, SC (report here). It always seems weird to me to talk about Fall migration when most of my non-birding friends are still in the middle of their beach season. Of course in reality some birds are on the move most of the year and it always amuses me to think that while many hawkwatch sites are tallying southbound migration, up at the Braddock Bay Hawkwatch in NY (home of the HMANA Raptor ID Workshop) they are counting the northbound push of post breeding dispersal along the Great Lakes (read about the phenomenon here).

Red-tailed Hawk - Luke Tiller

Reading that report from South Carolina I find myself imagining the excitement of seeing those initial couple of migrant raptors breaking over the horizon, as well as enjoying the other soaring birds like Wood Storks and Anhingas as they float by. I wonder if I am the only one out there that gets a vicarious thrill from looking at the day's reports in Hawkcount and reading through the highs and lows of other peoples days out hawkwatching? Being in the Los Angeles Basin means that there is little in the way of any visual migration of raptors, or anything else for that matter, so being able to scan through the reports in the evening is about as close as I get.

I start with sites that I know well: either ones I have counted at or that I have visited. That way you know what you've missed by being miles away, or maybe just stuck in the office all day. As well as keeping up with known sites I also just enjoy looking through and reading the reports, appreciating the descriptions of the flights, the humor of the counters or even just sympathizing with the frustrations of a seasons developments. The real highlight for me though is to look at those sites with mind-boggling flights in Texas, Mexico and Panama and try to imagine the panic, joy and insanity a day with two million raptors might cause (Hawkcount report for Cerro Ancon, Panama here).

Braddock Bay Hawkwatchers - Luke Tiller

Am I alone in this? Or are there other online hawkwatchers enjoying the seasons flight from the comfort of their own office? Of course I have to say that being there for the flights would be better, but when you can't, at least for me, there is always Hawkcount! Maybe I should start a hawkwatchers anonymous for those of us deprived of the real thing by location, work or whatever else in life is getting in the way?

Raptor Bytes - hawkwatching morsels from around the web

Hawkcount - HMANA

HMANA New Web Presence
As the fall season starts to draw to a close, I am hoping that readers have noticed some recent changes both to our redesigned and relaunched website (here) and some spiffy new updates to our Hawkcount page (if you missed it see the blog post here). All of this has been undertaken thanks to the support of our membership and the hard work of our mainly volunteer team. In the recent HMANA Hawk Migration Studies Magazine we pledged to have a much more active online presence (it is 2013 after all) and the new website will offer part of this.

HMANA 'News'
With the Fall counting season drawing to a close, it can only mean that it is just a few months until the Spring season is upon us. Until then there will be plenty on our website and blog to keep you entertained! As well as the blog, important news pieces concerning HMANA can be found in the 'HMANA News' section on the website. For example, usually the seasons flyway reports are only open to the membership of the organization, but last fall's editions are now up on our website for your perusal (link here). To read the reports click on the icon with the small white arrow in a black box at the top right of the document. You can also download this PDF. For an organization that is focused on conservation it feels right to be putting more of this information online. Reports will at future date be moved to a members only section of the website.

HMANA Conference
In other news our 40th Anniversary Conference is really starting to take shape now (Braddock Bay, near Rochester, NY April 25-27 2014) and we are excited to confirm that a certain British author with a recently published guide to raptor identification will be our keynote speaker at the event.! Keep an eye on exciting event developments here.

California Condors: Good news, bad news
In 1982 only 22 California Condors remained in the wild, however through successful captive breeding programs their numbers have grown steadily. The recovery of this species is still on a knife edge though, with their main threat coming from continuing lead poisoning. For those that care about condors it can only be seen as a good thing that the State of California has recently extended the ban on the use of lead based ammunition statewide. It hasn't all been good news however, with two condors being lost in accidents in Kern County, CA recently (story here). This news followed hot on the heels that October has seen significantly larger numbers of birds than normal having to be treated for lead poisoning at the Los Angeles Zoo (more on the story from the L.A Times here).

California Condor Cam
For those that love raptors then a must see is the Oakland Zoo and Ventana Wildlife Society run Condorcam. As well as the condors the odd Golden Eagle drops in to grab some food as well as the ubiquitous Ravens. Very, very cool (check it out here).

California Condor movie 
Some of you might be aware of the above movie The Condor's Shadow. It has just been announced that it will air on PBS SoCal on Dec 7th at 8pm. Looks to be an interesting movie. You can find out more about the movie, view extra footage and find out more about future screenings on Facebook (here).

California (raptor) dreamin'....

     In February the Bear Valley, like many other parts of California, is green with spring.  Farms, orchards, and vineyards carpet the valley floor.  Bordered on the west by the Gavilan Mountains and on the east by the southern Diablo Range, the valley is a visible manifestation of the San Andreas fault.  A quiet two-lane highway runs the western length of this striking landscape, a road enough off the beaten path that one can pull off to the side without fear of causing a traffic catastrophe.  And that's a boon to birders, especially hawk gawkers.

     It was one gorgeous late February day that we ventured southward from Hollister along the verdant fields and hillsides. The valley must be home to uncountable small furry critters and lizards and other tasty fare because we saw raptors almost everywhere.  A wide range of behaviors were exhibited: many were hunting, some of the birds were in dramatic courtship displays, some were engaged in what appeared to be territorial disputes, some were migrating, and some were possibly hangers-on from winter, not quite ready to head north.  

photo by S. Fogleman

     Red-tailed Hawks predominated, providing great opportunities to study a wide range of color variation.  I believe I have come to love the dark Western morph the most.  American Kestrels seemed to be everywhere, and I think I can truthfully state that I have never seen so many in one day anywhere other than a coastal migration watchsite.  They hover-hunted over fields, they were perched on utility lines, on fence posts, on small saplings.  They pestered Red-tails, they pulled the wings off large insects, they preened, they mated, and made us wonder if this was the Kestrel Shangri-la.

     Northern Harriers were probably the next most numerous, with silvery adult males as well as "brown" birds drifting back and forth above the grasses and marshy areas, and sometimes sitting on a fence. Red-shouldered Hawks were often perched on utility poles along the road.  We spotted the occasional Merlin zipping along parallel to the road, or perched on a snag on the steep slopes on our west side.  Here and there a delicate-looking White-tailed Kite captured our attention. Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks were frequently spotted.  A side trip up into Pinnacles National Monument rewarded us with awesome albeit too-fast-to-get-the-camera views as a Prairie Falcon whipped over us at about 30 feet.

     When the frequency of Golden Eagle sightings equals what you might have of Red-tails in the East, you know you're in great raptor country.  Two Goldens acting a bit "courtship-ish" caught our attention as we scanned a horse pasture below us.  At another stop one appeared to be mantling over prey .  Sometimes, while watching a pair of Red-tails in the sky, a Golden would drift into view.  Then there'd be one that was perched on a rocky outcropping, or the archway of a ranch entrance.  At overlook pull-offs where we would be looking down on these birds, their golden nuchal feathering gleamed in the afternoon sunshine.

     Best of all to this Easterner, were the Ferruginous Hawks.  I spotted the first one when we were still about 400 meters north of it as it perched on a fence post.  It was definitely a "wow" moment for me, but the next three or four sightings of that species were just as "wow," as each of those long-winged buteos made certain we appreciated their majesty.

Ferruginous Hawk - photo by W. Fogleman

     Had we visited a week later would we have seen as many raptors?  Would we have seen as much diversity(12 species, including the abundant Turkey Vultures)?  What might it have been like a month earlier in that valley?  Perhaps some light could be shed on the situation by systematic monitoring such as the Winter Raptor Survey.  I'd volunteer, except that I live 3000 miles away!