Look what the hawks left on the roof!

Gene Mancini, the hawks' guardian angel at the Franklin Institute, has been finding these rather nasty objects on the top ledge where the hawks perch quite often these days. We have also learned that these pellets are being found on the roof of the Free Library.This one was still very moist when he found it, and he checked in with John Blakeman as to its significance.

John responded:

"Very significant. Collect and save every one of these you can find. These are "pellets," in formal ornithological parlance, called "castings" by falconers. These are the undigested remains of yesterday's food, and accurately reveal what the hawks ate the day before.

And that's always a great question. What are the hawks eating in that particular area. The pellets or castings will reveal this. We so infrequently are able to find these things. After one rain they will fall apart and never be seen.

These are essentially sterile, non-toxic. The digestive enzymes have really taken out all the bad stuff. This came up through the mouth, not out the anus. Nothing fecal about this.

Again, collect all of these you can. What urban red-tails eat is still a big question. And mark down the collection date. Food and prey will change as the birds mature and the seasons and prey change.

No need to refrigerate. Just keep them dry. A paper bag works well. Don't put them in a sealed plastic bag until they are completely dry.

--John Blakeman

Hawk capers on Thursday, July 9

Carolyn Sutton (Carditoo) has to get the MVP award for early morning hawk watching! She is out at 5:00 am EVERY morning! Kay and I get there about every third or fourth day, but Carolyn is definitely the primo observer of our hawk family. Here's her account of what's been happening these last few days:

"After a great July 6th morning of hawk-watching with Della and Kay, I have to admit to being bored on July 7th and 8th, disappointed that the hawks seemed to be moving outward, and away from the Franklin Institute area.

I saw all three eyasses on the Whole Foods' roof when I arrived at 5:00 am on Tuesday, but they soon took off, heading northwest toward Kelly Drive. I was joined by Margie from Haddonfield and though we looked and looked until 7:30 am we saw nothing. Wednesday’s experience was similar, although the eyasses chose the Library as their mustering point before leaving to hunt in a southwesterly direction. I stayed until 7:30 am and saw nothing.

BUT, though last night I contemplated giving up my dawn watch, I woke with my usual craving for a hawk fix and headed toward town. I decided to drive all around the area with windows down, listening for the plaintive calls that show me the way to hawk paradise.

While I heard nothing earlier in the week, I picked up the sound of eyass #1 at 5:15 am as he flew over my car on his way to the Franklin Institute. Very shortly eyasses #2 and #3 arrived from the trees on 21 Street and Winter for the home-coming. I watched one eat as the other two were dancing on the ledges and flying across the Parkway, alighting on old some old haunts – the Civil War monuments, then dive bombing lower than I have ever seen. One actually flew UNDER the Barnes construction barrier, a space no more than a foot or two wide!

Knowing now that at least two eyasses were in the tree alley, I went to explore and heard them calling right above my head. I was all set to watch them perform, when I turned around and, LO, saw the third eyass sitting on the nest! S/he actually remained there, pecking, preening and hopping about for 20 minutes, before flying over to the tree alley.

Now there were three eyasses overhead. They flew from branch to branch, still calling out, before launching an all-out attack over the meadow, actually skimming the grasses. They perched in a few familiar places, including the 20th Street trees where Della spotted four or five all at once last weekend.





By now, I started to regret leaving the camera in my truck, which was way over by the Whole Foods Market. How to get over there without missing the action?- that was the question as I watched all three eyasses jump into the meadow to perform their chicken impersonations.

I managed to retrieve the camera just as one eyass took off for 21st Street. I got some good shots of the other two as they cavorted for nearly half an hour, before shifting their show to the Parkway & 21st Street corner of the meadow.



Look how casually competent our little chicks have become at catching their own food!






























Notice one bird watching longingly as the other takes off with his catch of the day.




At this point, one eyass was perched on some masonry test panels, one was doing the chicken dance right below, and one was calling from the trees. I took off in hot pursuit, upset when two eyasses took off into the tree alley, but managed to get close enough to the third bird to get more close-ups.



My last picture, was shot obliquely through the chain-link fence. Notice the remains of breakfast on his beak.

No sign of the tiercel or formel, but the eyasses are most definitely chowing down

At 7:00 am I had to leave, but for just under two hours, I was in hawk heaven, sad to leave today, but chomping at the bit to return tomorrow (Friday) to meet up with Della."


- Carolyn Sutton aka Carditoo

What do hawks drink?

In all the time that I've been watching these hawks - since they hatched, being fed by the haggards, and now hunting and feeding themselves - I realized that I have never seen them drink, and have not a clue about how they hydrate themselves.

John Blakeman to the rescue:

"Red-tails and many other hawks, and virtually all falcons, drink water. They walk out into shallow water, lean over, and dip their mouths into the water. They have no lips and so cannot easily create a swallowing reflex in soft, flexible mouth and throat tissues as can mammals. Instead, the water is literally scooped into the mouth, and then is quickly drained back into the esophagus by lifting the head and neck. It’s a bit awkward, but it works. The birds don’t get more than a few milliliters in each drinking session.


With red-tails these drinks can be rather infrequent. Peregrines, accipiters (Cooper’s hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and goshawks), and a few other species prefer to drink and bathe each day. Red-tails aren’t so thirsty. I studied some red-tail nests in Nevada where there was virtually no available ponded water for the birds to drink or bathe in. They did well, nevertheless. If water is not available, red-tails can survive very well. Not so with falcons and accipiters. They require almost daily bathes and drinks.

Drinking varies from hawk to hawk. Some of my falconry red-tails seldom drank. Others seemed always thirsty. It’s an individually variable trait with red-tails.

Some of the water the birds use originates in the blood of their prey, but unless the animal is swallowed whole, as with mice and very small rats, very little blood is swallowed. It simply drains away, unconsumed by the hawk. She’s interested in pulling off pieces of flesh, unconcerned with swallowing any blood. Any swallowed blood is merely incidental to that soaked into fir or feathers, and does not provide a significant source of water to the bird.

Actually, birds can’t be drinking and carrying around excess water. Their physiology, from highly efficient kidneys to the unique low-water urinary waste (the concentrated white uric acid, not the clear and copious urea of mammals), is adapted to operate on little water. Flying around with a bladder heavy with water doesn’t work well. So water is conserved and used carefully."

- John Blakeman

All's well with the Franklin hawks after the Fourth of July

The hawk family is doing fine after the Fourth of July fireworks and disruption in their back yard. No matter how early we get there, they are up and out - no sleepy heads in this group!








The big excitement this morning was seeing an eyass (we think) with prey that it had caught by itself! We (Kay, Carolyn and I) were on 20th Street behind the Library, and saw an eyass fly to the top of a nearby apartment building, clearly holding prey in its talons.
When it landed, it seemed a bit unsure of what to do next, almost stomping on whatever creature it had, and changing its grip before settling down to eat. Hard to be sure, though, if this was an eyass or a haggard as the tail seems red, but in the following picture, it looks browner.






The next excitement was watching the eyasses flying in and out of the trees, weaving around the construction fence that surrounds their meadow, and often perching on it.












































The hawks give away their location by their seagull-like calling to each other. This morning, I heard lots of calling over in the tree avenue along the Parkway, and it seemed to be centered in one or two trees, so I walked down and under the trees following the noise, and what should I see but an eyass on top of a light on a light pole, with the others in the tree above watching.





Then I saw that she (had to be a female - so big) had prey! It was either a pigeon or squirrel - it was quite sizeable. She did not plan to share but was having trouble keeping her footing on the slippery surface on top of the light, so she flapped/hopped to the top of a nearby pole for a bit, then went back to the light.














A hawk then flew out of the trees and over to a utility wire. He made an EXCELLENT landing on the swinging wire.

He looked much smaller than the one that had been eating, so I assumed it was Portico.















He then flew down to the ground and was walking around and pecking away just like a chicken - or would that be a chicken hawk?!
You can just about spy him in the center of this picture. This is the first time I've seen any of them happily on the ground.








Then he flew up into one of the trees by the construction fence along 20th Street. He perched in a really low branch, and as I got close I saw the red tail, so it was Dad not Portico. That accounted for the excellent utility line landing!

While all these dramas were ongoing, the rest of the gang was flying around - almost getting in my way! Quite amazing.

We definitely saw four of the five hawks today, and possibly all five. What a privilege it is to see these magnificent birds seemingly so comfortable and competent in their urban environment.

Early morning hawk excitement on the Fourth of July

Early morning seems to be the time when the hawks are really active, so I decided to get up early on July 4, go into Philadelphia and see what was happening. I met up with Carditoo (Carolyn Sutton) on the Parkway at 5:15 AM...I told you it was early!!

The sun was rising and the early morning light on the surrounding buildings was lovely. The Parkway was blocked off to traffic in order to set up for the Fourth of July festivities, and there was a lot of noise from generators, trucks backing up to deliver stuff, police cars and city workers. So it was much noisier than usual at that early hour.

The first hawk we saw was at 5:25 AM - an eyass flew out of the trees and landed on the Library roof, perched there for ten minutes, then flew back into the trees. Unfortunately, I only have a regular digital camera, so these pictures are not up to the standards we enjoy from Kay, i.e. you may have to do a Where's Waldo search to find the hawk in in some of my pictures!







Then for 20 minutes - nothing. I knew the hawks had to be close by in the trees alongside the grassy meadow area that will be the construction site for the new Barnes Collection Museum. This meadow is to the right of the Parkway if you are looking up towards the Art Museum.







Immediately behind me here is the Free Library, and the Franklin Institute is to my left on the far side of the Parkway. The grass area is surrounded by a high construction fence.





















Then we heard the unmistakable sound of the hawks calling to each other. The closest thing I can compare it to is the sound of seagulls, but less strident - more of a mewing. I looked up, and to my surprise I saw an eyass perched confidently on a utility wire. I couldn't get my camera organized in time to catch it while perching - here it is heading to a new spot.

And for the next 20 minutes, the eyasses were flying from perch to perch all around us. Can you spot the hawk up ahead of me on the pavement beside the construction fence? I was craving Kay's huge lens at this moment!








Then the eyass flew up onto the fence. The guy in the yellow shirt walking towards me just about had a heart attack when he got closer, and the eyass took off right in front of him!

It is an extraordinary experience to be so close to these spectacular birds.







One thing I noticed this morning is how much better the eyasses are at flying in tight areas, and landing on challenging perches. They have much better control, and can handle branches, wires, chimneys, poles and fences with aplomb, as you can see in the following pictures.
















This creeper-covered chimney is behind the Library - you can see its balustrade in the background.



We knew these were eyasses as their tails were clearly brown.






Every time we turned around we could see one in a different spot - so exciting!












They love the Free Library!

Note the wire covering the letters to prevent birds from nesting in the nooks.








The hawks continued to fly back and forth from the trees to these various perches. Then one flew into the tree right beside us (great pic, Carolyn!)










It was joined almost immediately by a second eyass. You have to look carefully to see the two white hawk butts in the middle of this picture. They were about 15 feet above us. We're standing on the sidewalk.









Look how beautiful their plumage is. They've come a long way from those white fluff balls in the nest!












Then Carolyn got a great shot of one of them taking off to fly across the meadow. More gorgeous plumage but definitely no red tails yet.

Suddenly, I noticed a squirrel lying motionless along a branch that was a couple of branches below the eyass. The squirrel, realizing it was in a really dangerous spot, was desperately hoping not to be noticed! You can see the white belly of the eyass right at the top of the picture, and the squirrel with its tail up along the branch at the bottom.
































At first, the eyass did not see the squirrel, but then some imperceptible squirrel-twitch caught its attention.

And now the eyass had that squirrel right in the center of its high beams!

To my surprise (because I hate to see an animal killed) I found myself hoping that the eyass would figure how to swoop down a couple of branches and grab that squirrel..... I remembered John Blakeman's warning of how starvation through the inability to hunt effectively could wipe out the eyasses this summer.





For a moment, the eyass leaned forward and looked as if it might swoop, but then the squirrel, realizing that Plan A) Lie still and hope it doesn't see me - was a bust, quickly implemented Plan B) Get the hell out of here - and raced down the tree trunk and into some bushes.









While the squirrel drama was unfolding, the other eyasses were flying back and forth among the trees above us. Their flying skills have improved so much. I did not see a single botched landing!

At one point we counted four hawks flying which means that a parent was with them. We heard several sessions of loud calling followed by everyone heading to the same tree. Did someone have food?

Then there was silence. No hawks. The show was over, it seemed, and it was already 8:15 AM.

I walked over to Whole Foods to grab a cup of coffee before heading home to watch the women's singles final at Wimbledon, and look who was waiting for me on the roof!

This eyass was watching some pigeons landing on a nearby, slightly higher roof. It took off and flew low toward the roof, and lifted up at the last second as it rose over the edge and made a grab for the pigeons who had never seen it coming. The pigeons scattered, and the eyass did not make a catch, but it was most definitely hunting, and seemed to have a strategy.

So the promise of lots of hawk sightings in the early morning was fulfilled. If you can get down to the lower end of the Parkway near the Franklin Institute and Library from 6:00 - 8:00 AM, you will see our hawks in action - big time!!

Hawks and Fireworks on the Fourth of July

If, like me, you were wondering how our hawks will cope with the magnificent fireworks that will be lighting up the sky tomorrow night above the Art Museum on the Parkway as we celebrate the Fourth of July, John Blakeman sends these reassuring words:

"Fireworks? For anyone concerned about this, just remember the worst, scariest thunderstorm you encountered as a little kid. I used to curl up scared under my blankets, even on hot summer nights, trying not to see the lightning directly. But the thunder was undiminished. Very scary.

But red-tails have been enduring powerful thunderstorms for millennia. And they can't crawl under a blanket, rock, or anything else. They are locked with their feet secured around a branch high up in a tree, pretty close to an actual lightning strike.

And don't doubt that the eyasses will be a bit scared, just as we all were as little kids in lightning storms. But after a few bursts of fireworks, the hawks will realize that all of this is happening way up there in the air, and they are safe in their tree or on the roof they are perched on. This will just be a thunderstorm with a different form of lightning and thunder. It should cause them no concern.

Fireworks are not significant threats to red-tails. Real lightning storms can be, as they decidedly were for a bald eagle's aerie a few years ago here in Ohio. A family of about-to-fledge eaglets were spending another night on a big bald eagle's nest high in a tree. But a thunderstorm approached and a bolt of lightning struck the nest tree. The mass of nest sticks was instantly incinerated, killing the eaglets. The nest burned for a time up in the tree, until it collapsed to the ground in a both wet and fiery cascade.

As the actual site of American Independence, Philadelphians should take special pleasure in the local Fourth of July celebrations.

Our red-tails, will, too. I think the eyasses will take special delight in watching the fireworks. The colors and movements, even the sounds, should intrigue them, just as the colors, movements, and sounds of their potential prey do. Right now, they are learning about these environmental factors, with an instinctive interest.

If two of the eyasses are perched together, one might be saying to the other, "Sally, did you see that one? Just as I was imagining I could grab it, it faded away. Let's see some more of this! This sure is better than those dead pigeons Mom and Pop brought us before we could fly."

--John Blakeman

For those of you less familiar with our hawks' territory in Philadelphia, both of these images show the Benjamin Franklin Parkway stretching up to the Philadelphia Art Museum. The two white vertical columns at the bottom are the Civil War monuments on which the hawks regularly perch. They also hunt and perch in the avenues of trees on either side of the Parkway. In the image above, you can see the Free Library with its pillars on the right. The Franklin Institute is the large building across the Parkway on the left. Front and center is the beautiful Swann Fountain in the middle of Logan Circle.

Even this Brit has to admit that Philadelphia on the Fourth of July is a beautiful sight!

Della

July 3rd Hawk Action!!!!

Carditoo (Carolyn Sutton) was out on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway early this morning (Friday), and sends us this exciting account of all the hawk activity she witnessed. Clearly, our hawk family continues to do well.


"I arrived on the Parkway earlier than usual – 5:10 AM – because I wanted to determine when our hawks actually start their daily routine. On previous visits, generally starting somewhere between 5:30 and 6:00 AM, at least one or two of the hawks were already perched on their favorite roof/monument tops. Today, in just the faintest of dawning light, not a single hawk was in sight.

I sat listening for the telltale signs, either an escalation of the twittering and squawking of smaller birds, or our hawk family calling to one another as they approach. Nothing alerted me as eyass #1 flew from the trees right above me to the roof of the Franklin Institute (5:30 AM). I really believe that this was Portico, because shortly after he left for a hunting trip to the southwest, two more eyasses flew through the trees from further up the Parkway, this time calling back and forth (5:45 AM). Watching them both on the Free Library roof, they seemed to be the same size (hence my assumption that the first hawk I saw was our male eyass). They left the Library quickly, headed north up 20th Street, and all was quiet again.

I decided to explore the meadow-like construction site behind the Parkway trees; for some time now I’ve thought that perhaps the hawks hunt there. At last my hunch paid off.

One eyass flew above me from the Library roof to the Parkway trees while another jumped down from a nearby tree disappearing from view in the long grasses below. I don’t know if s/he caught anything, but s/he stayed hidden in the grass for quite some time before popping up and perching on some vinyl construction webbing along the edge of the meadow.

I was already excited when a sib arrived and they flew, one to each end of the meadow, to perch in the lowest branches of the trees. They then spent the next 15 minutes flying low over the “meadow” – back and forth – changing ends five or six times. No catches, but serious surveillance going on.

At 6:15 AM, two more hawks arrived noisily. One must have had food, because the two eyasses I had been watching exploded out of the trees. I watched breathlessly, wishing Della and Kay were with me, as three hawks trailed the fourth, eventually landing high up in the trees west of 21st Street. I sure could have used three sets of eyes and ears to follow all the action. Finally, I got a great look at a parent’s red tail as the sun was rising higher behind me.

As quiet reigned once more, I decided to call it a day and returned to my truck. Voila! The parent, red tail impossible to miss, flew out of the trees, soaring high into the air and off to the northeast above the Library (6:30 AM).

What the heck, I figured, one last drive around the area couldn’t hurt. I circled via 22nd Street back to 21st Street, headed toward the Franklin Institute and caught sight of an eyass just as I approached our familiar parking lot on Winter Street. Two more followed and all settled onto the roof of 2100 Parkway, two on the antenna, one on a ledge. That’s where I left them at 7:00 AM. What a morning! Can’t wait ‘til tomorrow!