[va-bird] Re: Hawk Training

what a great observation!  Several days ago I came across 5 or six Crows sitting on a fence along I81. The weird thing was that each Crow was perched  in a line on successive posts. All were facing the same direction and appeared to be watching the traffic. It looked so organized as if they were holding a meeting. I suspose they were waiting for a break in the traffic to descend upon a scrap of carion or trash, but only a little imagination is needed to suspose alternative explanations.

W.

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From: "Harry & Melitta Glasgow" <aglasgow@xxxxxxx>
Reply-To: aglasgow@xxxxxxx
To: "Listserv" <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [va-bird] Hawk Training
Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 07:41:13 -0400

While checking bluebird boxes at the Coast Guard Station in Alexandria this morning, I spent about ten minutes watching what appeared to be hunting training by a family of Red Shouldered Hawks.  While perched on a sort of split rail fence, an adult watched as two juveniles would "practice" plummeting to the ground in front of him/her from a branch of a nearby tree.  Each of the "students" repeated this twice, at which time the adult joined the young birds on their perch for what my anthropomorphic imagination calls "critique".  There was also much flying around from tree to tree by all birds, which I interpret to be the adult trying to organize the training sessions with kids who would rather play.

 

I once lived on a large lake in Massachusetts where a Common Loon couple nested every year.  The highlight of the summer for the few neighbors and I was training sessions similar to today's Hawk experience, wherein the adults would float separated by about 20 feet while the one chick would "practice" dive.  When the chick resurfaced, all birds would come together for a few moments for what we presumed was evaluation, and then the whole thing repeated.

 

Harry Glasgow

Lorton, VA