Harris's Hawk
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| Parabuteo unicinctus Temminck, 1824 |
The Harris's Hawk or Harris Hawk (formerly the Bay-winged Hawk), Parabuteo unicinctus, is a medium-large bird of prey which breeds from the southwestern USA south to Chile and central Argentina. It is the only member of the genus Parabuteo (Ridgway, 1874), which literally means 'similar to Buteo'.
Its habitat is sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes (with some trees) in some parts of its range (Howell and Webb 1994). It nests in a tree and lays 2–4 eggs, incubated for 28 days to hatching.
It has blackish brown plumage with chestnut forewings (above and below) and thighs. The end of the tail and the rump are white. It has a length of 60 cm and a wingspan of 1.2 m; the average weight is about 900 g (2 pounds). Females are typically 10% bigger than males.
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[edit] The Harris's social behavior
Harris's Hawks' social behavior is unusual for raptors. Young may stay with their parents for up to three years, helping to raise later broods. They also hunt together, groups of two to six birds often cooperating to flush and then capture prey. In contrast, the vast majority of raptors are solitary hunters, and not at all gregarious.
This social behavior gives Harris's Hawks an easygoing nature that makes them desirable captive birds. Since about 1980, Harris's Hawks have been increasingly used in falconry and are now the most popular hawks in the West (outside of Asia) for that purpose, as they are the easiest to train and the most affectionate.[1]
Hunting with Harris's Hawks often works best with two or more birds. (In contrast most other raptors cannot be flown together, as they will attack each other.) When prey is flushed, the birds can work together to corner the animal – compensating for their relatively low acceleration and speed. Harris's Hawks will happily treat the falconer as a hunting partner, and will follow from tree to tree and perch until the falconer flushes a rabbit from the bushes.
In the United States desert southwest, Harris's hawks sometimes engage in a behavior called 'stacking'. Two or three birds may perch one atop the other. Researchers note that when this occurs, the more dominant bird is actually the one on the bottom of the stack. The social dynamics are that when a low-status bird is approached by a higher status bird, the low-status bird will abandon a perch. However, a higher status bird will retain its perch, and end up with one or two lower status birds atop it.
[edit] The Harris's quarry
The Harris's Hawk can, if trained well, take a wide range of quarry, being able to almost match the Goshawk. They can easily catch and kill a rabbit, a hare or even a pheasant, but its natural prey are small rodents and reptiles.
[edit] Harris's Hawk Trivia
The Harris's Hawk is now widely used in European towns to scare pigeons and starlings. Many airports use falconers to scare these birds away from the land around runways and reduce the risk of birdstrikes on planes.
There have been recent (as of 2005) reports of escaped Harris Hawks breeding in the wild in England.
John James Audubon gave this bird its English name in honor of his ornithological companion, financial supporter, and friend Edward Harris.[2]
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Parabuteo unicinctus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, Steve N. G. Howell and Sophie Webb, 1994, ISBN 0-19-854012-4
