Outside My Window

With orange eyes, fluffy down, and an enormous beak this baby made her media debut yesterday.

She’s the only Eurasian eagle owl to be born in an AZA accredited zoo in the last five years.  Hatched on March 13, she lives at the National Aviary where her very versatile mom is an education bird, an exhibit bird and now a breeding bird.

Eurasian eagle owls are native to Europe and Asia and virtually the world’s largest owl.  They resemble great horned owls but they’re 1.5 times larger.

Right now this baby is halfway grown up.  She’s cute but gawky, proudly displaying her tawny down.  I love her eyelashes.  Look at those feet!

You can see her for yourself at the National Aviary starting today, April 10, through May 24.  Since she’s just a baby she’ll stay behind the scenes most of the time and come out just twice a day –  at 11:45am and 2:15pm.

Watch her grow and change in the next six weeks.  By May 24 she’ll look like this.

(photos courtesy of the National Aviary)

A new study on the future of climate change in arctic Alaska spells bad news for gyrfalcons in the U.S.

By 2050 the mean annual temperature in northernmost Alaska is expected to rise 3.1⁰C (5.56⁰F).  This will usher in a host of changes to ice, coastlines, tundra, plants and animals.  What will happen to the area’s breeding birds?

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, assisted by experts on each species, assessed the future of 54 of arctic Alaska’s breeding birds.  The goal was to prepare wildlife and land managers for climate change and ultimately develop plans to mitigate the effects if possible.

The study found that two species, gyrfalcons and common eiders, are highly vulnerable to the anticipated warming and likely to experience dangerous declines.  Seven others are moderately vulnerable: brant, Steller’s eider, pomerine jaeger, yellow-billed loon, buff-breasted sandpiper, red phalarope and ruddy turnstone.

Gyrfalcons are specialists and climate change is going to be rough on their niche.

• They nest on coastal cliffs in microclimates that are a rare commodity in northern Alaska.  South-facing cliffs may become too hot, limiting the number of suitable nest sites.
• At the start of breeding gyrfalcons eat ptarmigan almost exclusively.  When ptarmigan populations are low gyrfalcons won’t breed at all.  When climate change affects ptarmigans it will hurt gyrfalcons.
• The gyrfalcon’s hunting style relies on open tundra but as the arctic warms shrubs will grow in formerly open land.
• Spring storms are expected to increase. Unfortunately this will cause nest failure for gyrfalcons who require dry weather to hatch their eggs.

With all these cards stacked against them gyrfalcon numbers are expected to drop considerably from today’s 250 breeding pairs.

But the report has a silver lining.  There will be more seed eaters:  savannah sparrows, Lapland longspurs, white-crowned sparrows, American tree-sparrows and common redpolls.

Much as I like redpolls, I don’t want to trade them for gyrfalcons.

Read more about the report, Assessing Climate Change Vulnerability of Breeding Birds in Arctic Alaska, in this article in Science Daily or download it from this page on the WCS website (see the righthand column).

(photo from Wikimedia Commons.  Click on the image to see the original.)

p.s. The report was careful to point out that the study only applies to arctic Alaska, not to all breeding ranges.  The photo above was taken in western Greenland.

Here’s something you don’t see every day:  two adult Coopers hawks perched near each other.

Coopers hawks are notoriously solitary birds.  In winter we may see one hunting near our feeders, but never two.  They don’t like others nearby.  They chase them off or leave.

But now it’s breeding season and they have to find a mate.

Steve Valasek saw these two at Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

(photo by Steve Valasek)

(If you haven’t seen this on Facebook…)

As I mentioned a week ago, a pair of bald eagles took over a red-tailed hawks’ nest in Harmar Township early this month.  Problem is, the hawks were still building the nest and they weren’t going to give it up easily.

Last week after continuous red-tail dive-bombing and harassment the eagles relinquished the nest to the hawks.  There was a brief period of calm, then the eagles fought back.

On Sunday Steve Gosser captured their battle and posted it on Facebook’s Bald Eagles in Western Pennsylvania page.  By now his photo’s been shared more than 460 times.

Battle of the air!  Clash of the Titans!

Who will win?

(photo by Steve Gosser)

Bald eagles are the talk of the town in Pittsburgh right now.

This month a nesting pair attracted attention at the Allegheny River in Harmar Township.  Steve Gosser photographed of one of them carrying nesting material yesterday.

Last month a bald eagle nest was confirmed at the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh’s Hays Woods.  Tom Moeller captured the pair in a morning conversation on March 5.

Harmar and Hays join our first bald eagle nest along the Ohio River in Crescent Township to make it three nests on three rivers in Allegheny County.

The bald eagle’s return to Pittsburgh was a long time coming.  Their population crashed because of DDT and they’d been gone for decades because of water pollution. In the 1970s the U.S. banned DDT and passed the Clean Water Act.  In the meantime Allegheny County’s economy changed away from heavy industry.  The law and the economy together improved our water quality so that fish, the bald eagles’ favorite food, returned in good numbers.

The Hays Woods site in the City of Pittsburgh is a case in point. Eagles could not have nested there until a whole host of economic and environmental changes occurred.  I know the challenges the site has faced. It has taken 30 years.

• Thirty years ago the Homestead steel mill closed due to economic issues.  Only a mile upstream from the eagles’ nest, that closure brought better air and water quality to Hays.  Fish increased in the Monongahela River.
• Fifteen years ago LTV closed the Hazelwood coke plant across the river, another economic decision. Air quality improved and the river returned to its normal temperature.  Fish increased because the plant no longer dumped hot water into the Mon.
• Almost immediately a new, larger coke plant was proposed for Hazelwood.  GASP and local residents worked to stop this new pollution source.  The coke plant was never built and today the site is slated for housing, business and retail.
• Ten years ago a developer planned to strip mine and valley-fill Hays Woods to build a race track and casino.  The Save Hays Woods Coalition formed to fight this plan and protect the 635-acre site.
• Three years ago the legal wrangling over the strip mine was finally done. Hays Woods remains intact.
• Today we have nesting bald eagles.

Every bald eagle nest in western Pennsylvania has a story of recovery.  Thanks to the bittersweet end of heavy industry, dedicated environmental heroes, and the resilience of nature our national bird is back in town.

(photo of Harmar eagle with nesting material by Steve Gosser, photo of Hays eagle pair by Tom Moeller)

Here’s a big hawk that I’d love to see some day.  He’s a native of the western U.S. and fond of open country.

The ferruginous hawk comes in two color schemes:  a dark version (click here to see) and this beautiful light color.  All of them have rust-colored wings, back, and legs that give them their ferruginous name.

When they fly their shape is similar to red-tailed hawks but these birds are much larger.  Their scientific name, Buteo regalis, means “regal buteo.”

Here he is from below.  Look how his tail appears to be outlined in rust.  That’s actually his legs.

If I want to see this bird, I’ll have to travel west again.  Steve Valasek took these pictures in New Mexico.

(photos by Steve Valasek)

When I registered at the San Diego Bird Festival I asked to exchange one of my pre-scheduled bird tours because I was desperate to see this Life Bird, the white-tailed kite.

The trip I wanted was full but David Kimball introduced me to local bird leader Susan Breisch who knows the county well.

Susan was so helpful!   She asked to see both my target bird list and my tour schedule, told me the likelihood of seeing my target birds, and suggested places to find them during my unscheduled time.

As usual some species are a challenge, others are surprisingly easy.  For instance…

I would love to see a mountain bluebird but they travel in flocks that move around a lot.  Their reported location one day may be different the next.  This behavior reminds me of the white-winged crossbills visiting Pittsburgh this winter whom I’ve been unable to find.  Hmmmm!

The ferruginous hawk is on my wish list, too, but it only visits the grasslands in winter and even then it’s not plentiful.  Again, you have to be at the right place at the right time and you have to get lucky.

However, white-tailed kites are easy!   They hang out in river valleys and can be found year-round in Rose Canyon where they nest.  In fact, I might even see one on a walk from my hotel.

Oh boy!

p.s.  The San Diego Bird Festival is great!  Excellent tours, helpful friendly people, unbeatable weather.  I highly recommend it!

(photo by William Parker)

Speaking of owls, as I did on Thursday, here’s a portrait of one of the world’s largest owls, the Eurasian eagle-owl.

Bigger than a snowy owl he is slightly outweighed by the endangered Blakiston’s fish-owl of Asia and has a slightly shorter wing span than the great gray owl.

Despite these technicalities he is virtually the world’s largest owl.  With females weighing up to 9.3 pounds they are bigger than our great horned owl (up to 5.7 pounds), the eastern screech-owl (weighing up to 1/2 pound), and the northern saw-whet owl (weighing only as much as 1/3 pound).  The two smaller owls are dinner for the great horned owl.  Imagine what a Eurasian eagle-owl eats!

To get an idea of owl sizes, visit the National Aviary to see the eagle-owl and others up close.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons.  Click on the image to see the original)

If you haven’t been watching PixController’s eastern screech-owl webcams you’ll want to start now.

Back in October when I first wrote about the webcams, eastern screech-owls were just starting their winter-roost season.  The birds hadn’t chosen preferred boxes and a squirrel was time-sharing in one of them.

Since then two owls have sorted out who roosts where.  They’re definitely aware of each other because they sometimes visit each others’ roosts or eat each others’ cached food.

This week they’ve been busy in Owl Boxes #2, #6 and #7.  On Tuesday night the owl nicknamed “Allie” caught and cached a mourning dove in Owl Box #2.  Last night she came back to eat it.  The motion detection cameras keep track of the owls so you don’t have to stay up all night.  Click here to see recent archives of owl activity.

Now that Winter is ending, things are about to get very interesting.  Eastern screech-owls nest in March.  Will they nest in one of the boxes?

Click here or on the image above to watch PixController’s Eastern Screech-owl Live Webcams.  You can also follow PixController on Facebook where Bill Powers posts the day’s best photos from his many webcam installations.

(image from PixController.com)

p.s. The owl looks white because of the infrared light.

If you have to sit outdoors in winter, you’re bound to get snowed on.

Last month during a particularly wet snowfall, Gregg Diskin found this red-tailed hawk perched in Schenley Park.  The bird was trying to stay warm and dry but it was a challenge.  His feathers were wet and his feet were getting cold.

See how he’s tucked one foot into his breast feathers?  It looks like he’s holding his coat closed.  Brrrrr!

Fortunately feathers are very good insulation.  You don’t realize how well they work until the hawk scratches his head.

Watch the snow fly!

(photos by Gregory Diskin)