Some raptors need to be exceptionally nimble if they’re going to catch their prey. delicious) meat even when it’s hidden from sight.īuilt for Agility. What’s more, Turkey Vultures are one of the few birds with a well-developed sense of smell, allowing them to seek out dead and rotting (a.k.a. So they use their long wings to steady themselves high in the air where they can survey huge areas for dead creatures. Carrion can be hard to find-it doesn’t move or make noise, after all. They’ve also developed special, owl-like facial disks that help collect the tiny sounds of creatures in the grass.įinally, no discussion of super senses would be complete without mentioning vultures. To help them stay low and steady while in flight, harriers have evolved long wings and tails. The Northern Harrier also hunts for small mammals, but unlike buteos, it searches over large fields, marshes, and other places without convenient perches for scanning. Some buteos, like Swainson’s and Short-tailed Hawks, will hunt in flight, using their long, broad wings to steady themselves over a hunting patch. They’re not lazy-they’re just hunting and need a steady place from which to survey. This is why you see Red-tailed Hawks and other buteos so often perched on a fence or a tree along the roadside. They use their incredible eyesight and a nice perch to watch the ground until they see movement. And for that, they need excellent vision. But the real challenge for these birds is spotting their prey, which scurries around hidden in the grass. While buteos don’t need to be particularly fast, they do need to have strong talons to grip squirmy mammals. While buteos actually have a fairly varied diet that can include smaller birds, insects, and carrion, they are built to pounce down on unsuspecting mice, squirrels, voles, and other little mammalian critters on the ground. Buteos, the group that many consider to be “classic” hawks-including Red-tailed Hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks, and Swainson’s Hawks-have a particular taste for small mammals. The element of surprise is important for all hunting birds, and some raptors rely on heightened senses to detect concealed prey. Peregrine Falcon stoops have been recorded at 200 mph and above, faster than any other animal in the world.īuilt with Super Senses. But the most spectacular of the falcon’s hunting techniques is the “stoop,” where they dive-bomb flying prey from above, often with the sun directly behind them. Sometimes they’ll fly low and fast, hoping to surprise their target before it has a chance to escape. Built for speed, falcons have long, pointed wings and plenty of power. To capture their prey, falcons need to be very fast while also keeping the element of surprise.

Birds, in other words, that have lots of room to escape. Peregrines and other large falcons feed frequently on open-country birds, such as ducks and pigeons. Every flap should be accompanied by a screaming guitar solo. If you’ve ever seen a Peregrine Falcon on the chase you know what I’m talking about. This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list, but it’s helpful to understand how the bodies of different raptors aid them on the hunt.īuilt for Speed. Falcons are the fastest flying birds on the planet, and arguably our most spectacular hunters. Each of these birds eats meat, but they all go after prey in a different way that requires specialized bodies to be as successful as possible. In the United States, these birds fall into a bunch of different groups: the buteos, accipiters, harriers, kites, eagles, falcons, vultures, caracaras, and the Osprey. There are other meat-eating birds out there: insect-eating nighthawks, fish-eating pelicans and herons, and of course owls, but I want to focus on the birds in the families Accipitradae and Falconidae, birds that a non-birder might look at and say, “Oh look, a hawk.” I want to focus on a certain set of raptors here: diurnal birds of prey with hooked bills, strong talons, and good eyesight.

Indeed, each of these birds has evolved to become specially designed to exploit their chosen prey, and learning how the various groups of raptors are different from each other will help you learn to find and identify them in the field. However, though all raptors share a trait of self-evident coolness (I think so, anyway), they go about their business of finding food in very different ways. Meat-eating birds-hawks, falcons, kites, eagles, and others-are the “rebels” of the birding world, presiding boldly and without care over their territories while smaller creatures tremble and flee in their presence. The beginning birder doesn’t need a field guide to know that raptors are cool.

Top 10 ambush predators