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Raptors
in Palmetto Dunes
September 2007 Palmetto Perspective
by Dianne Faucette, Master
Naturalist
I recently received
a call from Carol Mullally, 60 Off Shore. She told me about a big
bird that had been visiting her back yard every day, and wanted me
to identify it. After seeing her photo, I realized it was a
Red-tailed Hawk. These birds are fairly common in Palmetto Dunes, as
are Red-shouldered Hawks and Cooper’s Hawks. There is plenty of
wildlife here for them to prey upon, such as rodents, small birds,
snakes and insects.
A
few years ago, I was riding my bicycle on the golf cart path to the
beach early one morning, and saw a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk landing
on a dead limb in a tree next to me. It was really windy that day
and he was having a hard time balancing on the limb. Then a couple
of crows started dive-bombing him. They must have had a nest nearby.
This hawk didn't seem to be afraid of the crows. He was
concentrating on holding onto his grip in the strong wind.
On another
occasion, Marleen Peritz called me in a panic because there was an
injured bird on her deck. I went over and identified it as a young
Cooper’s Hawk. It had trauma to the head and a broken leg from a
collision with the glass door. On that occasion, I called my birding
buddy Fran Baer. Her husband Denny quickly gathered all the supplies
needed to make a temporary transport home for the bird, and Fran
took it to Dr. Ben Parker’s veterinarian clinic in Bluffton. The
bird later went to the International Center for Birds of Prey near
Charleston.
Raptors, or birds
of prey, have unique characteristics that help them capture their
food. Besides the hooked bills and sharp talons, individual species
have their own specialized body parts. For example, a falcon has a
sharp notch in its bill that severs a mammal’s spinal cord when
caught. A Peregrine Falcon can take an incredibly fast vertical dive
and snatch a pigeon before it is ever spotted. An osprey’s feet
contain spikes that dig into the skin of a slippery fish as it
plunges into water feet first. An owl is able to hear its prey in
the darkness well enough to find and catch it without seeing it.
Unlike other birds of prey that eat live creatures, vultures eat
dead animals and are a great benefit to us by cleaning up road
kills. A Turkey Vulture can locate a carcass out of its sight by
scent alone.
On this island
where rats can be quite destructive of our homes, we welcome our
birds of prey! |
