Raptor Tracking

One of the research projects at GGRO that I got increasingly involved with during my internship involved a new and exciting piece of technology called a GSM tracker. Put simply, this is a small device we can affix to a bird. Recharging via solar power, the device will periodically send us the GPS coordinates of its current location, much the same way that text messages are sent cell phone to cell phone.

Of course, if the device isn't able to recharge (for example, if the bird is hanging out underneath dense vegetation or the bird preens a feather on top of the solar panel) the battery will die and we will no longer receive signals. Similarly, if the bird isn't in the range of a cell phone tower, we won't be able to receive the "text messages." Despite these occasional technological hic-ups, however, the technology provides us with a lot of useful information, namely the exact locations of where these birds are traveling. While band recoveries usually give us one location, sometimes two, with these devices, we can track the exact movements of these birds throughout their entire migration (which would be kind of creepy if we were talking about humans…).

I got a chance to see a juvenile, female red-tailed hawk get a GSM device affixed on one of the last days of the research season. The bird is trapped at a banding station. During this process, a traditional falconry hood is put over the bird's head to keep it calm. The device itself is harnessed onto the bird, mimicking the idea of wearing a backpack. The harness is sewn together with dental floss, of all things, because that will decay after about a year, the expected lifetime of the device.

Once the device is secure and we've ensured that it is safe, the bird is released. Each of the GSM-birds gets a name to make it easier to keep track of each of them. The first GSM-bird was named Augusta, and each subsequent birds has had a name starting with the next letter of the alphabet. This hawk was the J-bird, and so the banders named her "Juanita."

After the bird is released, it is a waiting game. And eventually, we started to receive GPS-coordinates from Juanita's device. Juanita flew south from the Marin Headlands, and after only a couple of days, settled into a neighborhood, where she remained for the following month. This map shows the positions of all of the GSM-birds that have reported. Juanita is pink.

Here is a zoomed in version. There's clearly plenty of prey to eat and nice trees to perch on in this neighborhood.

The map can be seen here: http://www.parksconservancy.org/conservation/plants-animals/raptors/research/gsm-tracking.html

So far, eight birds have provided us with interested data-points, all of them red-tailed hawks. And the lesson so far, which further confirms what previous studies of raptor migration have shown, is that there is no rhyme or reason to red-tailed hawk migration in the West coast. It seems that they go where it is most convenient for them to go.

Road Trapping

Yesterday, I got a chance to experience "road trapping," which involves taking our raptor banding show on the road. Essentially, we drove around until we spotted a raptor. We chucked a trap out of the window of the car, waited for a few minutes to see if we could catch the bird, and then banded it right out of the trunk of the car.

Emma and Buzz band an American kestrel. All the banding materials are in the back of the car.

We spent the entire day driving around the Davis, CA, area. However, time flew by as we were constantly stopping and occasionally banding some incredible birds. Three of the six birds we banded yesterday were American kestrels, the charismatic little falcons that I have come to love this year.

Adult, female American kestrel.

Female American kestrels are aged by the final black bar on their tails. In this case, it was an adult bird because the last black bar is so much thicker than the other bars.

We were not successful in catching every bird we set the traps out for. Even so, just getting a chance to see some of these unique raptors was worth the trip.

An adult ferruginous hawk (the first adult I've ever seen). This bird is the definition of majestic.

Dark-morph adult red-tailed hawk.

The highlight of the day, however, was banding three adult red-shouldered hawks. There is a theory the other GGRO interns have developed that any black-and-white bird (especially if there is a hint of red) will automatically qualify as one of my favorites. Recent examples include pigeon guillemots, black phoebes, and California condors. Thus, these beautiful birds immediately won me over. So much so that I am writing in an uncharacteristically gushy way about them. But I'm putting science aside for this entry, because these birds are just plain amazing. See for yourself:

Red-shoulder #1.

Look at the black and the red and the white. Just look at it! Wow!

I demonstrate why this bird is called "red shouldered."

Are you seeing this bird? It's so cool!

Close-up of the feathers. Amazing.

Red-shoulder #2 was much redder on the body. Do you see this bird? Do you see how beautiful it is?

This is another shot of a red-shoulder looking incredible.

Red-shoulder #2 release shot.

This is red-shoulder #3, caught about 27.3 seconds after red-shoulder #2.

Some red-shoulders have particularly prominent hackles (feathers on the back of the skull), giving them a spiky-headed appearance.

So, here's the deal. I like birds (obviously). That being said, I like to think of myself as a scientist, biologist, what-have-you-ist. I like to take an objective perspective of my work and not resort to constant "ohhhhhhhh those birdies are soooooo cuuute!!" gushiness. That's not why I'm motivated to do what I do. However, I think it is important to take a step back every now and then and acknowledge the simple fact that these creatures are amazing, beautiful, incredible. Yesterday was an experience in research, but more importantly, in was an experience in awe-stricken appreciation.

Hawkwatch 9/17: Booby Watch

Oh, get your brain out of the gutter, please.

Birders get excited about seeing rare species, especially those that are keeping lists of birds seen in a certain state. For example, a blue-footed booby would be a big deal for birders listing California birds - this bird is rarely seen in California. So, when the hawkwatchers heard that a booby had been spotted at Land's End (the tip of San Francisco, easily seen from Hawk Hill) at 10:00 AM this morning, they started to get excited at the prospect of it potentially flying right past us. Thus, the south quadrant was given the extra task of "booby watch" today. (I giggled when given that assignment. Apparently, I refuse to grow up). Sadly, we never saw the bird.

Here's the HW report for the day:

Today was slow at the start, slow at the finish, with a flurry of raptor activity in the middle. The day was sunny and the wind direction was "all," seeming to change every three minutes or so. We were hopeful to get a look at the vagrant Blue-footed Booby, spotted just across the bay at 10AM today (thank you, eBird!) However, the raptors certainly kept our attention today. We got a good look at a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk, followed by an even better look at its adult counterpart, a great lesson in distinguishing the two. Towards the end of the day, a distant dot was identified as a Ferruginous Hawk of unknown age. As for our usual suspects, the Turkey Vulutures beat out the Red-tailed Hawks by one bird today, 94-95.

An adult red-shouldered hawk (above) being ambushed by a juvenile Cooper's hawk (below).

The quintessential GGRO raptor: a juvenile red-tailed hawk.

Total Sightings: 251
Hours Counted: 5.5
HPH: 45.64
Total Species: 9

Species Counts:
Turkey Vulture: 95
Osprey: 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 13
Cooper's Hawk: 26
Red-shouldered Hawk: 4
Red-tailed Hawk: 94
Ferruginous Hawk: 1
American Kestrel: 5
Peregrine Falcon: 2

Unidentified...
Accipiter: 6
Buteo: 1
Falcon: 1
Raptor: 1

Banding 9/12: Backpack

My backpack got locked into a fellow intern's car today, so I had to improv before heading up to the blind. Luckily, I found another pack in the lost and found and I was able to gather up some "lunch" including some granola bars, half a bag of peanut-butter pretzels, and some left-over banana walnut bread (lunch of champions!) At the end of the day, as I got into Lynn's car, I noticed that the window on the other side was rolled down - I could have gotten my backpack all along.

We banded one raptor this morning (the other blinds were much more productive today, including the first merlins of the season, an adult red-tailed hawk, a red-shouldered hawk, and a red-tailed hawk that got outfitted with a GSM tracking device). Our red-tail came out of nowhere without any warning. It was a hatch-year male. Since my initial taloning encounter, I've become much more confident handling and banding these big, sharp birds.

The rest of the day was pretty slow with very few birds passing by. We did see quite a bit of diversity, though, including an osprey, white-tailed kite, Northern harrier, and mysterious black falcon. By 3:00, the wind was blowing fast and we found ourselves surrounded by fog shortly thereafter.

Banded hatch-year red-tailed hawk.

This should probably be a meme.

Flying away!

First Day in the Blind

Yesterday, the GGRO banding-man-in-charge, Chris, took fellow intern Anna and I up for an "intern practice banding day." Given that it's pretty early in the season, we weren't really expecting to band any raptors. However, a randomly sunny day combined with a nice wind led to an exciting first day in the blind.

A hatch-year red-tailed hawk flying over the hills behind Slacker blind. (Photo credit: Chris Briggs)

There are four blinds in operation around the Marin Headlands. We banded at the "Slacker" blind (named after the name of the hill, not the laziness of its users), from which we had a beautiful view of Hawk Hill, Point Bonita, and the Pacific Ocean, as well as much of the rest of the Marin Headlands. Most of our morning was spent repairing nets and making sure everything was in tip-top shape, but by noon, we were inside the blind, waiting for some raptors to appear. Here are some of the highlights that came to follow:

-Prairie Falcon: One of the most elusive birds of the Marin Headlands, the prairie falcon is seen by the hawkwatchers an average of four times per season, and banded an average of twice per season. How amazing would it be if that were the first bird I banded out here? Spoiler alert: it wasn't. However, I got an amazingly up-close look as one stooped right into the trapping area. It was quick, but we identified it as a prairie falcon without question. This might've been my only chance to see this bird all season - amazing!

Not my photo, but this is basically what we saw. (www.nickdunlop.com)

-Red-tailed Hawk: Our first successful catch was a juvenile red-tailed hawk. Even before taking measurements, we could tell that she was a female based on how hefty she was (female raptors are larger than their male counterparts). Even more interesting was the fact that she was a rufous-morph, a rarer version of the typical red-tailed hawk. We came to this conclusion based on the heavy, dark streaking on her upper breast, and the cinnamon hue to her tail.

Cinnamon streaks in the red-tailed tail.

Almost immediately, I learned a valuable lesson in large raptor handling. GGRO handles raptors differently than my previous experience at Hawk Ridge, and as I was adjusting my grip, one of her legs came free. The next thing I knew, four sharp, hawk talons were embedded in my arm. Chris was a champ, as he pulled those strong toes apart, but it was certainly more than a sting. In fact, I'm a little disappointed that the scars left behind are so wimpy - they don't reflect the amount of pain a wild raptor's talons are capable of. Obviously, I came out alive and it was a great lesson. I will certainly be considerably more cautious handling raptors from now on.

I then got to experience the processing of the hawk, as I took all of its measurements, applied the band, and recorded all of the data. This took a bit of time, it being my first bird, and I'll be working to increase my efficiency with this stage of the process to decrease the amount of time the wild bird has to hang out with me in the blind. Afterwards, we took her outside for a photo-op and released her into the wind.

Here I am with the first raptor I banded in California. Not a bad start! (Photo credit: Anna Stunkel - also the next one).

I'm attempting to show off this bird's wing, but the wind was making that challenging.

-Four more red-tailed Hawks: While I was processing lady red-tail, we were being taunted by four other red-tailed hawks outside the blind. They circled around, came close to the nets, and then flew back up again, over and over and over. In fact, one actually perched on one of our poles for a record-breaking 18 minutes. Chris said that this is typical kestrel behavior, but you rarely see a buteo act this way. Very interesting.

-American Kestrel: Towards the end of the day, we caught our second bird, a hatch-year, male American Kestrel. The males are distinguished by their silvery-blue wing color, and solid tail with a bold black stripe. We aged it as a juvenile because it had stripes all the way up its back (instead of only partway as we would have seen in the adult).

The girls I work with keep going on and on about how adorable kestrels are. I wonder how cute they'll think it is when they see one attacking its prey.

Male American kestrel tail.

American kestrels are falcons, same family as the peregrines. I find myself partial to falcons, so it was pretty cool to see this bird up close. Anna did the processing this time as I kept an eye on the nets (and another kestrel managed to elude us). When Anna was done, I handled the bird as well. Red-tails and kestrels represent the two size extremes of birds we'll be handling this season, so it was nice to get a feel for both ends of the spectrum. Afterwards, I let him go too.

Kestrel release. (Photo credit: Anna Stunkel)

By the time our kestrel was flying off into the hills, we had to start cleaning up and head back down the hill. Considering we were expecting to see very few birds, I would consider it a very successful day. A great first experience banding at GGRO.