At 12:24 PM 10/13/97 -0700, you wrote:
> A RTHA that ... will sit on the telephone wires
>instead of just the poles?

Hey, they already do this!

>> yup,,that's very likely..the only natural falcon hybrid I've
>> heard about is a Prairie/Peregrine.

>Whaddaya know? Never heard the like! Is this because they're both
>cliff-eyrie species?

The Handbook of American Birds mentioned one known case, in 1980,
involving two released birds in Canada. There are apparently other
cases involving released birds which are more recent but for which
no specifics were available at the time of writing. "The possible
effects of handling are unknown", so it sez, which I interpret to
mean that perhaps the birds were raised by the same folks with
imprinting perhaps being possible. Or, perhaps, they were simply
being watched carefully after release and the fact that the known
hybrids involve birds released from captivity is related to observation
effort.

In other words, we just don't know.



- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net