At 11:31 PM -0800 1/20/04, Dan wrote:
>What about the possibility of a Swainson's Hawk, especially in winter, being
>an escapee? I once met a fellow in Abbotsford, B.C. (just across the border
>from Sumas, Washington) that said he kept several of the birds. He said he
>also knew a few other falconers that kept Swainson's Hawks as well.

One cannot rule out that possibility, of course, but my understanding
was that Swainson's were not that popular among falconers. One of the
primary food sources of Swainson's hawks are insects; recall the huge
die off in Argentina a few years ago, which was the result of a
pesticide company convincing the Argetine farmers that they needed to
use pesticides to control their grasshoppers. It's hard to imagine a
falconer being too excited about their hawk catching grasshoppers for
them. Then again, Swainson's are perfectly capable of taking larger
prey, so with training they might be a fine falconer's bird. Maybe
someone who knows more about falconry will chime in here.
--
Rob Saecker
Olympia
rsaecker at thurston.com