Hello, all.


I just got this post, down here in cloudy Jamaica, and haven't looked at any of the earlier ones. I have been sent the hawk/snake photos by several people now, with much discussion.


If these are the same photos that Bud is talking about, then the snake is a Texas Rat Snake, Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri , as far as I can tell and as a colleague in Oklahoma thought. It's just about confined to Texas. We both thought the hawk was a juvenile Broad-winged, actually, but by no means with certainty. It just seems too small to be a Red-tailed in that guy's hands. But I wouldn't argue this point too strongly, and Bud has seen infinitely more hawks in the hand than I have.


I couldn't find a Snake River in Texas, which seemed odd. The dates on the photos indicated November, too late for Broad-wings in Texas, but my friend in Oklahoma thought he had seen these photos considerably before the date indicated on the photos. I had seen them quite awhile ago, but it might not have been before the photo dates.


Anyway, the photos have caused quite a stir among some people, and it sure would be good to get more certainty about both the locality and date!


Dennis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bud Anderson" <falconresearch at gmail.com>
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 12:39:52 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Several answers


The hawk/snake series making the rounds looks pretty authentic to me.

The raptor is a very wet, juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Dumb move on its part (supposed to bite the snakes head first) but then that is really typical for a juvenile learning the ropes. I guess such naivete is typical among all vertebrates, including us. Looks warm like summer in the photos so the hawk is likely just starting out in life. But that was a close call.

Really glad to see Kelly trying to ID the snake as I can't help there.

Concerning the nocturnal RTHA hunting, I have not heard of this behavior among Red-tails before (maybe someone else has) but there are many records of peregrines hunting at night including in downtown Seattle.

The freeway hunt makes perfect sense to me in winter if the bird is hungry and there were lots of lights to illuminate its prey. Pretty cool sighting and no doubt a new evolutionary trend, Buteo nocturnalis
.
What about the competition with local Great Horned Owls?

--
Bud Anderson
Falcon Research Group
Box 248
Bow, WA 98232
(360) 757-1911
falconresearch at gmail.com

_______________________________________________
Tweeters mailing list
Tweeters at u.washington.edu
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters