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HAWKS ARE ON THE MOVE!
Now
that spring has awakened the food chain, here come the predators! Hawks
are streaming north right now. From the Gulf Coast to the shores of the
Great Lakes and beyond, people have been observing individuals and groups
migrating toward their nesting grounds.
The Texas Coast is simply the best places on the continent to look for them,
because both the hawks that migrate along the coast and those that cross
the Gulf of Mexico can be seen here. Once they're reached the top of the
Texas coast, they no longer have a single path of flight, so they fan out,
and aren't seen in these huge numbers anywhere else. But some hawks do move
in flocks, so even in the far north it's possible to find good numbers,
especially of Broad-winged Hawks.
Unlike tough little hummingbirds, most hawks are reluctant to fly over the
Gulf of Mexico because it's just too dangerous for them. Fierce down-drafts
could push them into the water. They don't have updrafts or thermals to
hold them aloft, and would get tired of beating their wings for hundreds
of miles. And if they do get hungry, there's nothing to eat over the water.
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Insect
and bird-hunting hawks are on the lookout for food all along as they migrate,
snatching lunches out of the air. Kestrels and kites snatch dragonflies
and other large insects with their talons, and then pull their feet up
and their head down to eat them in two bites without even lighting in
a tree. Mousers and other mammal-hunters will drop down on a likely victim
if they notice one, or will simply stop in a promising spot when they
get hungry to scrutinize the ground for food.
Broad-winged Hawks are starting to appear all the way up in the Canadian
forests now, and will be continuing to migrate north for the next few
weeks. Broad-wings migrate in small flocks. To conserve energy by flapping
as little
as possible, they gain altitude by circling higher and higher over a thermal
air current or updraft, and then cruising forward until they find another
thermal or updraft. The easiest way to find these rising columns of air
is to watch for other hawks and join them on their thermal. A group of
hawks all spiraling up together is called a kettle. Watch the spring sky
for small kettles of hawks.
Journaling
Question
Songbirds put on huge stores of fat in preparation for migration, but
hawks seldom do. Why don't hawks gain and lose weight the way songbirds
do when migrating?
After you consider the question and write your answer (no peeking before!) learn more about this topic:
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