The term hawk can be used in several ways:

• In strict usage in Europe and Asia, to mean any of the species in the subfamilyAccipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax,Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includesgoshawks, sparrowhawks , the Sharp-shinned Hawk and others. These are mainly woodland birds with long tails and high visual acuity, hunting by sudden dashes from a concealed perch.
• More generally (especially in North America) to mean falcons or small to medium-sized members of the Accipitridae – the family which includes the “true hawks” (Accipiters) as well as eagles, kites, harriers and buzzards.
• Loosely, to mean almost any bird of prey outside of the order Strigiformes (owls).

The common names of birds in various parts of the world often use hawk in the second sense. For example, the Osprey or “fish hawk”; or, in North America, the various Buteo species (e.g., the Red-tailed Hawk, B. jamaicensis).

In February 2005, the Canadian ornithologist Louis Lefebvre announced a method of measuring avian “IQ” in terms of their innovation in feeding habits.^[1] Hawks were named among the most intelligent birds based on his scale.

Hawks are widely reputed to have visual acuity several times that of a normal human being. This is due to the many photoreceptors in the retina (up to 1,000,000 per square mm for Buteo, against 200,000 for humans), an exceptional number of nervesconnecting these receptors to the brain, and an indented fovea, which magnifies the central portion of the visual field.

The picture above is of the Great Horned owl we’ve named Hootie. You can catch Hootie on Bird Point at various times throughout the night.

The Great Egret (Ardea alba), also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret or (now not in use) Great White Heron, is a large egret that can be spotted on Bird Point camera. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe and Asia it is rather localized. It is sometimes confused with the Great White Heron in Florida, which is a white morph of the closely related Great Blue Heron (A. herodias). Note however that the name Great White Heron has occasionally been used to refer to the Great Egret.

Description

The Great Egret is a large bird with all-white plumage that can reach one meter in height and weigh up to 950 g. It is thus only slightly smaller than the Great Blue or Grey Heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the Great Egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight.

The Great Egret is not normally a vocal bird; at breeding colonies, however, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk.

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae might in fact be closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The Great Egret – unlike the typical egrets – does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

The Great Blue Heron , Ardea herodias, is a wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands, except for the far north and deserts and high mountains where there is no water for it to feed in. It is an extremely rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England.

It is the largest North American heron, with a head-to-tail length of 91–140 cm (36-55 in), a wingspanof 167-201 cm (66-79 in), and a weight of 2–3.6 kg (4.4-8 lbs). It is blue-gray overall, with black flight feathers, red-brown thighs, and a paired red-brown and black stripe up the flanks; the neck is rusty-gray, with black and white streaking down the front; the head is paler, with a nearly white face, and a pair of black plumes running from just above the eye to the back of the head. The feathers on the lower neck are long and plume-like; it also has plumes on the lower back at the start of the breeding season. The bill is dull yellowish, becoming orange briefly at the start of the breeding season, and the lower legs gray, also becoming orangey at the start of the breeding season. Immature birds are duller in color, with a dull blackish-gray crown, and the flank pattern only weakly defined; they have no plumes, and the bill is dull gray-yellow.^[1][2][3]

Golden Eagles at USeeWildlife

Golden Eagle sightings are somewhat rare for this area in general, but not for USeeWildlife. We have experienced some amazing up-close and personal sightings. The picture above is of one we’ve named Double-Spot because of the two white spots on its shoulders.

Description

The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas.

Adult Golden Eagles range considerably in size, though some are among the largest eagles of the genus Aquila. Most subspecies of Golden Eagle vary in the range from 65 to 100 cm (26–40 in), wingspan can range from 150 to 240 cm (60–96 in), and weight is from 2.5 to 7 kg (5.5–15.5 lb). However, wild specimens of the largest subspecies in North America have been observed to be somewhat larger than that description, as the largest recorded weighed 9kg (20 lbs) and had a body length of 102 cm (40.1 in).[1] As with many Accipitriformes, females are considerably larger than males, in the case of the Golden Eagle they weigh one-quarter to one-third more than male birds.

The plumage colours range from black-brown to dark brown, with a striking golden-buff crown and nape, which give the bird its name. The upper wings also have an irregular lighter area. Immature birds resemble adults, but have a duller more mottled appearance. Also they have a white-banded tail and a white patch at the carpal joint, that gradually disappear with every moult until full adult plumage is reached in the fifth year. Contour feathers may be moulted in a short time span.

Feeding

Golden eagle prey includes marmots, hares and mice, and sometimes birds, martens, foxes, small turtles, young deer, and livestock including lambs and young goats. During winter months when prey is scarce, Golden Eagles scavenge on carrion to supplement their diet. Sometimes when no carrion is available golden eagles will hunt down owls, hawks, falcons, and large ungulates. Golden eagles are avian apex predators, meaning a healthy adult is not preyed upon. There are records of golden eagles killing large raptors such as Eurasian Eagle Owls, Gyrfalcons, Goshawks and Buteo hawks. Despite being often smaller in size, they are capable of displacing large vultures, of both unrelated families, from carrion. However, the Bald Eagle and White-tailed Eagle can displace Golden Eagles in competition over food and vice versa. Golden Eagles have very good eyesight and can spot prey from a long distance. The Golden Eagle has a resolving power 8x more powerful than a human. The talons are used for killing and carrying the prey, the beak is used only for eating. They often have a division of labour while hunting, one bird driving the prey towards its waiting partner. On the other hand, the size difference between males and females allows more unpaired birds to live off the land, which is helpful to maintain a sufficiently large population for this large and slowly-maturing bird.

Reproduction

Golden Eagles usually mate for life. They build several eyries (nests) within their territory and use them alternately for several years. These nests consist of heavy tree branches, upholstered with grass when in use. Old eyries may be 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter and 1 metre (3.3 ft) in height, as the eagles repair their nests whenever necessary and enlarge them during each use. If the eyrie is situated on a tree, supporting tree branches may break because of the weight of the nest. Certain other animals – birds and mammals too small to be of interest to the huge raptor – often use the nest as shelter. Their predators are just the right size for Golden Eagle prey, and therefore avoid active eyries.

The female lays two black eggs between January and September (depending on the locality). They start incubation immediately after the first egg is laid, and after 45 days on average the young hatch. They are entirely white and are fed for fifty days before they are able to make their first flight attempts and eat on their own. In most cases only the older chick survives, while the younger one dies without leaving the eyrie. This is due to the older chick having a few days’ advantage in growth and consequently winning most squabbles for food. This strategy is useful for the species because it makes the parents’ workload manageable even when food is scarce, while providing a reserve chick in case the first-born dies soon after hatching. Golden Eagles invest much time and effort in bringing up their young; once able to hunt on their own, most Golden Eagles survive many years, but mortality even among first-born nestlings is much higher, in particular in the first weeks after hatching.

Goose in its origins is one of the oldest words of the Indo-European languages (Crystal), the modern names deriving from the proto-Indo-European root, *ghans-, thence Sanskrit hamsa (feminine hamsii), Persian Ghaz, Latin anser, Greek khén etc.

In the Germanic languages, the root word led to Old English g?s with the plural g?s, German Gansand Old Norse gas. Other modern derivatives are Russian gus and Old Irish géiss; the family name of the cleric Jan Hus is derived from the Czech derivative husa.

The term goose applies to the birds in general, and to a female in particular. The word gander (Old English gandra) is used for a male in particular. Young birds before fledging are called goslings. A group of geese on the ground is called a gaggle; when flying in formation is called a wedge or askein (see also list of collective nouns for birds).

Photo coming soon.

A fox is an animal belonging to any one of about 27 species (of which only 12 actually belong to theVulpes genus, or ‘true foxes’) of small to medium-sized canids, characterized by possessing a long, narrow snout, and a bushy tail, or brush. By far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), although various species are found on almost every continent. The presence of fox-like carnivores all over the globe has led to their appearance in the popular cultureand folklore of many nations, tribes, and other cultural groups (see Foxes in culture).

The Modern English “fox” is Old English, and comes from the Proto-Germanic word fukh – compareGerman Fuchs, Gothic fauho, Old Norse foa and Dutch vos. It corresponds to the Proto-Indo-Europeanword puk- meaning “tail” (compare Sanskrit puccha, also “tail”). The bushy tail is also the source of the word for fox in Welsh: llwynog, from llwyn, “bush, grove” ^[1]. Lithuanian: uodegis, from uodega, “tail”, and Portuguese: raposa, from rabo, “tail”. ^[2]

Photo coming soon.