Harris's Hawks

[StarryNite]

First I saw the one in the tree. Then the second one swooped down and landed on this little split rail fence a short distance away. A car was approaching and I knew the one on the fence would take off. I quickly took a couple of pictures not even knowing if I had captured the hawk in flight. I was surprised when I did.

[elleng]

1. Great captures!

Don'tcha love it when the camera gets them when the photog isn't sure???

[StarryNite]

2. Thank you!

Yes, it is a pleasant surprise when that happens.

[StarryNite]

3. This one didn't work. LOL

I took this picture about 3 days later. I was trying to capture another hawk in flight.

[elleng]

4. Happens to me every week!!!

[StarryNite]

5. LOL!

[Enter stage left]

6. If you aren't familiar with Harris Hawks, you MUST investigate them...

They hunt as a family unit, and coordinate their attacks. The dominant bird is the female of the group. While hunting, mostly desert smaller prey, she will direct the birds to scare the prey under a bush, into a tree, etc.

Then she will send one of the most junior members of the group to flush the prey out, while the rest of the group waits above to await their meal. They feed according to the most senior members first, while the others await their turn.

One of the most amazing facts is they don't quit hunting until every member, even the most junior has had their fill.

If you ever get to Tucson, you MUST go to the Desert Museum west of town. They have a raptor show once or twice a day, we were fortunate to see the Harris Hawks during the show. It is one of the most spectacular shows I've ever seen.

Besides this show, the museum is a 5-6 hour must see for anyone interested in the desert, the wildlife and the plants and history of this area.

Absolutely one of the best exhibits we've seen in over 7 years of full timing RV'ing.

Been there multiple times, will go back again.

[StarryNite]

7. I knew some stuff about them but not all of that.

Thank you! It's been years since I've been to the Sonora Desert Museum. We need to get down there again one of these days. I'm not comfortable traveling and going places with COVID the way it's surging here in AZ. I love seeing Harris's hawks in our area. The most I have ever seen in one family was five.

Here is a little family I saw the other day. This is the day that I took the picture of nothing but the blue sky when I was trying to get one of these in when it took off. LOL

[Enter stage left]

8. They are great pictures, thanks for posting them, and reminding me...

how great mother nature truly is.

[StarryNite]

10. Nothing compares to mother nature.

[Bayard]

9. Terrific pics!

Thanks for sharing.

[StarryNite]

11. Thank you!

If you haven't already, be sure to check out what Enter Stage Left said a little upthread about Harris's Hawks. Very interesting information.

[csziggy]

12. I had a Harris Hawk show up on my farm years ago

This was significant since I am in North Florida and they do not live here. After studying it, I realized it had jesses - the straps that falconers put on their birds. I called around and found that a man living near me was a falconer and had lost his Harris Hawk. I made contact with him and he came out to my farm, but by then the hawk had flown off to the north. I don't know if the falconer every got his hawk back.

The only other place I have seen one was in Scotland at Dunrobin Castle where we went to a falconry exhibition.