The Harris's Hawk or Harris Hawk, formerly known as the Bay-winged Hawk or Dusky Hawk, is a
medium-large bird of prey which breeds from the southwestern USA south to Chile and central Argentina.
Its scientific name is Parabuteo unicinctus. It is the only member of the genus Parabuteo. The name is
derived from the Greek para, meaning beside or near, and the Latin buteo, referring to a kind of hawk; uni
meaning once; and cinctus meaning girdled, referring to the white band at the base of the tail.
John James Audubon gave this bird its English name in honor of his ornithological
companion, financial supporter, and friend Edward Harris.[1]
The habitat of Harris's Hawk is sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes (with some trees) in some parts of its
range (Howell and Webb 1995), including mangrove swamps, as in parts of its South American
range (Olmos & Silva e Silva, 2003) It nests in a tree and lays 2–4 eggs, incubated for 28 days to hatching.
It has blackish brown plumage with chestnut forewings (above and below) and thighs. The end
of the tail and the rump are white. It has a length of 60 cm and a wingspan of 1.2 m; the average weight is about 900 g (2
pounds). Females are typically 10% bigger than males.
The Harris's social behavior
Harris's Hawks' social behavior is unusual for raptors. Young may stay with their parents for up to three years, helping to
raise later broods. They also hunt together, groups of two to six birds often cooperating to flush and then capture prey
(group hunting). In contrast, the vast majority of raptors are solitary hunters, and not at
all gregarious.
This social behavior gives Harris's Hawks an easygoing nature that makes them desirable captive birds. Since about 1980,
Harris's Hawks have been increasingly used in falconry and are now the most popular hawks in
the West (outside of Asia) for that purpose, as they are the easiest to train and the most affectionate.[2]
Hunting with Harris's Hawks often works best with two or more birds. (In contrast most other raptors cannot be flown together,
as they will attack each other.) When prey is flushed, the birds can work together to corner the animal – compensating for their
relatively low acceleration and speed. Harris's Hawks will happily treat the falconer as a hunting partner, and will follow from
tree to tree and perch until the falconer flushes a rabbit from the bushes.
In the United States desert southwest, Harris's hawks sometimes engage in a behavior called 'stacking'. Two or three birds may
perch one atop the other. Researchers note that when this occurs, the more dominant bird is actually the one on the bottom of the
stack. The social dynamics are that when a low-status bird is approached by a higher status bird, the low-status bird will
abandon a perch. However, a higher status bird will retain its perch, and end up with one or two lower status birds atop it.
The Harris's prey
The Harris's Hawk can, if trained well, take a wide range of prey, being able to almost match the Goshawk. They can easily catch and kill a rabbit, a hare or even a pheasant, but its natural prey are small rodents and reptiles.
Jobs for Harris's
Aside from falconry, Harris's Hawk is now widely used in European towns to scare
pigeons and starlings. Many airports employ falconers to scare these birds away from the land around
runways and reduce the risk of birdstrikes on planes. A Harris Hawk, for example, was hired
in the summer of 2007 to keep seagulls away from the pitch at BMO Field, home of
Toronto FC. (There have been reports of escaped Harris Hawks breeding in the wild in
England.)
References
- BirdLife International (2004). Parabuteo unicinctus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry
includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, Steve N. G. Howell and Sophie Webb, 1995, ISBN
0-19-854012-4
- Guará-Ambiente, Flora e Fauna dos Manguezais de Santos-Cubatão, Fábio Olmos & Robson Silva e Silva, ISBN
85-89138-06-2
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
