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Index of Subjects A few years ago Roy Bishop in Avonport shared this impressive observation of a Red-tailed Hawk hovering. Roy had observed a hovering hawk centred in the eyepiece of his astronomical telescope (I believe it was an 8-inch reflector). What impressed Roy was the hawk's abolity to remain locked in an absolutely stationary position for several minutes while hovering above a field, facing into a breeze coming off the Minas Basin. To remain locked in the eypiece field of an astronomical telescope at a power great enough to reveal eye and feather details, the bird's movement would have had to be minimal. I would have to check on the details about the specifics of the hawk and the telescope but Roy, who often relates to nature through the eyes of a physicist, was quite impressed. I believe his observation was reported in an issue of the BNS newsletter several years ago. When I get back to N.S. from B.C. I will ask Roy about that event. Sherman W. > Angela and Richard et al., I can add a couple things to Richard's answer > below. First, hovering and kiting and various combinations for red-tailed > and rough-legged hawks are quite frequently emploved in eastern King's > County, particularly in dykeland areas. The buteos have learned how to > use a moderate to stiff wind efficiently in their hunting techniques. And > Richard mentioned the Eurasian kestrel but not the American kestrel, > which also employs hovering over open fields and roadside ditches in > hunting for large insects, small mammals, etc. > > Cheers from Jim in Wolfville > ---------- > From: Richard Stern <sternrichard@gmail.com> > Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:18:56 -0400 > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] do red tail hawks hover? > > > Hi, > > > Most hawks can hover, but to different degrees while hunting. The > champion is the Rough-legged, although other buteos, including Red-tails, > can hover for a short time. So can Ospreys. If you ever go to Europe and > see Eurasian Kestrels, they characteristically hover over motorways > waiting for road-kill. There is an old name for them - "wind-hover". > European Buzzards > (the equivalent there of our Red-tail) also hover regularly. I don't know > if any N.American falcons or accipiters hover, but it's not really their > flight style. There probably wouldn't be any point in their usual > habitat. Many hawks including Red-tails will also "kite" - which means > facing into a strong wind and just using their wings and posture to > briefly stay in 1 place relative to the ground - a bit like people can > spread their arms and lean into a strong wind. (That expression is > mentioned in a couple of books I have, but not in any on-line dictionary I > could find!). > > Richard > > > > On Dec 27, 2007 2:06 PM, Angela Joudrey <aljoudrey@eastlink.ca> wrote: > Do all hawks have the ability to "hover"? > > > I noticed one this am in an area where there are red tails hawks, but > I was unable to id it. > > > Just wondering, > > > Angela- > now living in a new "bird heaven" area of Windsor -- > Angela Slaunwhite > aljoudrey@eastlink.ca > > > > -- > ################# > Dr.Richard Stern, > 70 Exhibition St. > Kentville, NS, Canada > B4N 4K9 > > > Richard Stern, > 317 Middle Dyke Rd. > Port Williams, NS, Canada > B0P 1T0 > > > rbstern@ns.sympatico.ca rbstern@xcountry.tv sternrichard@gmail.com > ################### > > >
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