Birds and Nature

It is not unusual to see hawks perched on one foot, tucking the other foot in it's feathers to keep it warm.  It was not really cold, around 70 F, so this Harris's Hawk didn't tuck it's foot in but held it up.  When I first saw this it looked like a hand held across it's belly.  This species has  large feet: "They have powerful talons with curving claws and when they spot their prey and begin their feet-first diving descent to capture it, the talons lock onto the prey and tighten much like a zip tie. So a hawk’s feet are designed to catch their food. Struggle as they may, the seized prey very rarely can escape the powerful grasp of those talons." (from https://ginnybirdbeakspeak.com/2015/12/20/beaks-and-feet-harriss-hawk/)

Yesterday I found this Harris's Hawk perched several hundred feet in field at Bosque del Apache NWR. Due to the distance the photos are not very good compared with the Harris's Hawk I photographed south of Alamogordo the day before. Harris's Hawks are rare at Bosque del Apache NWR and other parts of central New Mexico. SeEtta Moss

I found this Harris's Hawk south of Alamogordo near the turn off to Oliver Lee State Park. In the bottom pic it looks like it is wearing that electric pole thing as a helmet. SeEtta

Today I attended a local "Birder Patrol trip" to observe hawk banding by Bill Clark. This is Bill Clark, raptor expert, who bands hawks in the LRGV. And this is an adult female Harris's Hawk that he and his team (Mike and Gus) caught today. Bill shows off this pretty hawk's wings. Big claws for a mid-sized hawk let it grab and hold prey tightly.  A few of the dozen attendees on this trip got to hold one of the hawks and here I am with this Harris's Hawk.  SeEtta

Though I have seen a number of Harris's Hawks this trip none had been very close until I found this one in native scrub habitat. It appeared to be a member of a family of these unusual hawks that hunts in the area I was in. SeEtta