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| Is this a hybrid "Goopers" Hawk, or just an older, western-range Gos Hawk? |
A Gooper's Hawk? What's a Goopers Hawk?
Simple enough: a hybrid bird that is half Goshawk and half Cooper's Hawk.
The bird seen here was wild-caught on Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania, and has the shocking red eye of a Cooper's Hawk, but the body size and color of a Goshawk.
It could be that this is an escaped man-initiated hybrid mating, but it could also be a wild hybrid as the birds overlap in range and will, quite obviously, cross-mate on occasion. Or it could be, simply, a slighly-smaller, older adult, western-phase colored Goshawk.
The person who trapped this bird said it 'cacked' like a Goshawk, not a Coopers, which is to say it had high pitched voice rather than low pitch one.
This bird took a #6 band, which is too big for a large Cooper's Hawk, but very small for a female Gos -- about right for a tiercel in fact.... or a hybrid.
To be clear, no one is sure what this bird is.
One school says it's an oversized female Cooper's Hawk, another that it's a smaller haggard (older adult) Goshawk that might have flown in from out west where grey color morphs are more common.
Others are sure it's a hybrid -- a "Goopers" Hawk.
A special thanks to Isaac Nichols for the pics and the analysis from the falconry list-servs.
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6 comments:
If it looks like a . . .
We all know the rest of that one, but the real discovery will be finding out if there are other Goopers. We do not know if there are others and that will take a lot of observation. Beautiful bird, hope it's not the only one.
Pardon my ignorance on this otherwise interesting post, but ... isn't it unusual to handle raptors bare-handed?
Also ... a lot of falconry posts lately, Patrick. Are you going to take this up? :)
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Raptors are like a lot of small to mid-sized animals -- it's easy to handle them barehanded once you have them by the right place (in this case the legs above the claws, same as a chicken).
Raptors are generally caught in pole nets (Dho-gazza's), or bow nets, or monofilament nooses (Bal-Chatri), or mist nets. Once the head is covered (an old T-shirt tossed on top), the bird calms down and can be untangled one bit at a time. Job one is holding the feet and untangling the wings and body -- the head is the last out (same as a fox), and by then (in theory) things are under control and the bird can be put into a sock or velco restraint until weighed, tagged, etc. The bird is held by the feet (as shown) and then tossed into the air for release. I am not a bird-bander, by the way, so if someone wants to sort me out on this (no doubt got something wrong), feel free!
No, I am not not going to take up falconry this week (maybe if the body breaks down to the point I cannot dig), but I did work for National Audubon for a number of years. The creation of the Hawk Mountain sanctuary mentioned in this post is a story in which National Auduon (in the 1930s) features poorly. National Audubon also features poorly in the protection of the California condor (Audubon opposed captive breeding).
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Northern Goshawks (polymorphic)- I refuse to call any bird a hybrid, as a hybrid is only so after being scientifically proven. So, I call these goshawks, goshawks with expressed recessive genes. Meaning; male anfd female goshawks( mature) and in flight, and on their southern wintering quarters, and of course where ever they nest. The condition- Goshawks with red vermiculation on chest, belly, and under wing coverts. First discovered my me in Tucson, winter 2000-01. For 6 seasons I have observed a female with this condition in Tucson. NOW, there is at least 2 females and 2 males with this condition in Tucson. Other locations; 1 male in Goodyear, AZ, 1 female with red-orange color in Rockport , TX. This hawk was observed for 4 months. In Kemah, TX- 1 male. And in Anacortes,WA, 1 female in February, and 1 male in April. Nelson Briefer- goshawk specialist-" The man who saw too many Goshawks".
My ebook "The man who saw too many goshawks" is available from www.smashwords.com. The best- Nelson Briefer. www.goshawkspugetsound.blogspot.com
Handling trapped hawks barehanded is fairly easy, and I've rarely seen hawk banders use gloves. Falcons and Bald Eagles on the other hand bite quite fiercely so you have to be extremely careful to keep your hands unreachable near the body when controlling their legs. I've seen only one person footed badly as a result of poor handling technique but have witnessed several bites particularly while getting Kestrels and Merlin untangled from mist nets.
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