Famous birds

Hello there fellas :D!

Last time we talked about how easily birds adapt to other environments and how they reproduce in order to subsist in areas where they usually do not habit. Today we are going to talk about a carnivorous bird, not an eagle, not a hawk, not a falcon, but an owl. Not just any own but the famous Hedwig meaning that today’s topic will be about birds in the theaters featuring Hedwig.

Hedwig, a snowy owl is female and is one of the only birds that actually have an important paper in the movies or have had ever reached viewers feeling when it died in a horrible way in the battle against Lord Voldemort. However according to Laura Erickson “Hedwig is being played as a male own due to its snow white plumage and is demonstrated to be light and fast with powerful talons” (lauraerickson.com). Analyzing the real side of this birds will be that real snowy owls live in the tundra, with a limited amount of species due to the global warming issue that has not been just affecting us, but the species around us. That is one reason why in Harry Potter they use this bird as the main “bird character” being the friend of Harry and all of his friends, supposedly snowy owls can carry 1 kilogram while flying, proving that the movie does represent them as real as possible.

                That was all for today folks and remember to stay tuned and be expecting more details about other flying famous fellas that have enlightened us in the movies with their great abilities and aspect

"Professor, Laura Erickson(a.k.a. "The Owls of Harry Potter." Laura Erickson's For the Birds. Laura, 10 June 2006. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://lauraerickson.com/bird/Species/Owls/HarryPotter/HarryPotter.html>.

Migrating or Dying

Hello there fellas :D!

                Last time we talked about the general ability of the hawks and falcons to adapt to changes, especially changes to the environment via migration, so this time we will be talking about the route they take when they migrate using as a reference the physicians organization web page which finally tracked down the rout of the beautiful Eleonora’s falcon.

                “Satellite tracking has allowed a research team to uncover the mysteris of the migration of Eleanora’s falcon for the first time.”(physorg.com) These gorgeous creatures travel around 9,500 kilometres across the African continent from the Balearic and Columbretes Islands before reaching the island of Madagascar, they usually migrate when the winter arrives because they prefer to live in a well template environment rather than a cold or too hot landscape.

                Tagged falcons started theur migration of more than 9,500 kilometres in the autumn of 2007 and 2008. This discovery made by this study was that the falcons do not fly over the waters of the Mediterranean and along the East African coast, but instead cross straight over the African Continent, since other species also migrate to the other side of Africa, the reproduction of their preys is easier in the area left behind so when they come back, food is available at all times.

                That was all for today and stay tuned for more information about the awesomeness of birdlike creatures such as falcons, eagles, hawks and seagulls. Farewell and remember to come back next week for a completely random topic :D!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PhyzOrg. "Migratory Route of Eleonora's Falcon Revealed for First Time." PhysOrg.com - Science News, Technology, Physics, Nanotechnology, Space Science, Earth Science, Medicine. Physicians Organization, 16 Oct. 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. <http://www.physorg.com/news174908334.html>.

Hawk Migration

Hello there fellas :D!:

Well as promised, today we are talking about the migration and ability of hawks to adapt to other environments. First of all I would like to mention that there is an official organization that protects the migration of these beautiful raptors called “Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) which is a “membership-based organization committed to the conservation of raptors through the scientific study, enjoyment and appreciation of raptor migration.” (hmna.org)

Usually, each fall hundreds of hawks and eagles migrate in order to breed across the ground of North America to South America. Migrating hawks follow a certain route so they can meet or attract its couple and finally reproduce. However they do not like to cross large bodies of water where there are no updrafts, for this reason, some geographical locations became the concentration spot that are a good attraction to the visiting tourists for them to observe the migrating hawks.

This method is effectively used in order to count the number of a specie, this is useful mainly to know if there exists the risk of extinction since this method keep track of how many hawks of a certain specie arrives and reproduces successfully. “One of the more scenic places to what migrating raptors is the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, located in east central Pennsylvania”(wbu.com)

Well that’s all for today and be prepared for the next week, because we are focusing mainly on how they adapt more than how they reproduce, also taking the concern of the extinction risk of that beautiful yet gorgeous specie. See you later :D!

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

W.H.M. "Fall Hawk Migration." Wild Birds Unlimited | Bird Food, Bird Seed, Bird Feeder, Birdhouse, Bird Bath, Hummingbirds. World Hawk Migration, 14 Feb. 2009. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/hawkmig.htm>.

HMNA. "Hawk Migration." Hawk Migration Association of North America. Hawk Migration Association of North America, 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hmana.org/>.

How do Falcons live?

Hello again fellas, after comparing hawks with falcons and admiring the beauty of eagles we are now moving to our next post, which is as interesting as the falconry post, however we are going to talk about how falcons live when they are not trained or even after they are trained and released.

                As we said before the most impressive specie of falcons is the Peregrine Falcon the way it hunts is “mainly in flight, so they dine almost on other birds. However very young hawks catch flying insects and ground-dwelling animals” (pbs.org) As this page explains, peregrine falcons are not the kind of bird that hunts usual rats and spiders but they prefer to hunt while on the air.

                Hawks usually breed when they are 2 years of age, and in order to attract the female, “the male will put on aerial courtship display to attract a mate to a section of nesting sites”(pbs.org) Female will lay a small amount of eggs, around 5-7, it takes a month before the eggs hatch. Once the eggs finally hatch the usual weight of the newborn is about 1.5 ounces, considering its size it’s quite heavy.

                The mortality rate of young peregrines is very high, about one in 10 makes it to the breeding age and they can live only up to 15 years.

                Well that’s all for today folks, see you next time, we are going to talk about the migration and adaptability of hawks to other climates and parts of the world. Stay tuned :D!

Golden Eagles

Hello again, fellas:

Well this week we are going off topic, talking about eagles and we will be focusing on the golden eagle., my favourite in personal manners this may be considered a way of comparing them from hawks, however I just want to emphasize the fact that eagles are the ultimate flying predator and a respected wild animal.

First of all, Eagles are gorgeous, they are one of the most respected and admired animals around the globe. Some normal and easy to detect descriptions can be that they are a very large raptor, with sharp and hooked bill, over the distance we can see dark brown all over with a golden sheen on the head, they have very long and broad wings, in comparison with hawks and falcons but what makes them easier to detect is their beautiful and long broad tail. The places where we can see these majestic birds are mainly in western North America and throughout the Northern Hemisphere, if we want to see one I would recommend going into tundra, open coniferous forest and barren areas, especially in mountainous regions, because of the fact the nest of cliff ledges and trees.

Some awesome facts about these eagles is that they are capable of killing large prays such as: Turtles, sheep, and other farm animals; it is the national emblem of Mexico, which consists of a green-white-and red flag with a golden eagle killing a snake at the middle; another fact is that the amount of white in the wings of the young Golden Eagle caries among individuals, and some of them even lack of white on the entire wing. Golden Eagles are from 27.6 to 33.1 inches (from tail to peck) and they weight from 105.8 to 216.1 (3-6 Kg).

Well that’s all for this week folks and expect for the next week a random topic about falcons once again :D!! Have a good night and see you next time :).

Birdy. "Golden Eagle." All About Birds. 14 Sept. 2009. Web. 16 Sept. 2011. <http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden_Eagle/lifehistory>.

Hawks vs. Falcons

There are plenty of doubts whether a falcon is any different than a hawk, and that’s why people tend to classify falcons as if they were on the family of hawks. However falcons have some major differences which we can use to recognize even from the birth of the animal.

First I’m going to talk about falcons, there are over 60 different types of falcons worldwide, but the main specie is the sparrow falcon (interestinganimals.net), which main characteristic is described as “an angular bend on their beaks, this is in order to break their prey’s neck” (differencebetween.net) so it can be said that falcons are more aerodynamic, smaller and they are considered to be the super-fast flying speeders among all birds, and they divide their family tree in just one genus. Another great characteristic among falcons in comparison with hawks, is that they have smaller wings and are way lighter, this is because they need the greatest speed to compensate their small size and strength; according to a nature article, difference between, states that the diving speed of a peregrine falcon is of 322 km/h, just imagine that speed with the addition of the superior sense of vision, which is twice than that of humans. 

Now, moving to the hawk area, the main characteristic of a hawk is defined as “have a smooth beak with simple curves as they use their talons and sharp claws to kill their prey” (differencebetween.net) so we can compare the hunting skills of a hawk with that of a falcon, and according to differencesbetween, we can say that the falcons are much slower and basically just glide  above their prey, while falcons dive immediately as they identify it; the most majestic hawk is the Sainson’s hawk with “a coloured dark brown on the back with a black throat, they have a red-tailed of 18-25 inches tall” (outdooralabama.com) they have one of the sharpest claws of all birds, following the greatest hunter of all, which is the eagle.

So in conclusion the main difference and the most important among human beings, is that falcons can be trained to obey orders of human beings, while hawks are aggressive and independent. So in my opinion hawks are gorgeous, falcons are beautiful but my preferred bird would be the majestic and royal eagle.

That’s all for today folks; see you next week with the topic of eagles and falcons, thanks for reading and see you later. :D!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kuvumbli. "Hawks or Falcons." Differences Between. 9 May 2011. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. <http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-a-hawk-and-a-falcon/>.

Alabama. "Native Hawks & Falcons." Outdoor Alabama. 13 Oct. 2008. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. <http://www.outdooralabama.com/watchable-wildlife/Watchablearticles/idhawks.cfm>

Cortain. "Hawks and Falcons." Interesting Animals. 22 Jun. 2007. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. <http://www.interestinganimals.net/types_of_falcons/types_of_falcons.html>