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>