sharp shinned success Mo Fahmy

Sharp shined hawk  aka sharpie

On September 24^th, we banded a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus). As Nick was rolling one of the nets, the hawk swooped in to catch a sparrow, which was foraging on the seeds we have put in the morning. Nick skillfully extracted the raptor and brought it back to the birdhouse. In many raptor species females are larger than males.  As a result, raptors can be sexed by measuring their mass and wing length. The wing length (WL) of Sharp-shinned hawks ranges from 160 to 214cm. The hawk had a wing length of 164cm, which was relatively short, and weighed 104g. Our measurements indicated that the bird captured was a male. Banders can determine the age of raptors by observing their plumage colouration and whether the birds are moulting their feathers. Adult Sharp-shinned Hawks have a reddish breast and bluish-brown back. Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawks exhibit brown streaking on their chests and have an overall brown plumage. The hawk we captured had a red chest but also had retained, cinnamon-coloured, juvenile feathers. The retained juvenile feathers allowed us to age the bird as a second year (SY), which means that the bird hatched in 2017 and is still replacing its juvenile feathers.

a very happy bander

We captured another Sharp-shinned Hawk on September 29^th. Sarah was thrilled to have banded the second hawk of the season. It was a male (WL= 170cm, mass = 89g). However, this bird had the aforementioned brown streaking, which meant that it hatched earlier this year.

"The Popsicle grip" the prefered fashion of holding a hawk of this size

Sharp-shinned hawks breed in Canada and Northern USA. They tend to nest in mixed forests. Their breeding grounds ranges from the Yukon Territories and Alaska in the west, to Newfoundland and Labrador in the east. They are adept at hunting small songbirds and are often seen perched, or flying in pursuit of their prey, below the treetops. However, they can occasionally be seen soaring higher when migrating. The time of departure from their breeding grounds has yet to be quantified but they have been seen in the Great Lakes Region by early August. Their Fall migration peaks around the first weak of October, according to data collected from hawk watches and banding in Northern US. Individuals usually migrate alone but can sometimes be seen migrating in small groups, which may include other raptor species (e.g American Kestrels, Broad-winged Hawks, and Red-tailed Hawks). Many individuals winter in Southern US for 5-7 months until Spring. Their Spring migration period is ill-defined and remain to be studied to understand their arrival to the breeding grounds, and why they selected particular sites over others.   

  49 Sharp-shinned hawks were banded at HMREC. The first one was banded in the Spring of 1991. The highest record for banding this species was in 2017 with a total of 6 birds. We hope to catch more to understand their migratory behaviour, and their stopover ecology, to help in conserving the species and its preferred habitat.

Adult red tailed hawk

The Sharp-shinned Hawk was not the only hawk species we banded this Fall. We have banded two Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) on September 30^th, and on October 3^rd. These hawks are quite large in comparison to the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Their WL ranges from 321 to 455cm and can weigh up to 1kg. We were very fortunate to catch an adult and a juvenile. As you can see in the pictures, the juveniles do not sport the red tail. They are magnificent nonetheless. We were excited to catch the Red-tailed Hawks because the species was not caught at the marsh in 4 years. Watching these hawks take off and continue their migration was surreal.

a young red tailed hawk