Both the Nature Conservatory of NJ and the State Park in CMP, NJ offer information on Hawk Banding done by www.capemayraptors.org every Saturday. They are also offered Sunday at the State Park. I went Saturday to the Meadows and saw both male Cooper's Hawk and male Red-shouldered Hawk up close and personal.
The bands are used to give each bird a unique ID number similar to a SS number. The
band has information on how to report a raptor that you might find for whatever reason. The largest band is for a female Bald Eagle and the smallest is for a male sharp-shinned Hawk. These are usually placed the first fall migration the hawk makes and at that point their legs are adult size.
I was surprised to see the carrier for the hawks is 2 cans taped together with vented covering on the end where the head is with the tail feathers sticking out of the cans. Hawks look so large when they are flying overhead but a lot of that is the feathers and wing spread.
juvenile male Cooper's Hawk
maleRed-shouldered Hawk
Seen Sunday at the Hawk Banding was a male Northern Harrier
1 comment:
Hard to believe they fit in the cans. What an opportunity to see them up close.
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