Audubon's Birds/BIRDSVER1_3.BIN/dp/0001/00012.txt

Text File | 1992-08-27 | 17.7 KB | 273 lines

$Unique_ID{BRD00012}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{The Red-Tailed Buzzard}
$Subject{Falconinae; Buteo; borealis; jamaicensis; Red-Tailed Buzzard;
Red-tailed Hawk}
$Journal{Birds of America:  Volume I}
$Volume{Vol. 1:32-38}
$Family{Falconinae}
$Genus{Buteo}
$Species{borealis; jamaicensis}
$Common_Name{Red-Tailed Buzzard; Red-tailed Hawk}
$Log{
Plate VII*00012p1.scf,35280026.aud
Bird Call*35280026.aud
Family*00006.txt
Genus*00009.txt}

            (C) (P) Library of Natural Sounds; Cornell Laboratory
       of Ornithology 1990-91, 1992; Ithaca, N.Y., All rights reserved.
       Portions copyright (c) Creative Multimedia Corp., 1990-91, 1992

                       B I R D S   O F   A M E R I C A .

                    By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.

                   ------------------------------------------
                                    VOL. I.
                        --------------------------------


                            THE RED-TAILED BUZZARD.
                 [Red-tailed Hawk (see also Harlan's Buzzard).]


                             BUTEO BOREALIS, Gmel.
                              [Buteo jamaicensis.]


                          PLATE VII.--MALE AND FEMALE.


     The Red-tailed Hawk (Buzzard) is a constant resident in the United States,
in every part of which it is found.  It performs partial migrations, during
severe winters, from the Northern Districts towards the Southern.  In the
latter, however, it is at all times more abundant, and I shall endeavour to
present you with a full account of its habits, as observed there.
     Its flight is firm, protracted, and at times performed at a great height.
It sails across the whole of a large plantation, on a level with the tops of the
forest trees which surround it, without a single flap of its wings, and is then
seen moving its head sidewise to inspect the objects below.  This flight is
generally accompanied by a prolonged mournful cry, which may be heard at a
considerable distance, and consists of a single sound resembling the
monosyllable Kae, several times repeated, for three or four minutes, without any
apparent inflection or difference of intensity.  It would seem as if uttered for
the purpose of giving notice to the living objects below that he is passing, and
of thus inducing them to bestir themselves and retreat to a hiding-place, before
they attain which he may have an opportunity of pouncing upon one of them.  When
he spies an animal, while he is thus sailing over a field, I have observed him
give a slight check to his flight, as if to mark a certain spot with accuracy,
and immediately afterwards alight on the nearest tree.  He would then instantly
face about, look intently on the object that had attracted his attention, soon
after descend towards it with wings almost close to his body, and dart upon it
with such accuracy and rapidity as seldom to fail in securing it.
     When passing over a meadow, a cotton-field, or one planted with sugarcanes,
he performs his flight close over the grass or plants, uttering no cry, but
marking the prey in the manner above described, and on perceiving it, ascending
in a beautiful curved line to the top of the nearest tree, after which he
watches and dives as in the former case.  Should he not observe any object
worthy of his attention, while passing over a meadow or a field, he alights,
shakes his feathers, particularly those of the tail, and, after spending a few
minutes in pluming himself, leaves the perch, uttering his usual cry, and
ascending in the air, performs large and repeated circular flights, carefully
inspecting the field, to assure himself that there is in reality nothing in it
that may be of use to him.  He then proceeds to another plantation.  At other
times, as if not assured that his observations have been duly made, he rises in
circles over the same field to an immense height, where he looks like a white
dot in the heavens.  Yet from this height he must be able to distinguish the
objects on the ground, even when these do not exceed our little partridge or a
young hare in size, and although their colour may be almost the same as that of
surrounding bodies; for of a sudden his circlings are checked, his wings drawn
close to his body, his tail contracted to its smallest breadth, and he is seen
to plunge headlong towards the earth, with a rapidity which produces a loud
rustling sound nearly equal to that of an Eagle on a similar occasion.
     Should he not succeed in discovering the desired object in the fields, he
enters the forest and perches on some detached tree, tall enough to enable him
to see to a great distance around.  His posture is now erect, he remains still
and silent, moving only his head, as on all other occasions, to enable his keen
eye to note the occurrences which may take place in his vicinity.  The lively
squirrel is seen gaily leaping from one branch to another, or busily employed in
searching for the fallen nuts on the ground.  It has found one.  Its bushy tail
is beautifully curved along its back, the end of it falling off with a
semicircular bend; its nimble feet are seen turning the nut quickly round, and
its teeth are already engaged in perforating the hard shell; when, quick as
thought, the Red-tailed Hawk, which has been watching it in all its motions,
falls upon it, seizes it near the head, transfixes and strangles it, devours it
on the spot, or ascends exultingly to a branch with the yet palpitating victim
in his talons, and there feasts at leisure.
     As soon as the little King-bird has raised its brood, and when its courage
is no loner put in requisition for the defence of its young or its mate, the
Red-tailed Hawk visits the farm-houses, to pay his regards to the poultry.  This
is done without much precaution, for, while sailing over the yard where the
chickens, the ducklings, and the young turkeys are, the Hawk plunges upon any
one of them, and sweeps it off to the nearest wood.  When impelled by continued
hunger, he now and then manages to elude the vigilance of the Martins, Swallows
and King-birds, and watching for a good opportunity, falls upon and seizes an
old fowl, the dying screams of which are heard by the farmer at the plough, who
swears vengeance against the robber.  He remembers that he has observed the
Hawk's nest in the woods, and full of anger at the recollection of the
depredations which the plunderer has already committed, and at the anticipation
of its many visits during the winter, leaves his work and his horses, strides to
his house, and with an axe and a rifle in his hands proceeds towards the tree,
where the hopes of the Red-tailed Hawk are snugly nestled among the tall
branches.  The farmer arrives, eyes the gigantic tree, thinks for a moment of
the labour which will be required for felling it, but resolves that he shall not
be overreached by a Hawk.  He throws aside his hat, rolls up his sleeves, and
applies himself to the work.  His brawny arms give such an impulse to the axe,
that at every stroke large chips are seen to fall off on all sides.  The poor
mother-bird, well aware of the result, sails sorrowfully over and around.  She
would fain beg for mercy towards her young.  She alights on the edge of the
nest, and would urge her offspring to take flight.  But the farmer has watched
her motions.  The axe is left sticking in the core of the tree, his rifle is
raised to his shoulder in an instant, and the next moment the whizzing ball has
pierced the heart of the Red-tailed Hawk, which falls unheeded to the earth.
The farmer renews his work, and now changes sides.  A whole hour has been spent
in the application of ceaseless blows.  He begins to look upwards, to judge
which way the giant of the forest will fall, and having ascertained this, he
redoubles his blows.  The huge oak begins to tremble.  Were it permitted to
speak, it might ask why it should suffer for the deeds of another; but it is now
seen slowly to incline, and soon after with an awful rustling produced by all
its broad arms, its branches, twigs and leaves, passing like lightning through
the air, the noble tree falls to the earth, and almost causes it to shake.  The
work of revenge is now accomplished:  the farmer seizes the younglings, and
carries them home, to be tormented by his children, until death terminates their
brief career.
     Notwithstanding the very common occurrence of such acts of retribution
between man and the Hawk, it would be difficult to visit a plantation in the
State of Louisiana, without observing at least a pair of this species hovering
about, more especially during the winter months.  Early in February, they begin
to build their nest, which is usually placed within the forest, and on the
tallest and largest tree in the neighbourhood.  The male and female are busily
engaged in carrying up dried sticks, and other materials, for eight or ten days,
during which time their cry is seldom heard.  The nest is large, and is fixed in
the centre of a triply forked branch.  It is of a flattish form, constructed of
sticks, and finished with slender twigs and coarse grasses or Spanish moss.  The
female lays four or five eggs, of a dull white colour, splatched with brown and
black, with a very hard, smooth shell.  The male assists the female in
incubating, but it is seldom that the one brings food to the other while thus
employed.
     I have seen one or two of these nests built in a large tree which had been
left standing in the middle of a field; but occurrences of this kind are rare,
on account of the great enmity shewn to this species by the farmers.  The young
are abundantly supplied with food of various kinds, particularly grey squirrels,
which the parents procure while hunting in pairs, when nothing can save the
squirrel from their attacks excepting its retreat into the hole of a tree; for
should the animal be observed ascending the trunk or branch of a tree by either
of the Hawks, this one immediately plunges toward it, while the other watches it
from the air.  The little animal, if placed against the trunk, when it sees the
Hawk coming towards it, makes swiftly for the opposite side of the trunk, but is
there immediately dived at by the other Hawk, and now the murderous pair chase
it so closely, that unless it immediately finds a hole into which to retreat, it
is caught in a few minutes, killed, carried to the nest, torn in pieces, and
distributed among the young Hawks.  Small hares, or, as we usually call them,
rabbits, are also frequently caught, and the depreciations of the Red-tailed
Hawks at this period are astonishing, for they seem to kill every thing, fit for
food, that comes in their way.  They are great destroyers of tame Pigeons, and
woe to the Cock or Hen that strays far from home, for so powerful is this Hawk,
that it is able not only to kill them, but to carry them off in its claws to a
considerable distance.
     The continued attachment that exists between Eagles once paired, is not
exhibited by these birds, which, after rearing their young, become as shy
towards each other as if they had never met.  This is carried to such a singular
length, that they are seen to chase and rob each other of their prey, on all
occasions.  I have seen a couple thus engaged, when one of them had just seized
a young rabbit or a squirrel, and was on the eve of rising in the air with it,
for the purpose of carrying it off to a place of greater security.  The one
would attack the other with merciless fury, and either force it to abandon the
prize, or fight with the same courage as its antagonist, to prevent the latter
from becoming the sole possessor.  They are sometimes observed flying either one
after the other with great rapidity, emitting their continued cry of kae, or
performing beautiful evolutions through the air, until one or other of them
becomes fatigued, and giving way, makes for the earth, where the battle
continues until one is overpowered and obliged to make off.  It was after
witnessing such an encounter between two of these powerful marauders, fighting
hard for a young hare, that I made the drawing now before you, kind reader, in
which you perceive the male to have greatly the advantage over the female,
although she still holds the hare firmly in one of her talons, even while she is
driven towards the earth, with her breast upwards.
     I have observed that this species will even condescend to pounce on
wood-rats and meadow-mice; but I never saw one of these birds seize even those
without first alighting on a tree before committing the act.
     During the winter months, the Red-tailed Hawk remains perched for hours
together, when the sun is shining and the weather calm.  Its breast is opposed
to the sun, and it then is seen at a great distance, the pure white of that
portion of its plumage glittering as if possessed of a silky gloss.  They return
to their roosting-places so late in the evening, that I have frequently heard
their cry after sun-set, mingling with the jovial notes of Chuck-will's-widow,
and the ludicrous laugh of the Barred Owl.  In the State of Louisiana, the
Red-tailed Hawk roosts amongst the tallest branches of the Magnolia grandiflora,
a tree which there often attains a height of a hundred feet, and a diameter of
from three to four feet at the base.  It is also fond of roosting on the tall
cypress trees of our swamps, where it spends the night in security, amidst the
mosses attached to the branches.
     The Red-tailed Hawk is extremely wary, and difficult to be approached by
any one bearing a gun, the use of which it seems to understand perfectly; for no
sooner does it perceive a man thus armed than it spreads its wings, utters a
loud shriek, and sails off in an opposite direction.  On the other hand, a
person on horseback, or walking unarmed, may pass immediately under the branch
on which it is perched, when it merely watches his motions as he proceeds.  It
seldom alights on fences, or the low branches of trees, but prefers the highest
and most prominent parts of the tallest trees.  It alights on the borders of
clear streams to drink.  I have observed it in such situations, immersing its
bill up to the eyes, and swallowing as much as was necessary to quench its
thirst at a single draught.
     I have seen this species pounce on soft-shelled tortoises, and amusing
enough it was to see the latter scramble towards the water, enter it, and save
themselves from the claws of the Hawk by immediately diving.  I am not aware
that this Hawk is ever successful in these attacks, as I have not on any
occasion found any portion of the skin, head, or feet of tortoises in the
stomachs of the many Hawks of this species which I have killed and examined.
Several times, however, I have found portions of bull-frogs in their stomach.
     All our Falcons are pestered with parasitic flying ticks.  Those found
amongst the plumage of the Red-tailed Hawk, like all others, move swiftly
sidewise between the feathers, issue from the skin, and shift from one portion
of the body to another on wing, and do not abandon the bird for a day or two
after the latter is dead.  These ticks are large, and of an auburn colour.
     The body of the Red-tailed Hawk is large, compact, and muscular.  These
birds protrude their talons beyond their head in seizing their prey, as well as
while fighting in the air, in the manner shown in the Plate.  I have caught
several birds of this species by baiting a steel-trap with a live chicken.
     I have only here to add, that amongst the American farmers the common name
of our present bird is the Hen-hawk, while it receives that of Grand mangeur de
poules from the Creoles of Louisiana.


     RED-TAILED HAWK, Falco borealis, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. vi. p. 76. Adult.
     AMERICAN BUZZARD or WHITE-BREASTED HAWK, Falco leverianus, Wils. Amer.
       Orn., vol. vi. p. 78.
     BUTEO BOREALIS, RED-TAILED BUZZARD, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii.
       p. 50.
     RED-TAILED HAWK or BUZZARD, Falco Borealis, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 102.
     RED-TAILED HAWK, Falco borealis, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 265; vol. v.
       p. 378.


     Adult Male.
     Bill light blue, blackish at the tip, greenish-yellow on the margin towards
the base; cere greenish-yellow.  Iris hazel.  Tarsi and toes yellow; claws
brownish-black.  Upper part of the head light brownish-grey.  Loral space and
under eyelid white.  A broad band of dark brown from the angle of the mouth
backwards.  Neck above and on the sides reddish-yellow, with large deep brown
spots.  Back deep brown; scapulars of the same colour, broadly margined and
tipped with brownish-white.  Lesser wing-coverts chocolate-brown; larger lighter
brown, tipped with white.  Primary quills blackish-brown; secondaries lighter,
tipped with brownish-white; all barred with blackish.  Upper tail-coverts
whitish, barred with brown, and yellowish-red in the middle.  Tail bright
yellowish-red, tipped with whitish, and having a narrow bar of black near the
end.  Lower parts brownish-white; the fore part of the breast and neck light
yellowish-red, the former marked with guttiform, somewhat sagittate brown spots;
abdomen and chin white; feathers of the leg and tarsus pale reddish-yellow,
those on the outside indistinctly spotted.
     Length 20 1/2 inches; extent of wings 46; bill along the back 1 1/4, along
the gap 2; tarsus 3 1/3, middle toe 2 3/4.  Wings when closed reaching to within
two inches of the tip of the tail.


     Adult Female.
     The female, which is considerably larger, agrees with the male in the
general distribution of its colouring.  The upper parts are darker, and the
under parts nearly white, there being only a few narrow streaks on the sides of
the breast; the tibial and tarsal feathers as in the male.  The tail is of a
duller red, and wants the black bar.
     Length 24 inches.