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"Birds of Prey" are birds who hunt for their food (other animals or meat) in flight. When they find prey they swoop out of the air and using their "hooked" beaks and sharp claws they seize the unsuspecting animal. Their bodies are compact, head rounded, and are very strong.

Birds of Prey

"Birds of Prey" are birds who hunt for their food (other animals or meat) in flight. When they find…

"Polyborus auduboni. Common Caracara. General color blackish, the throat, neck all around, and more or less of fore back and breast whitish, spotted and chiefly barred with blackish; upper and under tail-coverts and most of the tail white, the latter very numerously barred with blackish, of which color is the broad terminal zone; the shafts white along the white portion of each feather. Basal portion of primaries likewise barred with whitish. Bill variously pale colored; cere carmine; iris brown; feet yellow; claws black; soft parts drying to a dingy indefinable color." Elliot Coues, 1884

Caracaras

"Polyborus auduboni. Common Caracara. General color blackish, the throat, neck all around, and more…

"Falco mexicanus. American Lanner Falcon. Prairie Flacon. A medium-sized species, distinguished from any gyrfalcon by the smaller size, different feathering of the tarsus etc., from the duck hawk by the general much lighter color, which is dull brownish above instead of dark slate, etc. Adult: Upper parts brownish-drab, each feather with a paler border of brown, grayish, or whitish; the top of the head more uniform, the occiput and nape showing more whitish. Under parts white, everywhere excepting on the throat marked with firm spots of dark brown, most linear on the breast, then more broadly oval on the belly, enlarging and tending to merge into bars on the flanks, very sparse or obsolete on the crissum, on the maxiliary region forming a broad firm moustache; these marking corresponding with the ground color of the upper parts. Primaries ashy-brown, with narrow but firm pale edging of outer webs and ends, the inner webs regularly marked with white in form of barred indents or circumscribed spots, most numerous and regular on the outer primaries; the white tinged with fulvous, next to the shafts; the outer web of the first primary either plain, or with whitish indents as in F. lanarius; outer webs of secondaries more or less marked with fulvous; axillars plain dark brown; lining of wings otherwise white, spotted with dark brown. Tail pale brownish-gray, nearly uniform, but with white tip, and more or less distinct barring or indenting with whitish, especially on the lateral feathers, producing a pattern not unlike that of the primaries. Bill mostly dark bluish horn-color, but its base, and much of under mandible, yellow; feet yellow." Elliot Coues, 1884

Prairie Falcon Head

"Falco mexicanus. American Lanner Falcon. Prairie Flacon. A medium-sized species, distinguished from…

"Falcons. Bill furnished with a sharp tooth and notch near the end of the cutting edge of the upper mandible (sometimes two such teeth), and the end of under mandible truncated, with notch near the tip. Nostrils circular, high in the cere, with a prominent central tubercle. Inter-nasal septum extensively ossified. Palate with a median keel anteriorly. Superciliary shied prominent, in one large piece. Shoulder-joint strengthened by union of scapular process of the coracoid with the clavicle as in Micrastur, Herpetothers, and the Polyborinae alone of Flaconidae. Wings strong, long, and pointed, with rigid and usually straight and tapering flight-feathers; the tip formed by the 2d and 3d quills, supported nearly to their ends by the 1st and the 4th, both of which are longer then the 5th; only one or two outer primaries emarginate on inner webs near the end. Tail short and stiff, with more or less tapering rectrices. Feet strong, rather short, the tarsus of less length than the tibia, feathered more or less extensively, elsewhere irregularly reculate in small pattern varying with the genera or subgenera; never scutellate in single series before or behind. Middle toe very long; talons very short." Elliot Coues, 1884

Falcons

"Falcons. Bill furnished with a sharp tooth and notch near the end of the cutting edge of the upper…

"Falco mexicanus. American Lanner Falcon. Prairie Flacon. A medium-sized species, distinguished from any gyrfalcon by the smaller size, different feathering of the tarsus etc., from the duck hawk by the general much lighter color, which is dull brownish above instead of dark slate, etc. Adult: Upper parts brownish-drab, each feather with a paler border of brown, grayish, or whitish; the top of the head more uniform, the occiput and nape showing more whitish. Under parts white, everywhere excepting on the throat marked with firm spots of dark brown, most linear on the breast, then more broadly oval on the belly, enlarging and tending to merge into bars on the flanks, very sparse or obsolete on the crissum, on the maxiliary region forming a broad firm moustache; these marking corresponding with the ground color of the upper parts. Primaries ashy-brown, with narrow but firm pale edging of outer webs and ends, the inner webs regularly marked with white in form of barred indents or circumscribed spots, most numerous and regular on the outer primaries; the white tinged with fulvous, next to the shafts; the outer web of the first primary either plain, or with whitish indents as in F. lanarius; outer webs of secondaries more or less marked with fulvous; axillars plain dark brown; lining of wings otherwise white, spotted with dark brown. Tail pale brownish-gray, nearly uniform, but with white tip, and more or less distinct barring or indenting with whitish, especially on the lateral feathers, producing a pattern not unlike that of the primaries. Bill mostly dark bluish horn-color, but its base, and much of under mandible, yellow; feet yellow." Elliot Coues, 1884

Two Lanner Falcon

"Falco mexicanus. American Lanner Falcon. Prairie Flacon. A medium-sized species, distinguished from…

"Astur atricapillus. American Goshawk. Blue Hen Hawk (adult). Chicken Hawk (young). Adult: Above, dark bluish-slate color, each feather black-shafted; top of head blackish, conspicuously different from other upper parts, the feathers there with fleecy white bases; a long white superciliary or rather post-ocular stripe; auriculars blackish. Ground color of under parts, including lining of wings, white, closely barred or vermiculated in narrow zigzag lines with slaty-brown, except on throat and crissum, and everywhere sharply pencilled with blackish shaft-lines, one on each feather. The barring is largest and most regular on the belly, flanks, and tibiae, but is for the most part much dissipated in a fine mottling. It varies greatly in coarseness in different specimens, some of which approach A. palumbarius in this respect. Tail like back, banded with four or five blackish bars, the terminal one much the broadest. Bill dark bluish; iris yellowish; feet yellow, claws black." Elliot Coues, 1884

American Goshawk

"Astur atricapillus. American Goshawk. Blue Hen Hawk (adult). Chicken Hawk (young). Adult: Above, dark…

"Buteo vulgaris. hawk of Europe, Upper parts dark brown, very variable in shade according to season or wear of the feathers, varied with paler brown, or even reddish-brown edging of the feathers, but without the clear fawn color of the young; the feathers of the crown showing whitish when distributed, and usually sharp, dark shaft-lines; the upper tail-coverts chestnut and white, with blackish bars. Quills and tail-feathers as below, but the inner webs of the former showing more decided dark cross-bars upon a lighter marbled-whitish ground, and the latter having broader and sharper, dark wavy bars. These large quills, and particularly those of the tail, vary much in shade according to wear, the new feathers being strongly slate-colored, the old ones plain dark brown. The tail, however, never shows any trace often rich chestnut that obtains in the adult B borealis. Iris brown, never yellow; feet, cere, gape, and base of under mandible rich chrome-yellow; rest of bill and claws bluish-black." Elliot Coues, 1884

European Hawk

"Buteo vulgaris. hawk of Europe, Upper parts dark brown, very variable in shade according to season…

Birds of prey usually have stout, hooked beaks and sharp, curved claws, fitting them for clutching and tearing their prey.

Marsh Hawk

Birds of prey usually have stout, hooked beaks and sharp, curved claws, fitting them for clutching and…

"Accipiter fuscus. Sharp-shinned Hawk. "Pigeon" Hawk. Above, dark plumbeous, slate-color, or bluish-gray, somewhat more fuscous on the wings and tail than on the body, the feathers of the hind-head with fleecy white bases, the scapulars with concealed white spots. Tail crossed by about 4 blackish bars, the first under the coverts, the last subterminal and broadest; extreme tips of the feathers white. Primaries also marked with blackish bars or spots, and whitening at their bases, in bars or indents of the inner webs. Under parts barred crosswise with rufous on a white ground, the bars on some parts cordate and connected along the shafts of the feathers, which are blackish; ear-coverts rufous; rufous mostly or entirely wanting on the cheeks, throat, and crissum, which are more or less finely pencilled with the black shafts of the feathers; crissum, however, often pure white. Axillars barred like other under parts; lining of wings white, with dusky spots." Elliot Coues, 1884

Sharp-shinned Hawk

"Accipiter fuscus. Sharp-shinned Hawk. "Pigeon" Hawk. Above, dark plumbeous, slate-color, or bluish-gray,…

"Falco sparverius. Rusty-crowned Falcon. Sparrow Hawk. Adults: Crown ashy-blue, with a chestnut patch, sometimes small or altogether wanting, sometimes occupying nearly all the crown. Conspicuous black maxillary and auricular patches which, with three others around the nape, make seven places in all, usually evident, but some of them often obscure or wanting. Back cinnamon-rufous, or chestnut, like the crown-patch, in the male with a few black spots or none, in the female with numerous black bars. Wing-coverts of the male fine ashy-blue, like the crown, with or without black spots; of the female cinnamon-rufous and black barred, like the back. Quill feathers in male, female blackish, usually with pale edges and tips, and the inner webs with numerous white indentations, or bars continuous along the inner webs, leaving the black chiefly in a series of dentations proceeding from the shafts; ends of secondaries usually also slaty-blue like the coverts. Tail bright chestnut, in the male with white tip, broad black subterminal zone, and outer feathers mostly white with several black bars, in the female the whole tail with numerous imperfect black bars. Under parts white, variously tinged with buff or tawny, in the male with a few black spots or none, in the female with many dark brown streaks; throat and vent usually immaculate. Bill dark horn; cere and feet yellow or orange. Elliot Coues, 1884

Sparrow Hawk

"Falco sparverius. Rusty-crowned Falcon. Sparrow Hawk. Adults: Crown ashy-blue, with a chestnut patch,…

"Accipiter fuscus. Sharp-shinned Hawk. "Pigeon" Hawk. Above, dark plumbeous, slate-color, or bluish-gray, somewhat more fuscous on the wings and tail than on the body, the feathers of the hind-head with fleecy white bases, the scapulars with concealed white spots. Tail crossed by about 4 blackish bars, the first under the coverts, the last subterminal and broadest; extreme tips of the feathers white. Primaries also marked with blackish bars or spots, and whitening at their bases, in bars or indents of the inner webs. Under parts barred crosswise with rufous on a white ground, the bars on some parts cordate and connected along the shafts of the feathers, which are blackish; ear-coverts rufous; rufous mostly or entirely wanting on the cheeks, throat, and crissum, which are more or less finely pencilled with the black shafts of the feathers; crissum, however, often pure white. Axillars barred like other under parts; lining of wings white, with dusky spots." Elliot Coues, 1884

Sharp-shinned Hawk - Small

"Accipiter fuscus. Sharp-shinned Hawk. "Pigeon" Hawk. Above, dark plumbeous, slate-color, or bluish-gray,…

Two Swallow-tail and One Mississippi Kite. "Ictinia subcaerulea. Mississippi Kite. General plumage plumbeous or dark ashy-gray, bleaching on the head and secondaries, blackening on the tail and wings, several primaries more (male) or less (female) suffused with chestnut-red on the inner web or on both webs. Forehead and tips of secondaries usually silvery-whitish; concealed white spots on the scapulars; bases of the head and under parts fleecy-white. Lores eyelids, and bill, including cere, black; gape of mouth and feet, orange, the latter obscures on the front tarsus, and along the tops of the toes; iris lake-red. Feet and cere drying to a nameless dingy color." And "Elanoides forficatus. Swallow-tailed Kite. Adult: Head, neck, band on rump, and entire under parts, including lining of wings, snow-white; back, wings, and tail, glossy black, with various lustre, chiefly green and violet. Bill bluish-black; cere, edges of mandibles, and feet pale bluish, the latter tinged with greenish; claws light-colored." Elliot Coues, 1884

Two Swallow-tail and One Mississippi Kites

Two Swallow-tail and One Mississippi Kite. "Ictinia subcaerulea. Mississippi Kite. General plumage plumbeous…

"Speotyto cunicularia hypogae'a. Burrowing Owl. Adult: Above, dull grayish-brown, profusely spotted with whitish; the markings mostly rounded and paired on each feather, but anteriorly lengthened. Quills with 4-6 whitish bars, entire or broken into cross-rows of spots; tail-feathers similarly marked. There is much individual variation in the tone of the ground-color, and size and number of the spots, which may also be rather ochrey than whitish. Superciliary line, chin, and throat, white, the two latter separated by a dark brown jugular collar; auruculars brown; facial bristles black-shafted. Under parts white or pale ochrey, the breast, belly, and sides barred with traverse spots of brown, in a pretty regular manner; legs and under tail-coverts unmarked. Lining of wings tawny-white, dusky-spotted on the primary coverts." Elliot Coues, 1884

Burrowing Owl

"Speotyto cunicularia hypogae'a. Burrowing Owl. Adult: Above, dull grayish-brown, profusely spotted…

"Asio accipitrinus. Short-eared Owl. Marsh Owl. Ear-tufts inconspicuous, much shorter than middle toe and claw, few-feathered. First and 2d primaries emarginate on inner webs. Above, completely variegated, chiefly in streaks, with fulvous or tawny, and dark brown; breast much the same, but other under parts paler ochrey, usually bleaching on the belly, which in sparely but sharply streaked (never barred) with dark brown; feet pale tawny or whitish, usually immaculate; lining of wings interruptedly whitish. Wing-quills varied, mostly in large pattern, and tail pretty regularly barred (about 5 bars) with the two colors of the upper parts. Facial area white or nearly so, but with a large black eye-patch; the disc minutely speckled with fulvous and blackish, bordered with white internally and usually having a blackish patch behind the ear; radiating feathers of the oper-culum streaked with blackish and fulvous. Iris bright yellow; bill and claws dusky-bluish; the naked granular soles yellowish. The ear-opening of this species is extremely large, being two inches or more across the longest way." Elliot Coues, 1884

Short-eared Owl

"Asio accipitrinus. Short-eared Owl. Marsh Owl. Ear-tufts inconspicuous, much shorter than middle toe…

"Nyctea scandiaca. Snowy Owl. Pure white, spotted and barred with brownish-black markings, wholly indeterminate in size and number; but entirely white specimens are very rare. There is often more black then white; and in the darkest birds, the markings tend to bar the plumage with with rows of spots, such pattern specially evident of the wings and tails. A common average plumage is spotted all over the upper parts, broken-barred on the quills and tail-feathers, regularly barred on the under parts, and with white face and paws. The face, throat, and feet are usually whitest. Bill and claws black; iris yellow. Nearly or about two two feet long." Elliot Coues, 1884

Snowy Owl

"Nyctea scandiaca. Snowy Owl. Pure white, spotted and barred with brownish-black markings, wholly indeterminate…

"Nyctala - Saw-whet Owls. Skull and ear-parts highly unsymmetrical, the the latter of great size, and fully operculate. Head very large (as in Strix), without plumicorns; facial disc complete, with centric eye. Nostril at edge of the cere, which is inflated or not. Tail from 1/2 to 2/3rds as long as the wing, rounded. Third and 4th primaries longest; 1st quite short; 2 or 3 emarginate on inner webs. Feet thickly and closely feathered to the claws. In this interesting genus the ear-parts are of great size, and reach the extreme of asymmetry, the whole skull seeming misshapen." Glaucidium. Gnome Owls. Sparrow Owls. Pygmy owls. Size very small. Head perfectly smooth; no plumicorns; ear-parts small, non-operculate; facial disc very incomplete, the eye not centric. Nostril circular, opening in the tumid cere; bill robust. Tarsus fully and closely feathered, but toes only bristly for the most part. Wings short and much rounded, the 4th primary longest, the 1st quite short, the 3 outer ones emarginate, and next one or two sinuate. Tail long, about 3/4ths as long as the wing, even or nearly so. Claws strong, much curved. A large genus of very small owls, mostly of tropical countries. The numerous species, chiefly of warm parts of America, are in dire confusion, but the only two known to inhabit N. Am. are well determined. The plumage of many or most species is dichromatic, as in Scops, there being a red and a gray phase independently of age, season, or sex; but the red is not known to occur in our G. gnoma. The upper parts are marked with spots or lines; bars, or rows of spots, cross the wings and tail; the under parts are streaked; there is a cervical collar." Elliot Coues, 1884

Saw-whet and Sparrow Owls

"Nyctala - Saw-whet Owls. Skull and ear-parts highly unsymmetrical, the the latter of great size, and…

A group of vultures, three on the ground, eat their prey. Several vultures are approaching those already on the ground.

Vultures

A group of vultures, three on the ground, eat their prey. Several vultures are approaching those already…