The Harris Hawks are back in Town!

The Harris Hawks Who Prey Together Will Stay Together!  

They are called the wolf packs of the sky...

 Hiking in the desert is like a day on safari!  Walking the trails early in the morning with all the desert vegetation around, I am constantly looking for birds, both little and big, jackrabbits, mule deer, coyotes, bobcats and am secretly hoping to see that mountain lion.  Really? 

Finding or knowing where the raptors are nesting is a thrill!  These hawks have returned to this nest for several years--I see the mom first, bringing in sticks and rebuilding.

I watch day after day as mom and dad rebuild the nest--soon the female will be incubating two to four white to blueish eggs for thirty-one to thirty-six days.

Harris Hawks live in relatively stable groups and are notable for their behavior of hunting cooperatively--

 most other raptors hunt alone.

The mature female hawk is the dominant bird in the hierarchy. 

Often, there are three hawks attending to one nest: two males and one female.  It is debated if this is a polyandry society.

Harris Hawks feed mostly on live medium-sized mammals such as rabbits, squirrels, and other rodents, but also will grab a quail, medium sized birds (such as this cactus wren) and small reptiles.

The Harris Hawks hunt together and they also raise their young together.  They also stand guard together, helping to defend the nest against a threat.  This increases the likelihood that the eggs will hatch and the young will make it to adulthood. 

Squawking babies need to be fed, 

two to three times a day.

Flight feathers start to grow at around three weeks--over the next few weeks the nestling will begin flap-hopping but won't fledge until about the sixth week after hatching

I know I can!

But not yet!!!