View allAll Photos Tagged polymorphic
Inferred evolution of polymorphic positions.
A partial coding sequence of the coral Acropora millepora was used to root a phylogenetic tree relating the two Nematostella alleles. A neighbor-joining tree was constructed using the computer program Phylip (version 3.6). Distances between sequences were computed using the first 330 amino acids of the alignment (shown in Figure S3) and the JTT distance matrix. Numbers below branches indicate phylogenetic distance (in units of expected number of substitutions per residue). Positions that are polymorphic in Nematostella are shown to the right. The Acropora sequence was identical to one of the two Nematostella variants at five positions (double-headed arrows). For each of these five positions, substitutions were mapped to either the branch leading to the Ser allele or the branch leading to the Cys allele, assuming that the condition found in Acropora is the ancestral state.
Color is Life: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales conceal these snakes in the bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae (Colubrids)
Genus/species: Ahaetulla fronticincta
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales. Bulbous wide-set raised eyes. Length to 60 cm (23.5 inches).
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT Myanmar (formerly Burma) Mostly arboreal. They are abundant on bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps. Diurnal hunter of small fish: gobies, and rice fish. Prey immobilized with mild venom.
DIET IN THE WILD Diurnal hunter of small fish: gobies, and rice fish. Prey immobilized with mild venom
from enlarged rear fangs. Visually-oriented hunter.
REPRODUCTION Fertilization internal. Viviparous. Newborn snakes are a subtle shade of brown. Polymorphic: some adults turn green, brown, or more rarely two-toned.
The Steinhart Aquarium was the first to display this species. Academy field research on this little-known species continues. An arboreally-adapted species that consumes fishes is an oddity. In the Steinhart, feed on guppies and goldfish. Steinhart’s vine shakes have bred and reproduced in captivity, a first for this species.
CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern (LC)
References
California Academy of Sciences Water is Life Exhibit
California Academy of Sciences video.calacademy.org/details/285
IUCN Red List www.iucnredlist.org/details/192058/0
Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/1057253/details
flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157608449603666/
Wordpress Shortlink wp.me/p1DZ4b-OM
Water Planet, Feeding Cluster
3-1-13, 09-09-15
Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC, syn.: Rhizocarpon riparium Räs
Map Lichen, DE.: Lankartenflechte
Slo.: zemljevidni skorjevec
Dat.: July 4. 2016
Lat.: 46.21318 Long.: 13.54701
Code: Bot_983/2016_IMG0758
Habitat: mountain grassland, moderately steep mountain slope, south aspect; on the border of limestone and flysh bedrock; open place, full sun, moist place; exposed to direct rain; elevation 1.400 m (4.600 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 3-5 deg C, pre-alpine phytogeographical region.
Substratum: small inclusions of hard, smooth, siliceous rock in bare, exposed calcareous (limestone or dolomite) bedrock.
Place: Mont Matajur region, next to the trail from village Livek to Mt. Matajur, west of Planina Matajur, Julian Pre-Alps, Posočje, Slovenia EC.
Comment: Rhizocarpon geographicum is beautiful, conspicuous lichen, which is very common in the regions with siliceous, acid ground. But in Slovenia it is rather a rare find because of the lack of such ground. With its bright yellow thallus, black apothecia and black prothallus and characteristically areolate pattern of the thallus, which coarsely resembles a map, it is superficially easy to determine. However the Rhizocarpon geographicum group is extremely polymorphic, still poorly understood species complex. Several taxa have been separated with slightly different chemistry, spore properties and/or habit.
The thallus of Rhizocarpon geographicum grows very slowly, only about 0.1 mm per year (Ref.4). The largest thalli can be much more than thousand years old. This slow hrouth is used in global warming studies. Retreat of glaciers can be measured by measuring thalli diameter along valleys with retreating glaciers.
Thalli up to 10 x 6 cm large.
Ref.:
(1) F.S. Dobson, Lichens, The Richmonds Publishing Ca.LTD (2005), p 386.
(2) V. Wirth, Die Flechten Baden-Württembergs, Teil.2., Ulmer (1995), p 812.
(3) V. Wirth, R. Duell, Farbatlas Flechten und Moose, Ulmer, (2000), p 137.
(4) B. Marbach, C. Kainz, Moose, Farne und Flechten, BLV Naturfürer (2002), p 90.
(5) C.W.Smith, et all, The lichens of Great Britain and Ireland, The British Lichen Society, (2009), p 800.
(6) I.M. Brodo, S.D. Sharnoff, S. Sharnoff, Lichens of North America, Yale Uni. Press (2001), p 635.
An adult Black-skinned Parrot Snake from Santa Cruz Forest Reserve. This subspecies is sometimes recognized as a distinct species (Leptophis nigromarginatus), characterized by the heavy black edging to the scales, blueish coloration on head and ventral edges, and black spotting in the parietal scales. It is sometimes reported as sympatric with L. ahaetulla, which could suggest it is indeed a distinctive species, or that the trait is just polymorphic and in some localities you get both forms as it transitions into the race L. a. nigromarginatus.
Мастер класс "Старая монета", создание молда из полиморфного пластика. Polymorphic plastic filled with boiling water. When the pellets are transparent plastic, you can get it and make it a form of polymer clay. Plastic is not hot, easily deformed and hardens quickly. This mold can melt when immersed in hot water again.
A common and widespread harvester ant that ranges across southern Europe and NW Africa. In the Middle East and Central Asia there are some forms which have never been taxonomically reviewed (Rigato & Toni, 2011).
Stoyanov et al. (2015) - Messor structor are harvester ants storing seeds in underground granaries. Being major seed consumers in xeric habitats they influence the vegetation by depleting and dispersing seeds (Azcarate, Peco 2003, MacMahon et al. 2000, Schlick-Steiner et al. 2005). According to Seifert (1996), Central European populations of the harvester ant genus Messor are currently considered to constitute a single species Messor structor. It has been reported that M. structor ants live mainly in polygynous colonies and could be members of unicolonial populations (Schlick-Steiner et al. 2005). Messor structor is one of the most widespread steppe species. It is well adapted to different conditions and occurs in all of Europe. In Bulgaria this ant is found all over the country in medium-sized populations and occur in plain desolate terrains, mountainous slopes, outskirts of mixed woodland zones and in open well-drained areas such as abandoned fields, pastures, and overgrown lawns.
This study examined genetic variability among populations of Messor structor from various localities (n=36 nests) in from Southern Bulgaria using isoenzymic analysis. Three of the four enzyme loci used were found to be polymorphic. Observed and expected heterozygosities (Ho and He) ranged from 0.0 to 0.111 and from 0.168 to 0.372, respectively. Nei’s (1972) genetic distance was found to range from 0.001 (between Boliarino and Lubenova mahala) to 0.462 (between Chirpan and Merichleri). The estimated mean F-IS and F-ST values from isozyme data were 0.8738 and 0.1432, respectively. Two of the studied populations were grouped separately in dendrograms as compared to all other populations which formed a large cluster consisting of three sub-clusters.
(source: AntWiki)
hcpG alleles are highly polymorphic whereas hcpC alleles are relatively conserved.(a) Amino acid alignment of HcpC (G27_1039) and HcpG (G27_1469) from H. pylori strain G27MA. Identical amino acids are shaded in blue. (b) Mapping of amino acids shared by HcpC and HcpG onto the HcpC crystal structure. The alignment and amino acid mapping was performed using the Jalview multiple sequence editor (version 2.5.1). (c) Phylogenetic and corresponding domain architecture analyses of hcpG alleles (N?=?46). Left, The ML phylogeny reconstructed using the TVM+? substitution model (Table S3 in File S1). Bar?=?0.1 nucleotide substitutions per site and the arrowheads indicate hcpG lineages that experienced positive selection. Black diamonds, hcpG aleles obtained from sequenced H. pylori genomes; and grey diamonds, hcpG alleles obtained from GenBank. Right, domain architectures of representative hcpG alleles drawn to scale. The white rectangles are Slrs, and the black rectangles are predicted secretion signal sequences. (d) ML phylogeny of hcpC alleles (N?=?81) reconstructed using the TrN+I+? substitution model (Table S4 in File S1). The geographic origins of the strains included are listed in Table S1 in File S1: black diamonds indicate hcpC alleles obtained from sequenced H. pylori genomes. Bar?=?0.1 nucleotide substitutions per site. Arrowheads indicate hcpC lineages that experienced positive selection. Phylogenetic datasets used in generating panels (c) and (d) have been submitted to GenBank? with the following accession numbers: 1) hcpC dataset, KC007946?KC008026 and 2) hcpG dataset KC008027?KC008064).
Florida harvester ant minor and major worker.
Polymorphic sisters posing on the crystalline quartz sand grains of an ancient dune!
Unrelated little video of workers dancing after a hard day's seed gathering: vimeo.com/33070398
(Dear myrmecologists, I know they are not really dancing ;-)
Arbusto, hibrido natural entre Ilex cornuta e Ilex integra. Muy polimorfo, con ejemplares de hojas de margen entero o dentado hacia el ápice.
Es nativo de la Isla de Wando, en Corea del Sur. En iturraran se encuentra en las zonas 1 y 2.
Shrub, hybrid natural between Ilex cornuta and Ilex integra. Very polymorphic, with specimens of leaves of entire margin or dentate towards the apex.
He is a native of Wando Island, in South Korea. In Iturraran is located in areas 1 and 2.
Microdiversity of the F10 lineage population of Pond-1.
The genetic diversity of the twelve F10 lineage strains isolated from Pond-1 over a period of four years (2003–2007) is illustrated. Left panel. NJ tree based on concatenated nucleotide sequences of twelve loci (Table S4) with a total length of 9031 alignment positions. Middle panel. Only three out of 13 sequenced loci showed sequence polymorphism. The icd2 and Pnuc_1095 genes were present with two alleles differing in the sequenced parts in total in eight and seven positions (polymorphic positions), respectively. Numbers depict the total numbers of polymorphic sites (first number) and the number of non-synonymous sites (second number) among the polymorphic sites. The locus Pnuc_1240 of strain P1-Kol5 differed from all other sequenced strains in the presence of an insertion element (IS, insertion sequence). Sequences of Pnuc_1240 were not considered in the calculation of the presented phylogenetic tree. Right panel. Results from genetic fingerprinting with the independent methods RAPD (Ziemke A), ERIC, and REP-PCR. Each method resulted in different fingerprints, but each method revealed basically only two types of fingerprints (G1a and G1b). The REP-PCR fingerprint G1b* differed only weakly from G1b. Colors green and red indicate that the respective strains share or do not share, respectively, a particular trait with the genome-sequenced strain QLW-P1DMWA-1.
A screenshot from the finished version of "Jump", a first-person shooter that I made in C# with the XNA framework. The .rar is available for download at drop.io/shaymus22/asset/jump-install-rar
Pogonomyrmex badius major worker. The larger of this amazing species' polymorphic workers. I call them bulldozers! Harvester ants collect seeds and store them in granaries inside their colonies. The entrance to their ubderground cities if often surrounded by a concentric ring of debris and seed husks. They are not aggressive but if provoked (sat upon or insulted) can sting and have one of the most potent venoms of any North American insect!
University & Course:Loughborough, BA Fine Art
Medium: Sculpture, Polymorph plastic, copper and chicken mesh armature.
Artist Profile: My practice is predominantly based around the wonders of science and nature. I am very much interested in the curiosity and intensity of the sensation experienced by the viewer through the use of an unfamiliarity and surreal medium.
The Properties and nature of my medium is integral in informing the strange intrinsic biomorphic forms that make up my sculptures.
Theses white polymorphic sculptures are my personal and unique expression of a smart material with reflects upon the beauty and simplicity of forms found in nature and also the wonders of science that allow for investigations into the curious and new wondrous creations such as the medium itself.
I start my sculptures with a certain structural idea in mind, with a particular notion or concern that I wish to address, but, inevitably, the polymorph medium takes on a life of its own.
Tenerife
Icod de los Vinos
Butterfly garden
Papilio memnon, the great Mormon, is a large butterfly native to southern Asia that belongs to the swallowtail family. It is widely distributed and has thirteen subspecies. The female is polymorphic and with mimetic forms.
Great Mormon Butterfly (Papillo memnon), seen at the 2013 edition of Butterflies Live! at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. According to information found on line, this butterfly is found in Southern Asia in forest clearings and in areas inhabited by humans; its wingspan is 12-15 cm (5-6 inches); it is polymorphic, so that appearances can vary among individual butterflies (four male forms and numerous female forms); and it is in the swallowtail family, but not all varieties have tails (males do not, and only some females do). Foods include poinsettias, lantana, and citrus fruits. The female shown below, seen at Butterflies Live! in 2012, has tails and different coloration; the example above apparently is a male, as male coloration ranges from dark blue to black.
Great Mormon Butterfly (Papillo memnon), seen at the 2012 edition of Butterflies Live! at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. According to information found on line, this butterfly is found in Southern Asia in forest clearings and in areas inhabited by humans; its wingspan is 12-15 cm (5-6 inches); it is polymorphic, so that appearances can vary among individual butterflies (four male forms and numerous female forms); and it is in the swallowtail family, but not all varieties have tails (males do not, and only some females do -- so this one is female). Foods include poinsettias, lantana, and citrus fruits. We went last month with granddaughter Isabella, age 6, who has been a butterfly fancier practically always.
Color is Life: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales conceal these snakes in the bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae (Colubrids)
Genus/species: Ahaetulla fronticincta
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales. Bulbous wide-set raised eyes. Length to 60 cm (23.5 inches).
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Myanmar (formerly Burma) Mostly arboreal. They are abundant on bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
DIET IN THE WILD: Diurnal hunter of small fish: gobies, and rice fish. Prey immobilized with mild venom from enlarged rear fangs. Visually-oriented hunter.
ACADEMY DIET: An arboreally-adapted species that consumes fishes is an oddity. In the Steinhart, feed on guppies and goldfish.
REPRODUCTION: Fertilization internal. Viviparous. Newborn snakes are a subtle shade of brown. Polymorphic: some adults turn green, brown, or more rarely two-toned.
The Steinhart Aquarium was the first to display this species. Academy field research on this little-known species continues. Steinhart’s vine shakes have bred and reproduced in captivity, a first for this species.
CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern (LC)
This snake is a mangrove specialist feeding only on fish. It can occur in somewhat degraded habitat, however as it requires a large enough area of mangrove habitat to support fish populations, it will not persist in sites where the mangrove zone is only a few trees thick.
Water Planet, Feeding Cluster
References
California Academy of Sciences Water is Life Exhibit
video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrTHRPo3UBW7XsA...
IUCN Red List www.iucnredlist.org/details/192058/0
Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/1057253/details
flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157608449603666/
Wordpress Shortlink wp.me/p1DZ4b-OM
3-1-13, 09-09-15
Arbustos caducifolios y rizomatosos de hasta 1,5 m de alto. Corteza gris clara, con escamas papiráceas. Yemas pardo rojizas oscuras, subglobosas, de unos 2 mm. Hojasverdes, a menudo tornándose parduscas con la edad, polimorfas, oblongas, elíptica y a veces lanceoladas, ovadas u oblanceoladas, de 3-10 cm de largo x 1-5 cm de ancho, bastante gruesas y duras, base de redondeada a cuneada, margen plano o revoluto, con 2-3 dientes redondeados a cada lado, ápice anchamente redondeado, haz lustroso y dispersamente pubescente o glabrescente, envés densamente pubescente, peciolo de unos 7 mm. Bellotas solitarias o en parejas, subsésiles o con pedúnculo de 10-18 mm, con cúpula de 10-12 mm de alto x 15-25 mm de ancho, nuez ovoide, marrón, de 12-25 x 14-18 mm. Especie nativa de Texas, Nuevo México y Oklahoma, en Estados Unidos. En Iturraran se encuentra en la zona 1.
Zuhaixka hosto erorkorrak eta errizomadunak, 1,5 m garai gehienez. Azala gris argia, ezkata papirazeoekin. Begiak arre gorrixka ilunak, ia esferikoak, 2 mm ingurukoak. Hostoak berdeak, adinarekin askotan arrexka bihurtzen dira, polimorfoak, luzangak, eliptikoak eta, batzuetan, lantzeolatuak, obatuak eta oblantzeolatuak, 3-10 cm luze x 1-5 cm zabal, aski lodiak eta gogorrak, oinaldea biribila, falka itxurakoa edo tartekoa, ertza laua edo kanpora kiribildua, 2-3 hortz biribilekin alde bakoitzean, punta biribil zabala, gainaldea distiratsua eta han-hemen ilaunduna edo ia glabroa, azpialdea ile-janzki trinkoduna, 7 mm inguruko pezioloa. Ezkurrak banaka edo binaka agertzen dira, ia eseriak edo 10-18 mm-ko pedunkuluarekin, kupula 10-12 mm garai x 15-25 mm zabal da, hurra arrautza formakoa da, marroia, 12-25 x 14-18 mm-koa. Espeziearen jatorria: Amerikako Estatu Batuetako Texas, Mexiko Berria eta Oklahoma. Iturraranen 1. gunean dago.
Arbustes à feuillage caduc et à rhizomes de jusqu’à 1,5 m de hauteur. Écorce gris clair, avec écailles papyracées. Bourgeons brun rougeâtre foncés, sous-globuleux, de quelques 2 mm. Feuilles vertes, souvent brunâtres avec l’âge, polymorphes, oblongues, elliptique et parfois lancéolées, ovales ou oblancéolées, de 3-10 cm de longueur x 1-5 cm de largeur, assez épaisses et dures, base d’arrondie à cunée, bord plat ou retourné, avec 2-3 dents arrondies de chaque côté, sommet largement arrondi, adaxial lustré et rarement pubescent ou glabrescent, abaxial densément pubescent, pétiole de quelques 7 mm. Glands solitaires ou en couples, sous-sessiles ou avec pédoncule de 10-18 mm, avec coupole de 10-12 mm de hauteur x 15-25 mm de largeur, noix ovoïde, marron, de 12-25 x 14-18 mm. Espèce originaire du Texas, du Nouveau Mexique et de l’Oklahoma, aux États-Unis. À Iturraran elle se trouve dans la zone 1.
Rhizome and deciduous bushes up to 1.5 m tall. Light grey bark, with papyraceous scales. Dark reddish brown buds, subglobose, around 2 mm. Green leaves, often turning brown with age, polymorphic, oblong, elliptic and sometimes lanceolate, ovate or oblanceolate, 3-10 cm long x 1-5 cm wide, rather thick and hard, round to cuneate base, rolled or flat edge, with 2-3 rounded teeth on each side, broadly rounded tip, shiny upper face and pubescent or glabrescent in place, underneath densely pubescent, petiole of around 7 mm. Single acorns or in pairs, subsessiles or with 10-18 mm peduncle, with 10-12 mm high x 15-25 mm wide cupule, ovoid nut, brown, 12-25 x 14-18 mm. Species native to Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma in the United States. Located in zone 1 in Iturraran.
The Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), also spelled Gyr Falcon, sometimes Gerfalcon, is the largest of all falcon species. The Gyrfalcon breeds on Arctic coasts and islands of North America, Europe and Asia. It is mainly resident, but some Gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter[1].
The bird's common name comes from French gerfaucon, and in mediaeval Latin is rendered as gyrofalco. The first part of the word may come from Old High German gîr (cf. modern German Geier), "vulture", referring to its size compared to other falcons, or the Latin gȳrus ("circle", "curved path") from the species' circling as it searches for prey, unlike the other falcons in its range[2]. The male gyrfalcon is called a gyrkin in falconry.
Its scientific name is composed of the Latin terms for a falcon, Falco, and for someone who lives in the countryside, rusticolus.
Plumage is very variable in this highly polymorphic species: the archetypal morphs are called "white", "silver", "brown" and "black" though coloration spans a continuous spectrum from nearly all-white birds to very dark ones.
The Gyrfalcon is a bird of tundra and mountains, with cliffs or a few patches of trees. It feeds only on birds and mammals. Like other hierofalcons, it usually hunts in a horizontal pursuit, rather than the Peregrine's speedy stoop from a height. Most prey is killed on the ground, whether they are captured there or, if the victim is a flying bird, forced to the ground. The diet is to some extent opportunistic, but a majority of breeding birds mostly rely on Lagopus grouse. Avian prey can range in size from redpolls to geese and can include gulls, corvids, smaller passerines, waders and other raptors (up to the size of Buteos). Mammalian prey can range in size from shrews to marmots (sometimes 3 times heavier than the assaulting falcon), and often includes include lemmings, voles, ground squirrels and hares. They only rarely eat carrion.
The Gyrfalcon is the official bird of Canada's Northwest Territories.
Vitis (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce wine. The study and cultivation of grapevines is called viticulture.
Most cultivated Vitis varieties are wind-pollinated with hermaphroditic flowers containing both male and female reproductive structures, while wild species are dioecious. These flowers are grouped in bunches called inflorescences. In many species, such as Vitis vinifera, each successfully pollinated flower becomes a grape berry with the inflorescence turning into a cluster of grapes. While the flowers of the grapevines are usually very small, the berries are often large and brightly colored with sweet flavors that attract birds and other animals to disperse the seeds contained within the berries.
Grapevines usually only produce fruit on shoots that came from buds that were developed during the previous growing season. In viticulture, this is one of the principles behind pruning the previous year's growth (or "One year old wood") that includes shoots that have turned hard and woody during the winter (after harvest in commercial viticulture). These vines will be pruned either into a cane which will support 8 to 15 buds or to a smaller spur which holds 2 to 3 buds.
Description
Flower buds are formed late in the growing season and overwinter for blooming in spring of the next year. They produce leaf-opposed cymes. Vitis is distinguished from other genera of Vitaceae by having petals which remain joined at the tip and detach from the base to fall together as a calyptra or 'cap'. The flowers are mostly bisexual, pentamerous, with a hypogynous disk. The calyx is greatly reduced or nonexistent in most species and the petals are joined together at the tip into one unit but separated at the base. The fruit is a berry, ovoid in shape and juicy, with a two-celled ovary each containing two ovules, thus normally producing four seeds per flower (or fewer by way of aborted embryos).
Other parts of the vine include the tendrils which are leaf-opposed, branched in Vitis vinifera, and are used to support the climbing plant by twining onto surrounding structures such as branches or the trellising of a vine-training system.
In the wild, all species of Vitis are normally dioecious, but under domestication, variants with perfect flowers appear to have been selected.
The genus Vitis is divided into two subgenera, Euvitis Planch. have 38 chromosomes (n=19) with berries borne on clusters and Muscadinia Planch. 40 (n=20) with small clusters.
Wild grapes can resemble the single-seeded Menispermum canadense (moonseed), which is toxic.
Species
Most Vitis species are found mostly in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in North America and eastern Asia, exceptions being a few in the tropics and the wine grape Vitis vinifera which originated in southern Europe and southwestern Asia. Grape species occur in widely different geographical areas and show a great diversity of form.
Their growth makes leaf collection challenging and polymorphic leaves make identification of species difficult. Mature grapevines can grow up to 48 centimetres (19 inches) in diameter at breast height and reach the upper canopy of trees more than 35 metres (115 feet) in height.
Many species are sufficiently closely related to allow easy interbreeding and the resultant interspecific hybrids are invariably fertile and vigorous. Thus the concept of a species is less well defined and more likely represents the identification of different ecotypes of Vitis that have evolved in distinct geographical and environmental circumstances.
The exact number of species is not certain. Plants of the World Online states 81 species are accepted, but lists 84. More than 65 species in Asia are poorly defined. Approximately 25 species are known in North America and just one, V. vinifera has Eurasian origins; some of the more notable include:
Vitis aestivalis, the summer grape, native to the Eastern United States, especially the Southeastern United States
Vitis amurensis, native to the Asian continent, including parts of Siberia and China
Vitis arizonica, The Arizona grape is native to Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Northern Mexico.
Vitis berlandieri, native to the southern North America, primarily Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas. Primarily known for good tolerance against soils with a high content of lime, which can cause chlorosis in many vines of American origin
Vitis californica, the California wild grape, or Northern California grape, or Pacific grape, is a wild grape species widespread across much of California as well as southwestern Oregon
Vitis coignetiae, the crimson glory vine, a species from East Asia grown as an ornamental plant for its crimson autumn foliage
Vitis labrusca L., the fox grapevine, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the Eastern United States and Canada. The Concord grape was derived by a cross with this species
Vitis riparia, the riverbank grapevine, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the entire Eastern United States and north to Quebec
Vitis rotundifolia (syn. Muscadinia rotundifolia), the muscadine, used for jams and wine. Native to the Southeastern United States from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico
Vitis rupestris, the rock grapevine, used for breeding of Phylloxera resistant rootstock. Native to the Southern United States
Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine. Native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia.
Vitis vulpina, the frost grape, native to the Eastern United States, from Massachusetts to Florida, and west to Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas Treated by some as a synonym of V. riparia.
Plants of the World Online also includes:
Vitis acerifolia Raf.
Vitis amoena Z.H. Chen, Feng Chen & WW.Y. Xie
Vitis baihuashanensis M.S.Kang & D.Z.Lu
Vitis balansana Planch.
Vitis bashanica P.C.He
Vitis bellula (Rehder) W.T.Wang
Vitis betulifolia Diels & Gilg
Vitis biformis Rose
Vitis blancoi Munson
Vitis bloodworthiana Comeaux
Vitis bourgaeana Planch.
Vitis bryoniifolia Bunge
Vitis × champinii Planch.
Vitis chunganensis Hu
Vitis chungii F.P.Metcalf
Vitis cinerea (Engelm.) Millardet
Vitis davidi (Rom.Caill.) Foëx
Vitis × doaniana Munson ex Viala
Vitis erythrophylla W.T.Wang
Vitis fengqinensis C.L.Li
Vitis ficifolia Bunge
Vitis flavicosta Mickel & Beitel
Vitis flexuosa Thunb.
Vitis girdiana Munson
Vitis hancockii Hance
Vitis heyneana Schult.
Vitis hissarica Vassilcz.
Vitis hui W.C.Cheng
Vitis jaegeriana Comeaux
Vitis jinggangensis W.T.Wang
Vitis jinzhainensis X.S.Shen
Vitis kaihuaica Z.H.Chen, Feng Chen & W.Y Xie
Vitis kiusiana Momiy.
Vitis lanceolatifoliosa C.L.Li
Vitis longquanensis P.L.Chiu
Vitis luochengensis W.T.Wang
Vitis menghaiensis C.L.Li
Vitis mengziensis C.L.Li
Vitis metziana Miq.
Vitis monticola Buckley
Vitis mustangensis Buckley
Vitis nesbittiana Comeaux
Vitis × novae-angliae Fernald
Vitis novogranatensis Moldenke
Vitis nuristanica Vassilcz.
Vitis palmata Vahl
Vitis pedicellata M.A.Lawson
Vitis peninsularis M.E.Jones
Vitis piasezkii Maxim.
Vitis pilosonervia F.P.Metcalf
Vitis popenoei J.L.Fennell
Vitis pseudoreticulata W.T.Wang
Vitis quinlingensis P.C.He
Vitis retordii Rom.Caill. ex Planch.
Vitis romanetii Rom.Caill.
Vitis ruyuanensis C.L.Li
Vitis saccharifera Makino
Vitis shenxiensis C.L.Li
Vitis shizishanensis Z.Y.Ma, J.Wen, Q.Fu & X.Q.Liu
Vitis shuttleworthii House
Vitis silvestrii Pamp.
Vitis sinocinerea W.T.Wang
Vitis sinoternata W.T.Wang
Vitis tiliifolia Humb. & Bonpl. ex Schult.
Vitis tsoi Merr.
Vitis wenchowensis C.Ling
Vitis wenxianensis W.T.Wang
Vitis wilsoniae H.J.Veitch
Vitis wuhanensis C.L.Li
Vitis xunyangensis P.C.He
Vitis yunnanensis C.L.Li
Vitis zhejiang-adstricta P.L.Chiu
There are many cultivars of grapevines; most are cultivars of V. vinifera. One of them includes, Vitis 'Ornamental Grape'.
Hybrid grapes also exist, and these are primarily crosses between V. vinifera and one or more of V. labrusca, V. riparia or V. aestivalis. Hybrids tend to be less susceptible to frost and disease (notably phylloxera), but wine from some hybrids may have a little of the characteristic "foxy" taste of V. labrusca.
The Latin word Vitis is feminine,[19] and therefore adjectival species names take feminine forms, such as V. vinifera.
Ecology
Phylloxera is an American root aphid that devastated V. vinifera vineyards in Europe when accidentally introduced in the late 19th century. Attempts were made to breed in resistance from American species, but many winemakers and customers did not like the unusual flavour profile of the hybrid vines. However, V. vinifera grafts readily onto rootstocks of the American species and their hybrids with V. vinifera, and most commercial production of grapes now relies on such grafts.
Commercial distribution
According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75,866 square kilometres of the world is dedicated to grapes. Approximately 71% of world grape production is used for wine, 27% as fresh fruit, and 2% as dried fruit. A portion of grape production goes to producing grape juice to be used as a sweetener for fruits canned "with no added sugar" and "100% natural". The area dedicated to vineyards is increasing by about 2% per year.
Domestic cultivation
Grapevines are widely cultivated by gardeners, and numerous suppliers cater specifically for this trade. The plants are valued for their decorative foliage, often colouring brightly in autumn; their ability to clothe walls, pergolas and arches, thus providing shade; and their fruits, which may be eaten as dessert or provide the basis for homemade wines. Popular varieties include:-
Buckland Sweetwater' (white dessert)
'Chardonnay' (white wine)
'Foster's Seedling' (white dessert)
'Grenache' (red wine)
'Muscat of Alexandria' (white dessert)
'Müller-Thurgau' (white wine)
'Phoenix' (white wine)
'Pinot noir' (red wine)
'Regent' (red wine)
'Schiava Grossa' (red dessert)
'Seyval blanc' (white wine)
'Tempranillo' (red wine)
The following varieties have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
'Boskoop Glory' (dessert/wine)
'Brant' (black dessert)
'Claret Cloak' or 'Frovit' (ornamental)
'New York Muscat' (black dessert)
'Purpurea' (ornamental)
Uses
The fruit of several Vitis species are grown commercially for consumption as fresh grapes and for fermentation into wine. Vitis vinifera is the most important such species.
The leaves of several species of grapevine are edible and are used in the production of dolmades and Vietnamese lot leaves.
Culture
The grapevine (typically Vitis vinifera) has been used as a symbol since ancient times. In Greek mythology, Dionysus (called Bacchus by the Romans) was god of the vintage and, therefore, a grapevine with bunches of the fruit are among his attributes. His attendants at the Bacchanalian festivals hence had the vine as an attribute, together with the thyrsus, the latter often entwined with vine branches. For the same reason, the Greek wine cup (cantharos) is commonly decorated with the vine and grapes, wine being drunk as a libation to the god.
The grapevine has a profound symbolic meaning in Jewish tradition and culture since antiquity. It is referenced 55 times in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), along with grapes and wine, which are also frequently mentioned (55 and 19, respectively). It is regarded as one of the Seven Species, and is employed several times in the Bible as a symbol of the Israelites as the chosen people. The grapevine has a prominent place in Jewish rituals: the wine was given a special blessing, "creator of the fruit of the vine", and the Kiddush blessing is recited over wine or grape juice on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. It is also employed in various parables and sayings in rabbinic literature. According to Josephus and the Mishnah, a golden vine was hung over the inner chamber of the Second Temple. The grapevine is featured on Hasmonean and Bar Kokhba revolt coinage, and as a decoration in mosaic floors of ancient synagogues.
In Christian iconography, the vine also frequently appears. It is mentioned several times in the New Testament. We have the parable of the kingdom of heaven likened to the father starting to engage laborers for his vineyard. The vine is used as symbol of Jesus Christ based on his own statement, "I am the true vine (John 15:1)." In that sense, a vine is placed as sole symbol on the tomb of Constantia, the sister of Constantine the Great, and elsewhere. In Byzantine art, the vine and grapes figure in early mosaics, and on the throne of Maximianus of Ravenna it is used as a decoration.
The vine and wheat ear have been frequently used as symbol of the blood and flesh of Christ, hence figuring as symbols (bread and wine) of the Eucharist and are found depicted on ostensories. Often the symbolic vine laden with grapes is found in ecclesiastical decorations with animals biting at the grapes. At times, the vine is used as symbol of temporal blessing.
In Mandaeism, uthras (angels or celestial beings) are often described as personified grapevines (gupna).
Tenerife
Icod de los Vinos
Butterfly garden
Papilio memnon, the great Mormon, is a large butterfly native to southern Asia that belongs to the swallowtail family. It is widely distributed and has thirteen subspecies. The female is polymorphic and with mimetic forms.
Rayieria basifer (Walker, 1873), to Heath trap, Aranda, ACT, 20/21 December 2015
According to Namyatova, A. & Cassis, G. 2013, and G. Cassis pers. comm., this fits R. basifer, which is a polymorphic species. It is close in appearance to the type specimen for Eucerocoris tumidiceps Horváth, 1902, which is now synonymised wuth R. basifer.
Namyatova and Cassis describe this species as follows:
"This species is recognised by its braconid-mimicking appearance, hemelytron of most species [sic] are brown to black with whitish and pinkish markings, sometimes hemelytron pale brown with markings less distinct; colouration of pronotum variable, but never with triangle-shaped dark brown to black marking, covering anterior and posterior parts of pronotum (Fig. 2); frons distinctly protruding (as in Fig. 5D); head distinctly swollen dorsally (Fig. 7D); shortest distance between AF almost as wide as eye (as in Fig. 5D); AI thinner than clypeus from anterior view, swollen apically (Fig. 6A); LIV as long as or slightly shorter than clypeus height from lateral view; left paramere widened apically (Fig. 11K); endosoma without serrate spicules, often with field of small spicules (Fig. 11I); DLP with spermathecal gland attached between lateral oviducts (Fig. 14D)."
The Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), also spelled Gyr Falcon, sometimes Gerfalcon, is the largest of all falcon species. The Gyrfalcon breeds on Arctic coasts and islands of North America, Europe and Asia. It is mainly resident, but some Gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter[1].
The bird's common name comes from French gerfaucon, and in mediaeval Latin is rendered as gyrofalco. The first part of the word may come from Old High German gîr (cf. modern German Geier), "vulture", referring to its size compared to other falcons, or the Latin gȳrus ("circle", "curved path") from the species' circling as it searches for prey, unlike the other falcons in its range[2]. The male gyrfalcon is called a gyrkin in falconry.
Its scientific name is composed of the Latin terms for a falcon, Falco, and for someone who lives in the countryside, rusticolus.
Plumage is very variable in this highly polymorphic species: the archetypal morphs are called "white", "silver", "brown" and "black" though coloration spans a continuous spectrum from nearly all-white birds to very dark ones.
The Gyrfalcon is a bird of tundra and mountains, with cliffs or a few patches of trees. It feeds only on birds and mammals. Like other hierofalcons, it usually hunts in a horizontal pursuit, rather than the Peregrine's speedy stoop from a height. Most prey is killed on the ground, whether they are captured there or, if the victim is a flying bird, forced to the ground. The diet is to some extent opportunistic, but a majority of breeding birds mostly rely on Lagopus grouse. Avian prey can range in size from redpolls to geese and can include gulls, corvids, smaller passerines, waders and other raptors (up to the size of Buteos). Mammalian prey can range in size from shrews to marmots (sometimes 3 times heavier than the assaulting falcon), and often includes include lemmings, voles, ground squirrels and hares. They only rarely eat carrion.
The Gyrfalcon is the official bird of Canada's Northwest Territories.
The Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), also spelled Gyr Falcon, sometimes Gerfalcon, is the largest of all falcon species. The Gyrfalcon breeds on Arctic coasts and islands of North America, Europe and Asia. It is mainly resident, but some Gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter[1].
The bird's common name comes from French gerfaucon, and in mediaeval Latin is rendered as gyrofalco. The first part of the word may come from Old High German gîr (cf. modern German Geier), "vulture", referring to its size compared to other falcons, or the Latin gȳrus ("circle", "curved path") from the species' circling as it searches for prey, unlike the other falcons in its range[2]. The male gyrfalcon is called a gyrkin in falconry.
Its scientific name is composed of the Latin terms for a falcon, Falco, and for someone who lives in the countryside, rusticolus.
Plumage is very variable in this highly polymorphic species: the archetypal morphs are called "white", "silver", "brown" and "black" though coloration spans a continuous spectrum from nearly all-white birds to very dark ones.
The Gyrfalcon is a bird of tundra and mountains, with cliffs or a few patches of trees. It feeds only on birds and mammals. Like other hierofalcons, it usually hunts in a horizontal pursuit, rather than the Peregrine's speedy stoop from a height. Most prey is killed on the ground, whether they are captured there or, if the victim is a flying bird, forced to the ground. The diet is to some extent opportunistic, but a majority of breeding birds mostly rely on Lagopus grouse. Avian prey can range in size from redpolls to geese and can include gulls, corvids, smaller passerines, waders and other raptors (up to the size of Buteos). Mammalian prey can range in size from shrews to marmots (sometimes 3 times heavier than the assaulting falcon), and often includes include lemmings, voles, ground squirrels and hares. They only rarely eat carrion.
The Gyrfalcon is the official bird of Canada's Northwest Territories.
Arbustos caducifolios y rizomatosos de hasta 1,5 m de alto. Corteza gris clara, con escamas papiráceas. Yemas pardo rojizas oscuras, subglobosas, de unos 2 mm. Hojasverdes, a menudo tornándose parduscas con la edad, polimorfas, oblongas, elíptica y a veces lanceoladas, ovadas u oblanceoladas, de 3-10 cm de largo x 1-5 cm de ancho, bastante gruesas y duras, base de redondeada a cuneada, margen plano o revoluto, con 2-3 dientes redondeados a cada lado, ápice anchamente redondeado, haz lustroso y dispersamente pubescente o glabrescente, envés densamente pubescente, peciolo de unos 7 mm. Bellotas solitarias o en parejas, subsésiles o con pedúnculo de 10-18 mm, con cúpula de 10-12 mm de alto x 15-25 mm de ancho, nuez ovoide, marrón, de 12-25 x 14-18 mm. Especie nativa de Texas, Nuevo México y Oklahoma, en Estados Unidos. En Iturraran se encuentra en la zona 1.
Zuhaixka hosto erorkorrak eta errizomadunak, 1,5 m garai gehienez. Azala gris argia, ezkata papirazeoekin. Begiak arre gorrixka ilunak, ia esferikoak, 2 mm ingurukoak. Hostoak berdeak, adinarekin askotan arrexka bihurtzen dira, polimorfoak, luzangak, eliptikoak eta, batzuetan, lantzeolatuak, obatuak eta oblantzeolatuak, 3-10 cm luze x 1-5 cm zabal, aski lodiak eta gogorrak, oinaldea biribila, falka itxurakoa edo tartekoa, ertza laua edo kanpora kiribildua, 2-3 hortz biribilekin alde bakoitzean, punta biribil zabala, gainaldea distiratsua eta han-hemen ilaunduna edo ia glabroa, azpialdea ile-janzki trinkoduna, 7 mm inguruko pezioloa. Ezkurrak banaka edo binaka agertzen dira, ia eseriak edo 10-18 mm-ko pedunkuluarekin, kupula 10-12 mm garai x 15-25 mm zabal da, hurra arrautza formakoa da, marroia, 12-25 x 14-18 mm-koa. Espeziearen jatorria: Amerikako Estatu Batuetako Texas, Mexiko Berria eta Oklahoma. Iturraranen 1. gunean dago.
Arbustes à feuillage caduc et à rhizomes de jusqu’à 1,5 m de hauteur. Écorce gris clair, avec écailles papyracées. Bourgeons brun rougeâtre foncés, sous-globuleux, de quelques 2 mm. Feuilles vertes, souvent brunâtres avec l’âge, polymorphes, oblongues, elliptique et parfois lancéolées, ovales ou oblancéolées, de 3-10 cm de longueur x 1-5 cm de largeur, assez épaisses et dures, base d’arrondie à cunée, bord plat ou retourné, avec 2-3 dents arrondies de chaque côté, sommet largement arrondi, adaxial lustré et rarement pubescent ou glabrescent, abaxial densément pubescent, pétiole de quelques 7 mm. Glands solitaires ou en couples, sous-sessiles ou avec pédoncule de 10-18 mm, avec coupole de 10-12 mm de hauteur x 15-25 mm de largeur, noix ovoïde, marron, de 12-25 x 14-18 mm. Espèce originaire du Texas, du Nouveau Mexique et de l’Oklahoma, aux États-Unis. À Iturraran elle se trouve dans la zone 1.
Rhizome and deciduous bushes up to 1.5 m tall. Light grey bark, with papyraceous scales. Dark reddish brown buds, subglobose, around 2 mm. Green leaves, often turning brown with age, polymorphic, oblong, elliptic and sometimes lanceolate, ovate or oblanceolate, 3-10 cm long x 1-5 cm wide, rather thick and hard, round to cuneate base, rolled or flat edge, with 2-3 rounded teeth on each side, broadly rounded tip, shiny upper face and pubescent or glabrescent in place, underneath densely pubescent, petiole of around 7 mm. Single acorns or in pairs, subsessiles or with 10-18 mm peduncle, with 10-12 mm high x 15-25 mm wide cupule, ovoid nut, brown, 12-25 x 14-18 mm. Species native to Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma in the United States. Located in zone 1 in Iturraran.
This fella didn't seem to mind me very much as most hawks do. Usually, they'll fly away at first movement. I was able to circle around him and get about 45 feet away and he never moved, only giving me an occasional glance.
For a bird newbie like me, the highly polymorphic Red-tailed Hawk can throw me off. I believe this is an adult light-morph Harlan's classification. Please comment if you know differently! Matt? :)
Color is Life: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales conceal these snakes in the bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae (Colubrids)
Genus/species: Ahaetulla fronticincta
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Pencil thin, delicate; green and brown scales. Bulbous wide-set raised eyes. Length to 60 cm (23.5 inches).
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Myanmar (formerly Burma) Mostly arboreal. They are abundant on bushes along the banks of tidal rivers in brackish mangrove swamps.
DIET IN THE WILD: Diurnal hunter of small fish: gobies, and rice fish. Prey immobilized with mild venom
from enlarged rear fangs. Visually-oriented hunter.
ACADEMY DIET: An arboreally-adapted species that consumes fishes is an oddity. In the Steinhart, feed on guppies and goldfish.
REPRODUCTION: Fertilization internal. Viviparous. Newborn snakes are a subtle shade of brown. Polymorphic: some adults turn green, brown, or more rarely two-toned.
The Steinhart Aquarium was the first to display this species. Academy field research on this little-known species continues. Steinhart’s vine shakes have bred and reproduced in captivity, a first for this species.
CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern (LC)
This snake is a mangrove specialist feeding only on fish. It can occur in somewhat degraded habitat, however as it requires a large enough area of mangrove habitat to support fish populations, it will not persist in sites where the mangrove zone is only a few trees thick.
Water Planet, Feeding Cluster
References
California Academy of Sciences Water is Life Exhibit
video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrTHRPo3UBW7XsA...
IUCN Red List www.iucnredlist.org/details/192058/0
Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/1057253/details
flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157608449603666/
Wordpress Shortlink wp.me/p1DZ4b-OM
3-1-13, 10-19-15
An image from the archive demonstrating the size difference between the polymorphic workers of the Florida harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex badius). The massive-headed major workers are no more aggressive than the more common, regular workers but must come in handy for moving large objects and processing seeds.
Acleris celiana. Photographed at Portage Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario on 10 May 2015. Rather a pretty version of this polymorphic Acleris...
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/anish-kapoor-f45a2ea5-2...
For his latest exhibition, Anish Kapoor presents a new series of paintings, an element of his practice that has rarely been seen, exploring the intimate and ritualistic nature of his work. Created over the past year, the show provides a poetic view of the artist's recent preoccupations. While painting has always been an integral part of Kapoor’s practice, this radical new body of work is both spiritual and ecstatic, showing Kapoor working in more vivid and urgent form than ever. Alongside this exhibition, a solo show dedicated to Kapoor's paintings will run at Modern Art Oxford from 2 October 2021 - 13 February 2022, and both shows precede Kapoor’s major retrospective at Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia, opening April 2022 to coincide with the Venice Biennale.
Through painting, Kapoor delves into the deep inner world of our mind and body, from the physical exploration of the flesh and blood, to investigating psychological concepts as primal and nameless as origin and obliteration. Since the 1980s, Kapoor has been celebrated largely as a sculptor, yet painting, and its rawest composition, colour and form, have been a fundamental element of his practice-. The presentation will feature a selection of new and recent paintings, created between 2019 and 2021, the majority in the artist’s London-based studio during the pandemic. Like the artist’s wider oeuvre, these paintings are rooted in a drive to grasp the unknown, to awaken consciousness and experiment with the phenomenology of space.
Kapoor’s work has been characterized by an intense encounter with colour and matter – manifest either through refined, reflective surfaces such as metal or mirrors, or through the tactile, sensual quality of the blankets of impasto. The magnetism of the colour red is evident in these new paintings, manifesting the elemental force that flows through us all, yet now accompanied by a new palette of telluric greys and yellows, as if witnessing a surge from the depths of the earth. Some works appear volcanic, with an intense, fiery energy, while others are more primitive and abstract, with layers of dense pigment and resin forming a sculpted solidity. Many of the paintings have a visceral outpouring where a canvas within a canvas rotates and evolves in space, seeming to defy gravity, with brushstrokes cascading over the edges like a waterfall. In others we see distorted, polymorphic figures emerging from a deep, radiant void, with a ghostly aura.
Kapoor achieves a coherence of mind and body, of interior and exterior in two of the series of works, illustrating a mythic landscape with a turbulent, ominous atmosphere that differentiates land from sky, body from space. These whirling landscapes evoke the extraordinary, eerie Romanticism of JMW Turner, a worship of nature marked through an expressive, dramatic scene. Similar in disposition are two works where we imagine the moon rising over the peak – a symbolic narrative of a new cycle, of origins and menstruation.
The wall-based paintings recall some of Kapoor’s most ambitious, distinguished works, including Svayambhu (2007), My Red Homeland (2003) and Symphony for a Beloved Sun (2013). In these floor-based works we see a more ritualistic, visceral language, where Kapoor unashamedly delves into depicting the very blood and flesh from which we are all born. Artists from Leonardo di Vinci to Francis Bacon have been fascinated with the innards of the body, be it our anatomy or the surrealist beauty in violence. The work also stands in a powerful tradition of artists exploring the human body’s expression of divine matters, yet through the unique vision of Kapoor’s Eastern and Western influences, and ---– considering the year in which they were created --– taking on new meaning highlighting the fragility of the body and self.
The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members within the genus of Buteo in North America or worldwide. The red-tailed hawk is one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk", though it rarely preys on standard-sized chickens. The bird is sometimes also referred to as the red-tail for short, when the meaning is clear in context. Red-tailed hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within their range, occurring on the edges of non-ideal habitats such as dense forests and sandy deserts. The red-tailed hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands (from small meadows to the treed fringes of more extensive prairies), coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas. Its latitudinal limits fall around the tree line in the subarctic and it is absent from the high Arctic. Generally it favors varied habitats with open woodland, woodland edge and open terrain. It is legally protected in Canada, Mexico, and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The 14 recognized subspecies vary in appearance and range, varying most often in color, and in the west of North America, red-tails are particularly often strongly polymorphic, with individuals ranging from almost white to nearly all black. The subspecies Harlan's hawk (B. j. harlani) is sometimes considered a separate species (B. harlani). The red-tailed hawk is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo, typically weighing from 690 to 1,600 g (1.5 to 3.5 lb) and measuring 45–65 cm (18–26 in) in length, with a wingspan from 110–141 cm (3 ft 7 in – 4 ft 8 in). This species displays sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging about 25% heavier than males.
The diet of red-tailed hawks is highly variable and reflects their status as opportunistic generalists, but in North America, they are most often predators of small mammals such as rodents of an immense diversity of families and species. Prey that is terrestrial and at least partially diurnal is preferred, so types such as ground squirrels are preferred where they naturally occur. Over much of the range, smallish rodents such as voles alternated with larger rabbits and hares often collectively form the bulk of the diet. Large numbers of birds and reptiles can occur in the diet in several areas, and can even be the primary foods. Meanwhile, amphibians, fish and invertebrates can seem rare in the hawk's regular diet, but they are not infrequently taken by immature hawks. Red-tailed hawks may survive on islands absent of native mammals on diets variously including invertebrates such as crabs, as well as lizards or birds. Like many Buteo species, they hunt from a perch most often, but can vary their hunting techniques where prey and habitat demand it. Because they are so common and easily trained as capable hunters, in the United States they are the most commonly captured hawks for falconry. Falconers are permitted to take only passage hawks (which have left the nest, are on their own, but are less than a year old) so as to not affect the breeding population. Passage red-tailed hawks are also preferred by falconers because they have not yet developed the adult behaviors that would make them more difficult to train.
Taxonomy
The red-tailed hawk was formally described in 1788 by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name Falco jamaicensis. Gmelin based his description on the "cream-coloured buzzard" described in 1781 by John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. The type locality is Jamaica. The red-tailed hawk is now placed in the genus Buteo that was erected by French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799.
The red-tailed hawk is a member of the subfamily Buteoninae, which includes about 55 currently recognized species. Unlike many lineages of accipitrids, which seemed to have radiated out of Africa or south Asia, the Buteoninae clearly originated in the Americas based on fossil records and current species distributions (more than 75% of the extant hawks from this lineage are found in the Americas). As a subfamily, the Buteoninae seem to be rather old based on genetic materials, with monophyletic genera bearing several million years of individual evolution. Diverse in plumage appearance, habitat, prey, and nesting preferences, buteonine hawks are nonetheless typically medium- to large-sized hawks with ample wings (while some fossil forms are very large, larger than any eagle alive today). The red-tailed hawk is a member of the genus Buteo, a group of medium-sized raptors with robust bodies and broad wings. Members of this genus are known as "buzzards" in Eurasia, but "hawks" in North America. Under current classification, the genus includes about 29 species, the second-most diverse of all extant accipitrid genera behind only Accipiter. The buzzards of Eurasia and Africa are mostly part of the genus Buteo, although two other small genera within the subfamily Buteoninae occur in Africa.
At one time, the rufous-tailed hawk (B. ventralis), distributed in Patagonia and some other areas of southern South America, was considered part of the red-tailed hawk species. With a massive distributional gap consisting of most of South America, the rufous-tailed hawk is considered a separate species now, but the two hawks still compromise a "species pair" or superspecies, as they are clearly closely related. The rufous-tailed hawk, while comparatively little studied, is very similar to the red-tailed hawk, being about the same size and possessing the same wing structure, and having more or less parallel nesting and hunting habits. Physically, however, rufous-tailed hawk adults do not attain a bright brick-red tail as do red-tailed hawks, instead retaining a dark brownish-cinnamon tail with many blackish crossbars similar to juvenile red-tailed hawks. Another, more well-known, close relative to the red-tailed hawk is the common buzzard (B. buteo), which has been considered as its Eurasian "broad ecological counterpart" and may also be within a species complex with red-tailed hawks. The common buzzard, in turn, is also part of a species complex with other Old World buzzards, namely the mountain buzzard (B. oreophilus), the forest buzzard (B. trizonatus ), and the Madagascar buzzard (B. brachypterus). All six species, although varying notably in size and plumage characteristics, in the alleged species complex that contains the red-tailed hawk share with it the feature of the blackish patagium marking, which is missing in most other Buteo spp.
Subspecies
At least 14 recognized subspecies of B. jamaicensis are described, which vary in range and in coloration. Not all authors accept every subspecies, though, particularly some of the insular races of the tropics (which differ only slightly in some cases from the nearest mainland forms) and particularly Krider's hawk, by far the most controversial red-tailed hawk race, as few authors agree on its suitability as a full-fledged subspecies.
ImageSubspeciesDistribution
Jamaican red-tailed hawk (B. j. jamaicensis)occurs throughout the West Indies (including Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles) except for the Bahamas and Cuba.
Alaska red-tailed hawk (B. j. alascensis)breeds (probably resident) from southeastern coastal Alaska to Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Eastern red-tailed hawk (B. j. borealis)breeds from southeast Canada and Maine south through Texas and east to northern Florida.
Western red-tailed hawk (B. j. calurus)greatest longitudinal breeding distribution of any race of red-tailed hawk.
Central American red-tailed hawk (B. j. costaricensis)from Nicaragua to Panama.
Southwestern red-tailed hawk (B. j. fuertesi)breeds from northern Chihuahua to South Texas.
Tres Marias red-tailed hawk (B. j. fumosus)endemic to Islas Marías, Mexico.
Mexican Highlands red-tailed hawk (B. j. hadropus)native to the Mexican Highlands.
Harlan's hawk (B. j. harlani)breeds from central Alaska to northwestern Canada, with the largest number of birds breeding in the Yukon or western Alaska, reaching their southern limit in north-central British Columbia.
Red-tailed hawk (kemsiesi) (B. j. kemsiesi)a dark subspecies resident from Chiapas, Mexico, to Nicaragua.
Krider's hawk (B. j. kriderii)breeds from southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, and extreme western Ontario south to south-central Montana, Wyoming, western Nebraska, and western Minnesota.
Socorro red-tailed hawk (B. j. socorroensis)endemic to Socorro Island, Mexico.
Cuban red-tailed hawk (B. j. solitudinis)native to the Bahamas and Cuba.
Florida red-tailed hawk (B. j. umbrinus)occurs year-round in peninsular Florida north to as far Tampa Bay and the Kissimmee Prairie south throughout the rest of peninsular Florida south to the Florida Keys.
Description
Red-tailed hawk plumage can be variable, depending on the subspecies and the region. These color variations are morphs, and are not related to molting. The western North American population, B. j. calurus, is the most variable subspecies and has three main color morphs: light, dark, and intermediate or rufous. The dark and intermediate morphs constitute 10–20% of the population in the Western United States, but seem to constitute only 1–2% of B. j. calurus in western Canada. A whitish underbelly with a dark brown band across the belly, formed by horizontal streaks in feather patterning, is present in most color variations. This feature is variable in eastern hawks and generally absent in some light subspecies (i.e. B. j. fuertesi). Most adult red-tails have a dark-brown nape and upper head, which gives them a somewhat hooded appearance, while the throat can variably present a lighter brown "necklace". Especially in younger birds, the underside may be otherwise covered with dark-brown spotting, and some adults may too manifest this stippling. The back is usually a slightly darker brown than elsewhere with paler scapular feathers, ranging from tawny to white, forming a variable imperfect "V" on the back. The tail of most adults, which gives this species its name, is rufous brick-red above with a variably sized, black subterminal band and generally appears light buff-orange from below. In comparison, the typical pale immatures (i.e. less than two years old) typically have a mildly paler headed and tend to show a darker back than adults with more apparent pale wing-feather edges above (for descriptions of dark morph juveniles from B. j. calurus, which is also generally apt for description of rare dark morphs of other races, see under that subspecies description). In immature red-tailed hawks of all morphs, the tail is a light brown above with numerous small dark brown bars of roughly equal width, but these tend to be much broader on dark morph birds. Even in young red-tails, the tail may be a somewhat rufous tinge of brown. The bill is relatively short and dark, in the hooked shape characteristic of raptors, and the head can sometimes appear small in size against the thick body frame. The cere, the legs, and the feet of the red-tailed hawk are all yellow, as is the color of bare parts in many accipitrids of different lineages. Immature birds can be readily identified at close range by their yellowish irises. As the bird attains full maturity over the course of 3–4 years, the iris slowly darkens into a reddish-brown, which is the adult eye-color in all races. Seen in flight, adults usually have dark brown along the lower edge of the wings, against a mostly pale wing, which bares light brownish barring. Individually, the underwing coverts can range from all dark to off-whitish (most often more heavily streaked with brown) which contrasts with a distinctive black patagium marking. The wing coloring of adults and immatures is similar but for typical pale morph immatures having somewhat heavier brownish markings.
Though the markings and color vary across the subspecies, the basic appearance of the red-tailed hawk is relatively consistent.
Overall, this species is blocky and broad in shape, often appearing (and being) heavier than other Buteos of similar length. They are the heaviest Buteos on average in eastern North America, albeit scarcely ahead of the larger winged rough-legged buzzard (Buteo lagopus), and second only in size in the west to the ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis). Red-tailed hawks may be anywhere from the fifth to the ninth heaviest Buteo in the world depending on what figures are used. However, in the northwestern United States, ferruginous hawk females are 35% heavier than female red-tails from the same area.[2] On average, western red-tailed hawks are relatively longer winged and lankier proportioned but are slightly less stocky, compact and heavy than eastern red-tailed hawks in North America. Eastern hawks may also have mildly larger talons and bills than western ones. Based on comparisons of morphology and function amongst all accipitrids, these features imply that western red-tails may need to vary their hunting more frequently to on the wing as the habitat diversifies to more open situations and presumably would hunt more variable and faster prey, whereas the birds of the east, which was historically well-wooded, are more dedicated perch hunters and can take somewhat larger prey but are likely more dedicated mammal hunters. In terms of size variation, red-tailed hawks run almost contrary to Bergmann's rule (i.e. that northern animals should be larger in relation than those closer to the Equator within a species) as one of the northernmost subspecies, B. j. alascensis, is the second smallest race based on linear dimensions and that two of the most southerly occurring races in the United States, B. j. fuertesi and B. j. umbrinus, respectively, are the largest proportioned of all red-tailed hawks. Red-tailed hawks tend have a relatively short but broad tails and thick, chunky wings. Although often described as long-winged, the proportional size of the wings is quite small and red-tails have high wing loading for a buteonine hawk. For comparison, two other widespread Buteo hawks in North America were found to weigh: 30 g (1.1 oz) for every square centimeter of wing area in the rough-legged buzzard (B. lagopus) and 44 g (1.6 oz)/cm2 in the red-shouldered hawk (B. lineatus). In contrast, the red-tailed hawk weighed considerably more for their wing area: 199 g (7.0 oz) per square cm.
As is the case with many raptors, the red-tailed hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, as females are on average 25% larger than males. As is typical in large raptors, frequently reported mean body mass for red-tailed hawks is somewhat higher than expansive research reveals. Part of this weight variation is seasonal fluctuations; hawks tend to be heavier in winter than during migration or especially during the trying summer breeding season, and also due to clinal variation. Furthermore, immature hawks are usually lighter in mass than their adult counterparts despite having somewhat longer wings and tails. Male red-tailed hawks may weigh from 690 to 1,300 g (1.52 to 2.87 lb) and females may weigh 801 to 1,723 g (1.766 to 3.799 lb) (the lowest figure from a migrating female immature from Goshute Mountains, Nevada, the highest from a wintering female in Wisconsin). Some sources claim the largest females can weigh up to 2,000 g (4.4 lb), but whether this is in reference to wild hawks (as opposed to those in captivity or used for falconry) is not clear. The largest known survey of body mass in red-tailed hawks is still credited to Craighead and Craighead (1956), who found 100 males to average 1,028 g (2.266 lb) and 108 females to average 1,244 g (2.743 lb). However, these figures were apparently taken from labels on museum specimens, from natural history collections in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, without note to the region, age, or subspecies of the specimens. However, 16 sources ranging in sample size from the aforementioned 208 specimens to only four hawks in Puerto Rico (with 9 of the 16 studies of migrating red-tails), showed that males weigh a mean of 860.2 g (1.896 lb) and females weigh a mean of 1,036.2 g (2.284 lb), about 15% lighter than prior species-wide published weights. Within the continental United States, typical weights of males can range from 840.8 g (1.854 lb) (for migrating males in Chelan County, Washington) to 1,031 g (2.273 lb) (for male hawks found dead in Massachusetts), and females ranged from 1,057.9 g (2.332 lb) (migrants in the Goshutes) to 1,373 g (3.027 lb) (for females diagnosed as B. j. borealis in western Kansas). Size variation in body mass reveals that the red-tailed hawk typically varies only a modest amount and that size differences are geographically inconsistent.[9][40]
Male red-tailed hawks can measure 45 to 60 cm (18 to 24 in) in total length, females measuring 48 to 65 cm (19 to 26 in) long. Their wingspan typically can range from 105 to 141 cm (3 ft 5 in to 4 ft 8 in), although the largest females may possible span up to 147 cm (4 ft 10 in). In the standard scientific method of measuring wing size, the wing chord is 325.1–444.5 mm (12.80–17.50 in) long. The tail measures 188 to 258.7 mm (7.40 to 10.19 in) in length. The exposed culmen was reported to range from 21.7 to 30.2 mm (0.85 to 1.19 in) and the tarsus averaged 74.7–95.8 mm (2.94–3.77 in) across the races. The middle toe (excluding talon) can range from 38.3 to 53.8 mm (1.51 to 2.12 in), with the hallux-claw (the talon of the rear toe, which has evolved to be the largest in accipitrids) measuring from 24.1 to 33.6 mm (0.95 to 1.32 in) in length.
Identification
Although they overlap in range with most other American diurnal raptors, identifying most mature red-tailed hawks to species is relatively straightforward, particularly if viewing a typical adult at a reasonable distance. The red-tailed hawk is the only North American hawk with a rufous tail and a blackish patagium marking on the leading edge of its wing (which is obscured only on dark morph adults and Harlan's hawks by similarly dark-colored feathers). Other larger adult Buteo spp. in North America usually have obvious distinct markings that are absent in red-tails, whether the rufous-brown "beard" of Swainson's hawks (B. swainsonii) or the colorful rufous belly and shoulder markings and striking black-and-white mantle of red-shouldered hawks (also the small "windows" seen at the end of their primaries).[ In perched individuals, even as silhouettes, the shape of large Buteo spp. may be distinctive, such as the wingtips overhanging the tail in several other species, but not in red-tails. North American Buteo spp. range from the dainty, compact builds of much smaller ones, such as broad-winged hawk (B. platypterus) to the heavyset, neckless look of ferruginous hawks or the rough-legged buzzards, which have a compact, smaller appearance than a red-tail in perched birds due to its small bill, short neck, and much shorter tarsi, while the opposite effect occurs in flying rough-legs with their much bigger wing area. In flight, most other large North American Buteo spp. are distinctly longer and more slender-winged than red-tailed hawks, with the much paler ferruginous hawk having peculiarly slender wings in relation to its massive, chunky body. Swainson's hawks are distinctly darker on the wing and ferruginous hawks are much paler-winged than typical red-tailed hawks. Pale morph adult ferruginous hawk can show mildly tawny-pink (but never truly rufous) upper tail, and like red-tails tend to have dark markings on underwing-coverts and can have a dark belly band, but compared to red-tailed hawks have a distinctly broader head, their remiges are much whiter looking with very small, dark primary tips, they lack the red-tail's diagnostic patagial marks and usually also lack the dark subterminal tail-band, and ferruginous hawks have totally feathered tarsi. With its whitish head, the ferruginous hawk is most similar to Krider's red-tailed hawks, especially in immature plumage, but the larger hawk has broader head and narrower wing shape, and the ferruginous immatures are paler underneath and on their legs. Several species share a belly band with the typical red-tailed hawk, but they vary from subtle (as in the ferruginous hawk) to solid blackish, the latter in most light-morph rough-legged buzzards. More difficult to identify among adult red-tails are their darkest variations, as most species of Buteo in North America also have dark morphs. Western dark morph red-tails (i.e. B. j. calurus) adults, however, retain the typical distinctive brick-red tail, which other species lack, and may stand out even more against the otherwise all chocolate-brown to black bird. Standard pale juveniles when perched show a whitish patch in the outer half of the upper surface of the wing, which other juvenile Buteo spp. lack.[ The most difficult to identify stages and plumage types are dark morph juveniles, Harlan's hawk and some Krider's hawks (the latter mainly with typical ferruginous hawks as mentioned). Some darker juveniles are similar enough to other Buteo juveniles that they "cannot be identified to species with any confidence under various field conditions." However, field identification techniques have advanced in the last few decades and most experienced hawk-watchers can distinguish even the most vexingly plumaged immature hawks, especially as the wing shapes of each species becomes apparent after seeing many. Harlan's hawks are most similar to dark morph rough-legged buzzards and dark morph ferruginous hawks. Wing shape is the most reliable identification tool for distinguishing Harlan's hawks from these, but also the pale streaking on the breast of Harlan's, which tends to be conspicuous in most individuals, and is lacking in the other hawks. Also, dark morph ferruginous hawks do not have the dark subterminal band of a Harlan's hawk, but do bear a black undertail covert lacking in Harlan's.
Vocalization
The cry of the red-tailed hawk is a 2- to 3-second, hoarse, rasping scream, variously transcribed as kree-eee-ar, tsee-eeee-arrr or sheeeeee, that begins at a high pitch and slurs downward. This cry is often described as sounding similar to a steam whistle. The red-tailed hawk frequently vocalizes while hunting or soaring, but vocalizes loudest and most persistently in defiance or anger, in response to a predator or a rival hawk's intrusion into its territory. At close range, it makes a croaking guh-runk, possibly as a warning sound. Nestlings may give peeping notes with a "soft, sleepy quality" that give way to occasional screams as they develop, but those are more likely to be a soft whistle rather than the harsh screams of the adults. Their latter hunger call, given from 11 days (as recorded in Alaska) to after fledgling (in California), is different, a two-syllabled, wailing klee-uk food cry exerted by the young when parents leave the nest or enter their field of vision. A strange mechanical sound "not very unlike the rush of distant water" has been reported as uttered in the midst of a sky-dance. A modified call of chirp-chwirk is given during courtship, while a low key, duck-like nasal gank may be given by pairs when they are relaxed.
The fierce, screaming cry of the adult red-tailed hawk is frequently used as a generic raptor sound effect in television shows and other media, even if the bird featured is not a red-tailed hawk. It is especially used in depictions of the bald eagle, which contributes to the common misconception that it is a bald eagle cry; actual bald eagle vocalizations are far softer and more chirpy than those of a red-tailed hawk.
Distribution and habitat
The red-tailed hawk is one of the most widely distributed of all raptors in the Americas. It occupies the largest breeding range of any diurnal raptor north of the Mexican border, just ahead of the American kestrel (Falco sparverius). While the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) has a greater latitudinal distribution as a nester in North America, its range as a breeding species is far more sporadic and sparse than that of red-tailed hawks. The red-tailed hawk breeds from nearly north-central Alaska, the Yukon, and a considerable portion of the Northwest Territories, there reaching as far as a breeder as Inuvik, Mackenzie River Delta and skirting the southern shores of Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake. Thereafter in northern Canada, breeding red-tails continue to northern Saskatchewan and across to north-central Ontario east to central Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and south continuously to Florida. No substantial gaps occur throughout the entire contiguous United States where breeding red-tailed hawks do not occur. Along the Pacific, their range includes all of Baja California, including Islas Marías, and Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Islands. On the mainland, breeding red-tails are found continuously to Oaxaca, then experience a brief gap at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec thereafter subsequently continuing from Chiapas through central Guatemala on to northern Nicaragua. To the south, the population in highlands from Costa Rica to central Panama is isolated from breeding birds in Nicaragua. Further east, breeding red-tailed hawks occur in the West Indies in north Bahamas (i.e. Grand Bahama, Abaco and Andros) and all larger islands (such as Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico) and into the northern Lesser Antilles (Virgin Islands, Saint Barthélemy, Saba, Saint Kitts, and Nevis, being rare as a resident on Saint Eustatius and are probably extinct on Saint Martin). Their typical winter range stretches from southern Canada south throughout the remainder of the breeding range.
Red-tailed hawks have shown the ability to become habituated to almost any habitat present in North and Central America. Their preferred habitat is mixed forest and field, largely woodland edge with tall trees or alternately high bluffs that may be used as nesting and perching sites. They occupy a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, nearly any coastal or wetland habitat, mountains, foothills, coniferous and deciduous woodlands, and tropical rainforests. Agricultural fields and pastures, which are more often than not varied with groves, ridges, or streamside trees in most parts of America, may make nearly ideal habitat for breeding or wintering red-tails. They also adapt well to suburban areas especially ones with tall trees or any kind of parkland. Some red-tails may survive or even flourish in urban areas, usually hunting and roosting in available urban parks, cemeteries, road verges, and so on, and nesting freely either in trees or virtually any tall man-made structures. One famous urban red-tailed hawk, known as "Pale Male", became the subject of a nonfiction book, Red-Tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama in Central Park, and is the first known red-tail in decades to successfully nest and raise young in the crowded New York City borough of Manhattan. As studied in Syracuse, New York, the highway system has been very beneficial to red-tails as it juxtaposed trees and open areas and blocks human encroachment with fences, with the red-tailed hawks easily becoming acclimated to car traffic. The only practice that has a negative effect on the highway-occupying red-tails is the planting of exotic Phragmites, which may occasionally obscure otherwise ideal highway habitat.
In the northern Great Plains, the widespread practices of wildfire suppression and planting of exotic trees by humans has allowed groves of aspen and various other trees to invade what was once vast, almost continuous prairie grasslands, causing grassland obligates such as ferruginous hawks to decline and allowing parkland-favoring red-tails to flourish. To the contrary, clear-cutting of mature woodlands in New England, resulting in only fragmented and isolated stands of trees or low second growth remaining, was recorded to also benefit red-tailed hawks, despite being to the determent of breeding red-shouldered hawks. The red-tailed hawk, as a whole, rivals the peregrine falcon and the great horned owl among raptorial birds in the use of diverse habitats in North America. Beyond the high Arctic (as they discontinue as a breeder at the tree line), few other areas exist where red-tailed hawks are absent or rare in North and Central America. Some areas of unbroken forest, especially lowland tropical forests, rarely host red-tailed hawks, although they can occupy forested tropical highlands surprisingly well. In deserts, they can only occur where some variety of arborescent growth or ample rocky bluffs or canyons occur.
Behavior
The red-tailed hawk is highly conspicuous to humans in much of its daily behavior. Most birds in resident populations, which are well more than half of all red-tailed hawks, usually split nonbreeding-season activity between territorial soaring flight and sitting on a perch. Often, perching is for hunting purposes, but many sit on a tree branch for hours, occasionally stretching on a single wing or leg to keep limber, with no signs of hunting intent. Wintering typical pale-morph hawks in Arkansas were found to perch in open areas near the top of tall, isolated trees, whereas dark morphs more frequently perched in dense groups of trees. For many, and perhaps most, red-tailed hawks being mobbed by various birds is a daily concern and can effectively disrupt many of their daily behaviors. Mostly larger passerines, of multiple families from tyrant flycatchers to icterids, mob red-tails, despite other raptors, such as Accipiter hawks and falcons, being a notably greater danger to them. The most aggressive and dangerous attacker as such is likely to be various crows or other corvids, i.e. American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), because a mobbing group (or "murder") of them can number up to as many as 75 crows, which may cause grievous physical harm to a solitary hawk, and if the hawks are nesting, separate the parent hawks and endanger the eggs or nestlings within their nest to predation by crows. Birds that mob red-tailed hawks can tell how distended the hawk's crop is (i.e. the upper chest and throat area being puffy versus flat-feathered and sleek), thus mob more often when the hawk is presumably about to hunt.
Flight
In flight, this hawk soars with wings often in a slight dihedral, flapping as little as possible to conserve energy. Soaring is by far the most efficient method of flight for red-tailed hawks, so is used more often than not. Active flight is slow and deliberate, with deep wing beats. Wing beats are somewhat less rapid in active flight than in most other Buteo hawks, even heavier species such as ferruginous hawks tend to flap more swiftly, due to the morphology of the wings. In wind, it occasionally hovers on beating wings and remains stationary above the ground, but this flight method is rarely employed by this species. When soaring or flapping its wings, it typically travels from 32 to 64 km/h (20 to 40 mph), but when diving may exceed 190 km/h (120 mph). Although North American red-tailed hawks will occasionally hunt from flight, a great majority of flight by red-tails in this area is for non-hunting purpose. During nest defense, red-tailed hawks may be capable of surprisingly swift, vigorous flight, while repeatedly diving at perceived threats.
Migration
Red-tailed hawks are considered partial migrants, as in about the northern third of their distribution, which is most of their range in Canada and Alaska, they almost entirely vacate their breeding grounds. In coastal areas of the north, however, such as in the Pacific Northwest to southern Alaska and in Nova Scotia on the Atlantic, red-tailed hawks do not usually migrate. More or less, any area where snow cover is nearly continuous during the winter shows an extended absence of most red-tailed hawks, so some areas as far south as Montana may show strong seasonal vacancies of red-tails. In southern Michigan, immature red-tailed hawks tended to remain in winter only when voles were abundant. During relatively long, harsh winters in Michigan, many more young ones were reported in northeastern Mexico. To the opposite extreme, hawks residing as far north as Fairbanks, Alaska, may persevere through the winter on their home territory, as was recorded with one male over three consecutive years. Birds of any age tend to be territorial during winter but may shift ranges whenever food requirements demand it. Wintering birds tend to perch on inconspicuous tree perches, seeking shelter especially if they have a full crop or are in the midst of poor or overly windy weather. Adult wintering red-tails tend to perch more prominently than immatures do, which select lower or more secluded perches. Immatures are often missed in winter bird counts, unless they are being displaced by dominant adults. Generally, though, immatures can seem to recognize that they are less likely to be attacked by adults during winter and can perch surprisingly close to them. Age is the most significant consideration of wintering hawks' hierarchy, but size does factor in, as larger immatures (presumably usually females) are less likely to displaced than smaller ones. Dark adult red-tailed hawks appear to be harder to locate when perched than other red-tails. In Oklahoma, for example, wintering adult Harlan's hawks were rarely engaged in fights or chased by other red-tails. These hawks tended to gather in regional pockets and frequently the same ones occurred year-to-year. In general, migratory behavior is complex and reliant on each individual hawk's decision-making (i.e. whether prey populations are sufficient to entice the hawk to endure prolonged snow cover). During fall migration, departure may occur as soon as late September, but peak movements occur in late October and all of November in the United States, with migration ceasing after mid-December. The northernmost migrants may pass over resident red-tailed hawks in the contiguous United States, while the latter are still in the midst of brooding fledglings. Not infrequently, several autumn hawk watches in Ontario, Quebec, and the northern United States record 4,500–8,900 red-tailed hawks migrating through each fall, with records of up to 15,000 in a season at Hawk Ridge hawk watch in Duluth, Minnesota. Unlike some other Buteo spp., such as Swainson's hawks and broad-winged hawks, red-tailed hawks do not usually migrate in groups, instead passing by one-by-one, and only migrate on days when winds are favorable. Most migrants do not move past southern Mexico in late autumn, but a few North American migrants may annually move as far south as breeding red-tailed hawks happen to occur, i.e. in Central America to as far south Panama. However, a few records were reported of wintering migrant red-tails turning up in Colombia, the first records of them anywhere in South America. Spring northward movements may commence as early as late February, with peak numbers usually occurring in late March and early April. Seasonal counts may include up to 19,000 red-tails in spring at Derby Hill hawk watch, in Oswego, New York, sometimes more than 5,000 are recorded in a day there. The most northerly migratory individuals may not reach breeding grounds until June, even adults.
Immature hawks migrate later than adults in spring on average, but not, generally speaking, in autumn. In the northern Great Lakes, immatures return in late May to early June, when adults are already well into their nesting season and must find unoccupied ranges. In Alaska, adults tend to migrate before immatures in early to mid-September, to the contrary of other areas, probably as heavy snowfall begins. Yearlings that were banded in southwestern Idaho stayed for about 2 months after fledging, and then traveled long distances with a strong directional bias, with 9 of 12 recovered southeast of the study area- six of these moved south to coastal lowlands in Mexico] and as far as Guatemala, 4,205 km (2,613 mi) from their initial banding. In California, 35 hawks were banded as nestlings; 26 were recovered at less than 50 miles away, with multidirectional juvenile dispersals. Nestlings banded in Southern California sometimes actually traveled north as far as 1,190 km (740 mi) to Oregon, ranging to the opposite extreme as far as a banded bird from the Sierra Nevadas that moved 1,700 km (1,100 mi) south to Sinaloa. Nestlings banded in Green County, Wisconsin, did not travel very far comparatively by October–November, but by December, recoveries were found in states including Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.
Diet
The red-tailed hawk is carnivorous, and a highly opportunistic feeder. Nearly any small animal they encounter may be viewed as potential food. Their most common prey are small mammals such as rodents and lagomorphs, but they also consume birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, and invertebrates. Prey varies considerably with regional and seasonal availability, but usually centers on rodents, accounting for up to 85% of a hawk's diet. In total, nearly 500 prey species have been recorded in their diet, almost as many as great horned owls have been recorded as taking. When 27 North American studies are reviewed, mammals make up 65.3% of the diet by frequency, 20.9% by birds, 10.8% by reptiles, 2.8% by invertebrates, and 0.2% by amphibians and fish. The geometric mean body mass of prey taken by red-tailed hawks in North America is about 187 g (6.6 oz) based on a pair of compilation studies from across the continent, regionally varying at least from 43.4 to 361.4 g (1.53 to 12.75 oz). Staple prey (excluding invertebrates) has been claimed to weigh from 15 to 2,114 g (0.033 to 4.661 lb), ranging roughly from the size of a small mouse or lizard to the size of a black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus). The daily food requirements range from 7 to 11.2% of their own body weight, so that about three voles or the equivalent weight are required daily for a typical range adult.
The talons and feet of red-tailed hawks are relatively large for a Buteo hawk; in an average-sized adult red-tail, the "hallux-claw" or rear talon, the largest claw on all accipitrids, averages about 29.7 mm (1.17 in). In fact, the talons of red-tails in some areas averaged of similar size to those of ferruginous hawks which can be considerably heavier and notably larger than those of the only slightly lighter Swainson's hawk. This species may exert an average of about 91 kg/cm2 (1,290 lbf/in2) of pressure through its feet. Owing to its morphology, red-tailed hawks generally can attack larger prey than other Buteo hawks typically can, and are capable of selecting the largest prey of up to their own size available at the time of hunting, though in all likelihood numerically most prey probably weighs on average about 20% of the hawk's own weight (as is typical of many birds of prey). Red-tailed hawks usually hunt by watching for prey activity from a high perch, also known as still hunting. Upon being spotted, prey is dropped down upon by the hawk. Red-tails often select the highest available perches within a given environment, since the greater the height they are at, the less flapping is required and the faster the downward glide they can attain toward nearby prey. If prey is closer than average, the hawk may glide at a steep downward angle with few flaps, if farther than average, it may flap a few swift wingbeats alternating with glides. Perch hunting is the most successful hunting method generally speaking for red-tailed hawks and can account for up to 83% of their daily activities (i.e. in winter). Wintering pairs may join and aseasonally may join forces to group hunt agile prey that they may have trouble catching by themselves, such as tree squirrels. This may consist of stalking opposites sides of a tree, to surround the squirrel and almost inevitably drive the rodent to be captured by one after being flushed by the other hawk.
The most common flighted hunting method for red-tail is to cruise around 10 to 50 m (33 to 164 ft) over the ground with flap-and-glide type flight, interspersed occasionally with harrier-like quarters over the ground. This method is less successful than perch hunting, but seems relatively useful for capturing small birds and may show the best results while hunting in hilly country. Hunting red-tailed hawks readily use trees, bushes, or rocks for concealment before making a surprise attack, even showing a partial ability to dodge among trees in an Accipiter-like fashion. Among thick stands of spruce in Alaska, a dodging hunting flight was thought to be unusually important to red-tails living in extensive areas of conifers, with hawks even coming to the ground and walking hurriedly in prey pursuit especially if the prey was large, a similar behavior to goshawks. Additional surprisingly swift aerial hunting has reported in red-tails that habitually hunt bats in Texas. Here, the bat-hunting specialists stooped with half-closed wings, quite falcon-like, plowing through the huge stream of bats exiting their cave roosts, then zooming upwards with a bat in its talons. These hawks also flew parallel closely to the stream, then veer sharply into it and seize a bat. In the neotropics, red-tails have shown the ability to dodge amongst forest canopy whilst hunting. In Kansas, red-tailed hawks were recorded sailing to catch flying insects, a hunting method more typical of a Swainson's hawk. Alternately, they may drop to the ground to forage for insects like grasshoppers and beetles as well as other invertebrates and probably amphibians and fish (except by water in the latter cases). Hunting afoot seems to be particularly prevalent among immatures. Young red-tailed hawks in northeastern Florida were recorded often extracting earthworms from near the surface of the ground and some had a crop full of earthworms after rains. Ground hunting is also quite common on Socorro Island, where no native land mammals occur, and invertebrates are more significant to their overall diet. A red-tailed hawk was observed to incorporate an unconventional killing method, which was drowning a heron immediately after capture. One red-tailed hawk was seen to try to grab a young ground squirrel and, upon missing it, screamed loudly, which in turn caused another young squirrel to break into a run, wherein it was captured. Whether this was an intentional hunting technique needs investigation. Upon capture, smaller prey is taken to a feeding perch, which is almost always lower than a hunting perch. Among small prey, rodents are often swallowed whole, as are shrews and small snakes, while birds are plucked and beheaded. Even prey as small as chipmunks may take two or three bites to consume. Larger mammals of transportable size are at times beheaded and have part of their fur discarded, then leftovers are either stored in a tree or fall to the ground. Large prey, especially if too heavy to transport on the wing, is often dragged to a secluded spot and dismantled in various ways. If they can successfully carry what remains to a low perch, they tend to feed until full and then discard the rest.
Mammals
Rodents are certainly the type of prey taken most often by frequency, but their contribution to prey biomass at nests can be regionally low, and the type, variety, and importance of rodent prey can be highly variable. In total, well over 100 rodent species have turned up the diet of red-tailed hawks. Rodents of extremely varied sizes may be hunted by red-tails, with species ranging in size from the 8.2 g (0.29 oz) eastern harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys humulis) to full grown muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus). At times, the red-tailed hawk is thought of as a semi-specialized vole-catcher, but voles are a subsistence food that is more or less taken until larger prey such as rabbits and squirrels can be captured. In an area of Michigan, immature hawks took almost entirely voles but adults were diversified feeders. Indeed, the 44.1 g (1.56 oz) meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) was the highest frequency prey species in 27 dietary studies across North America, accounting for up to 54% of the food at nests by frequency. It is quite rare for any one species to make up more than half of the food in any dietary study for red-tailed hawks. In total about 9 Microtus species are known in the overall diet, with 5 other voles and lemmings known to be included in their prey spectrum. Another well-represented species was the 27.9 g (0.98 oz) prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), which were the primary food, making up 26.4% of a sample of 1322, in eastern Kansas. While crepuscular in primary feeding activity, voles are known to be active both day and night, and so are reliable food for hawks than most non-squirrel rodents, which generally are nocturnal in activity. Indeed, most other microtine rodents are largely inaccessible to red-tailed hawks due to their strongly nocturnal foraging patterns, even though 24 species outside of voles and lemmings are known to be hunted. Woodrats are taken as important supplemental prey in some regions, being considerably larger than most other crictetid rodents, and some numbers of North American deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) may turn up. The largest representation of the latter species was contributing 11.9% of the diet in the Great Basin of Utah, making them the second best-represented prey species there. Considering this limited association with nocturnal rodents, the high importance of pocket gophers in the diet of red-tailed hawks is puzzling to many biologists, as these tend to be highly nocturnal and elusive by day, rarely leaving the confines of their burrow. At least 8 species of pocket gopher are included in the prey spectrum (not to mention 5 species of pocket mice). The 110 g (3.9 oz) northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) is particularly often reported and, by frequency, even turns up as the third most often recorded prey species in 27 American dietary studies. Presumably, hunting of pocket gophers by red-tails, which has possibly never been witnessed, occurs in dim light at first dawn and last light of dusk when they luck upon a gopher out foraging.
By far, the most important prey among rodents is squirrels, as they are almost fully diurnal. All told, nearly 50 species from the squirrel family have turned up as food. In particular, where they are distributed, ground squirrels are doubly attractive as a primary food source due to their ground-dwelling habits, as red-tails prefer to attack prey that is terrestrial. There are also many disadvantages to ground squirrels as prey: they can escape quickly to the security of their burrows, they tend to be highly social and they are very effective and fast in response to alarm calls, and a good deal of species enter hibernation that in the coldest climates can range up to a 6 to 9-month period (although those in warmer climates with little to no snowy weather often have brief dormancy and no true hibernation). Nonetheless, red-tailed hawks are devoted predators of ground squirrels, especially catching incautious ones as they go out foraging (which are often younger animals). A multi-year study conducted on San Joaquin Experimental Range in California, seemingly still the largest food study to date done for red-tailed hawks with 4031 items examined, showed that throughout the seasons the 722 g (1.592 lb) California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) was the most significant prey, accounting for 60.8% of the breeding season diet and about 27.2% of the diet for hawks year-around. Because of the extremely high density of red-tailed hawks on this range, some pairs came to specialize in diverse alternate prey, which consisted variously of kangaroo rats, lizards, snakes or chipmunks. One pair apparently lessened competition by focusing on pocket gophers instead despite being near the center of ground squirrel activity. In Snake River NCA, the primary food of red-tailed hawks was the 203.5 g (7.18 oz) Townsend's ground squirrel (Urocitellus townsendii), which made up nearly 21% of the food in 382 prey items across several years despite sharp spikes and crashes of the ground squirrel population there. The same species was the main food of red-tailed hawks in southeastern Washington, making up 31.2% of 170 items. An even closer predatory relationship was reported in the Centennial valley of Montana and south-central Montana, where 45.4% of 194 prey items and 40.2% of 261 items, respectively, of the food of red-tails consisted of the 455.7 g (1.005 lb) Richardson's ground squirrel (Urocitellus richardsonii). Locally in Rochester, Alberta, Richardson's ground squirrel, estimated to average 444 g (15.7 oz), were secondary in number to unidentified small rodents but red-tails in the region killed an estimated 22–60% of the area's ground squirrel, a large dent in the squirrel's population. Further east, ground squirrels are not so reliably distributed, but one study in southern Wisconsin, in one of several quite different dietary studies in that state, the 172.7 g (6.09 oz) thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) was the main prey species, making up 29.7% of the diet (from a sample of 165).
In Kluane Lake, Yukon, 750 g (1.65 lb) Arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii) were the main overall food for Harlan's red-tailed hawks, making up 30.8% of a sample of 1074 prey items. When these ground squirrels enter their long hibernation, the breeding Harlan's hawks migrate south for the winter. Nearly as important in Kluane Lake was the 200 g (7.1 oz) American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), which constituted 29.8% of the above sample. Red squirrels are highly agile dwellers on dense spruce stands, which has caused biologists to ponder how the red-tailed hawks are able to routinely catch them. It is possible that the hawks catch them on the ground such as when squirrels are digging their caches, but theoretically, the dark color of the Harlan's hawks may allow them to ambush the squirrels within the forests locally more effectively. While American red squirrels turn up not infrequently as supplementary prey elsewhere in North America, other tree squirrels seem to be comparatively infrequently caught, at least during the summer breeding season. It is known that pairs of red-tailed hawks will cooperatively hunt tree squirrels at times, probably mostly between late fall and early spring. Fox squirrels (Sciurus niger), the largest of North America's tree squirrels at 800 g (1.8 lb), are relatively common supplemental prey but the lighter, presumably more agile 533 g (1.175 lb) eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) appears to be seldom caught based on dietary studies. While adult marmot may be difficult for red-tailed hawks to catch, young marmots are readily taken in numbers after weaning, such as a high frequency of yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) in Boulder, Colorado. Another grouping of squirrels but at the opposite end of the size spectrum for squirrels, the chipmunks are also mostly supplemental prey but are considered more easily caught than tree squirrels, considering that they are more habitual terrestrial foragers In central Ohio, eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus), the largest species of chipmunk at an average weight of 96 g (3.4 oz), were actually the leading prey by number, making up 12.3% of a sample of 179 items.
Outside of rodents, the most important prey for North American red-tailed hawks is rabbits and hares, of which at least 13 species are included in their prey spectrum. By biomass and reproductive success within populations, these are certain to be their most significant food source (at least in North America). Adult Sylvilagus rabbits known to be hunted by red-tails can range from the 700 g (1.5 lb) brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) to the Tres Marias rabbit (Sylvilagus graysoni) at 1,470 g (3.24 lb) while all leporids hunted may range the 421.3 g (14.86 oz) pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) to hares and jackrabbits potentially up twice the hawk's own weight. While primarily crepuscular in peak activity, rabbits and hares often foraging both during day and night and so face almost constant predatory pressure from a diverse range of predators. Male red-tailed hawks or pairs which are talented rabbit hunters are likely to have higher than average productivity due to the size and nutrition of the meal ensuring healthy, fast-growing offspring. Most widely reported are the cottontails, which the three most common North America varieties softly grading into mostly allopatric ranges, being largely segregated by habitat preferences where they overlap in distribution. Namely, in descending order of reportage were: the eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), the second most widely reported prey species overall in North America and with maximum percentage known in a given study was 26.4% in Oklahoma (out of 958 prey items), the mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii), maximum representation being 17.6% out of a sample of 478 in Kaibab Plateau, Arizona and the desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), maximum representation being 22.4% out of a sample of 326 in west-central Arizona. Black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) are even more intensely focused upon as a food source by the hawks found in the west, particularly the Great Basin. With the weight around 2,114 g (4.661 lb), adults of this species is the largest prey routinely hunted by red-tailed hawks. When jackrabbit numbers crash, red-tailed hawk productivity tends to decline as well. In northern Utah, black-tailed jackrabbits made up 55.3% of a sample of 329. Elsewhere, they are usually somewhat secondary by number.
In the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, red-tails are fairly dependent on the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), falling somewhere behind the great horned owl and ahead of the Anerican goshawk in their regional reliance on this food source. The hunting preferences of red-tails who rely on snowshoe hares are variable. In Rochester, Alberta, 52% of snowshoe hares caught were adults, such prey estimated to average 1,287 g (2.837 lb), and adults, in some years, were six times more often taken than juvenile hares, which averaged an estimated 560 g (1.23 lb). 1.9–7.1% of adults in the regional population of Rochester were taken by red-tails, while only 0.3–0.8 of juvenile hares were taken by them. Despite their reliance on it, only 4% (against 53.4% of the biomass) of the food by frequency here was made up of hares. On the other hand, in Kluane Lake, Yukon, juvenile hares were taken roughly 11 times more often than adults, despite the larger size of adults here, averaging 1,406.6 g (3.101 lb), and that the overall prey base was less diverse at this more northerly clime. In both Rochester and Kluane Lake, the number of snowshoe hares taken was considerably lower than the number of ground squirrels taken. The differences in average characteristics of snowshoe hares that were hunted may be partially due to habitat (extent of bog openings to dense forest) or topography. Another member of the Lagomorpha order has been found in the diet include juvenile white-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii) and the much smaller American pika (Ochotona princeps), at 150 g (5.3 oz).
A diversity of mammals may be consumed opportunistically outside of the main food groups of rodents and leporids, but usually occur in low numbers. At least five species each are taken of shrews and moles, ranging in size from their smallest mammalian prey, the cinereus (Sorex cinereus) and least shrews (Cryptotis parva), which both weigh about 4.4 g (0.16 oz), to Townsend's mole (Scapanus townsendii), which weighs about 126 g (4.4 oz). A respectable number of the 90 g (3.2 oz) eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus) were recorded in studies from Oklahoma and Kansas. Four species of bat have been recorded in their foods. The red-tailed hawks local to the large cave colonies of 12.3 g (0.43 oz) Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) in Texas can show surprising agility, some of the same hawks spending their early evening and early morning hours in flight patrolling the cave entrances in order to stoop suddenly on these flighted mammals. Larger miscellaneous mammalian prey are either usually taken as juveniles, like the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), or largely as carrion, like the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). Small carnivorans may be taken, usually consisting of much smaller mustelids, like the least weasels (Mustela nivalis), stoats (Mustela erminea), and long-tailed weasels (Neogale frenata). slightly larger carnivores, such as small Indian mongooses (Herpestes auropunctatus), ringtails (Bassariscus astutus), small American minks (Neovison vison) and even adult striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), which can be much larger than a fully grown hawk, was reportedly taken by red-tailed hawks. Additionally, red-tailed hawks are considered as potential predators of white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) and kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) Remains of exceptionally large carnivoran species, such as domestic cats (Felis catus), red fox ( Vulpes vulpes) and common raccoon (Procyon lotor) are sometimes found amongst their foods, but most are likely taken as juveniles or consumed only as carrion. Many of these medium-sized carnivorans are probably visited as roadkill, especially during the sparser winter months, but carrion has turned up more widely than previously thought. Some nests have been found (to the occasional "shock" of researchers) with body parts from large domestic stock like sheep (Ovis aries), pigs (Sus domesticus), horses (Equus caballus ) and cattle (Bos taurus) (not to mention wild varieties like deer), which red-tails must visit when freshly dead out on pastures and take a couple of talonfuls of meat. In one instance, a red-tailed hawk was observed to kill a small but seemingly healthy lamb. These are born heavier than most red-tails at 1,500 g (3.3 lb) but in this case, the hawk was scared away before it could consume its kill by the rifle fire of the shepherd who witnessed the instance.
Birds
Like most (but not all) Buteo hawks, red-tailed hawks do not primarily hunt birds in most areas, but can take them fairly often whenever they opportune upon some that are vulnerable. Birds are, by far, the most diverse class in the red-tailed hawk's prey spectrum, with well over 200 species known in their foods In most circumstances where birds become the main food of red-tailed hawks, it is in response to ample local populations of galliforms. As these are meaty, mostly terrestrial birds which usually run rather than fly from danger (although all wild species in North America are capable of flight), galliforms are ideal avian prey for red-tails. Some 23 species of galliforms are known to be taken by red-tailed hawks, about a third of these being species introduced by humans. Native quails of all five North American species may expect occasional losses. All 12 species of grouse native to North America are also occasionally included in their prey spectrum. In the state of Wisconsin, two large studies, from Waupun and Green County, found the main prey species to be the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), making up 22.7% of a sample of 176 and 33.8% of a sample of 139, respectively. With a body mass averaging 1,135 g (2.502 lb), adult pheasants are among the largest meals that male red-tails are likely to deliver short of adult rabbits and hares and therefore these nests tend to be relatively productive. Despite being not native to North America, pheasants usually live in a wild state. Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are also taken throughout North America, with all Wisconsin studies also found large numbers of them, making up as much as 14.4% of the diet. Many studies reflect that free-ranging chickens are vulnerable to red-tailed hawks although somewhat lesser numbers are taken by them overall in comparison to nocturnal predators (i.e. owls and foxes) and goshawks. In Rochester, Alberta, fairly large numbers of ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) were taken but relatively more juveniles were taken of this species than the two other main contributors to biomass here, snowshoe hare and Townsend's ground squirrel, as they are fairly independent early on and more readily available. Here the adult grouse was estimated to average 550 g (1.21 lb) against the average juvenile which in mid-summer averaged 170 g (6.0 oz).
Beyond galliforms, three other quite different families of birds make the most significant contributions to the red-tailed hawk's avian diet. None of these three families are known as particularly skilled or swift fliers, but are generally small enough that they would generally easily be more nimble in flight. One of these are the woodpeckers, if only for one species, the 131.6 g (4.64 oz) northern flicker (Colaptes auratus), which was the best represented bird species in the diet in 27 North American studies and was even the fourth most often detected prey species of all. Woodpeckers are often a favorite in the diet of large raptors as their relatively slow, undulating flight makes these relatively easy targets. The flicker in particular is a highly numerous species that has similar habitat preferences to red-tailed hawks, preferring fragmented landscapes with trees and openings or parkland-type wooded mosaics, and often forage on the ground for ants, which may make them even more susceptible. Varied other woodpecker species may turn up in their foods, from the smallest to the largest extant in North America, but are much more infrequently detected in dietary studies. Another family relatively often selected prey family are corvids, which despite their relatively large size, formidable mobbing abilities and intelligence are also slower than average fliers for passerines. 14 species of corvid are known to fall prey to red-tailed hawks. In the Kaibab Plateau, the 128 g (4.5 oz) Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) were the fourth most identified prey species (10.3% of the diet). 453 g (0.999 lb) American crows are also regularly detected supplemental prey in several areas. Even the huge common raven (Corvus corax), at 1,050 g (2.31 lb) at least as large as red-tailed hawk itself, may fall prey to red-tails, albeit very infrequently and only in a well-staged ambush. One of the most surprising heavy contributors are the icterids, despite their slightly smaller size and tendency to travel in large, wary flocks, 12 species are known to be hunted. One species pair, the meadowlarks, are most often selected as they do not flock in the same ways as many other icterids and often come to the ground, throughout their life history, rarely leaving about shrub-height. The 100.7 g (3.55 oz) western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), in particular, was the third most often detected bird prey species in North America. Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) which are probably too small, at an average weight of 52.4 g (1.85 oz), and fast for a red-tailed hawk to ever chase on the wing (and do travel in huge flocks, especially in winter) are nonetheless also quite often found in their diet, representing up to 8% of the local diet for red-tails. It is possible that males, which are generally bold and often select lofty perches from which to display, are most regularly ambushed. One bird species that often flocks with red-winged blackbirds in winter is even better represented in the red-tail's diet, the non-native 78 g (2.8 oz) European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), being the second most numerous avian prey species and seventh overall in North America. Although perhaps most vulnerable when caught unaware while calling atonally on a perch, a few starlings (or various blackbirds) may be caught by red-tails which test the agile, twisting murmurations of birds by flying conspicuously towards the flock, to intentionally disturb them and possibly detect lagging, injured individual birds that can be caught unlike healthy birds. However, this behavior has been implied rather than verified.
Over 50 passerine species from various other families beyond corvids, icterids and starlings are included in the red-tailed hawks' prey spectrum but are caught so infrequently as to generally not warrant individual mention. Non-passerine prey taken infrequently may include but are not limited to pigeons and doves, cuckoos, nightjars, kingfishers and parrots. However, of some interest, is the extreme size range of birds that may be preyed upon. Red-tailed hawks in Caribbean islands seem to catch small birds more frequently due to the paucity of vertebrate prey diversity here.
This is a chart with pictures of the Heliconius family of butterflies with their names and hostplants. They all contain the front and verso sides of the butterflies. Keep in mind some species are polymorphic. Learn more about the
A bird on the Wellington Coast works on opening a small mussel shell.
A species of wader in the Haematopodidae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. The Maori name is torea-pango. They are also known as 'red bills'. "Variable" refers to the frontal plumage, which ranges from pied through mottled to all black. They are polymorphic meaning they have different genetic variants. Blacker birds are more common in the south. All Stewart Island variable oystercatchers are black. They have pink legs, an orange eye ring and red beaks. They are often seen in pairs on the coast all around New Zealand. During breeding, the pair will defend their territory, sometimes aggressively. Once mated pairs rarely divorce. After breeding they may be seen within flocks, or on the edges of flocks, of black and white South Island Pied Oystercatcher (SIPO) which also have vivid orange beaks. After breeding they may even form small flocks of their own. Males are around 678 grams and females slightly larger at around 724 grams. Variables can be identified as they are slightly larger than the SIPO - SIPO are around 550 grams. Occasionally totally black but if they are pied (black and white) they can be easily confused with SIPO. The variable species has less definition between the black and the white area, as well as a mottled band on the leading edges of the underwing. Variables also have a smaller white rump patch which is only a band across the base of the tail rather than a wide wedge shape reaching up to the middle of the back as in the SIPO. When mottled they are sometimes called 'smudgies'. They feed on molluscs, crabs and marine worms. After heavy rain, they sometime go inland in search of earthworms. They can open a shellfish by either hammering a hole in it or getting the bill between the two shells (of a bivalve) and twisting them apart. They breed in North Island, South Island, Stewart Island, and Chatham Islands. They do not breed inland or beside rivers although the SIPO does. They nest on the shore between rocks or on sand dunes by making a scrape out of the sand or shingle, sometimes lined with some seaweed. When in flight they make a high pitched 'kleep kleep' sound. They usually lay 2-3 eggs but they can lay up to 5. The eggs are typically stone coloured with small brown patches all over. Eggs hatch in 25-32 days. Chicks are well camouflaged by their colour and can fly in about 6 weeks. The bird lives up to about 27 years.
This fella didn't seem to mind me very much as most hawks do. Usually, they'll fly away at first movement. I was able to circle around him and get about 45 feet away and he never moved, only giving me an occasional glance.
For a bird newbie like me, the highly polymorphic Red-tailed Hawk can throw me off. I believe this is an adult light-morph Harlan's classification. Please comment if you know differently! Matt? :)
Common Name Greater Mormon
Papilio memnon
Lepidoptera: Papilionidae
Range: N. india through Burma to China, south to Malaysia, Java
Ours arrive from: Malaysia
Food: Plants in the citrus family
Notes: These butterflies are polymorphic, meaning that they occur in many forms. Males and females differ in color patterns, and also some females of this typically tailless swallowtail develop with a tail on each wing. Females mimic the unpalatable roses (Pachliopta spp.).
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Fitzinger's Rain Frog, Craugastor fitzingeri
Atlantic central Panama
All images © James A. Christensen/PrimevalNature.com
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A member of the complex Ophrys fusca-group and widespread on the East Aegean Islands. These populations are also known under the name Ophrys pelinaea. Andrena gravida males are attracted and seen pollinating the flowers. The flowers are very polymorphic.
© Jelle Devalez
Variable Wheatear is polymorphic and has three distinct morphs;
Black-bellied phase ('opistholeuca'). Male (adult). Entirely jet black except rump, under tail-coverts, base and sides of tail which are white; central rectrices and terminal band of tail black. Female has black parts replaced by sooty black.
White-bellied phase ('picata') Male (adult). Like the preceding but belly white. Female similar to male but black parts replaced by greyish brown; belly more buffish.
White-crowned phase ('capistrata'). Male (adult). Like picata, with white belly and black throat, but crown and nape white. Female similar to male but black parts and crown earthy brown; belly more buffish.
Costa-Rica. Tortuguero. August, 2007
Oophaga pumilio (former endrobates pumilio) = Strawberry Poison Dart Frog - tiny and incredibly beautiful creature from Tortugero (Costa Rica) have got blue legs (Blue-jeans Frog) while those from Pacific regions are whole-red. Very polymorphic species with various color patterns from tropical America. The flamboyant appearance warns the potential predator: I am poisonous!!! If a snake bites it, it immediately releases the frog, scrapes its mouth against the ground, nd may writhe or lie comatose for several hours. Snakes, birds, and mammals do not die from such experience, but they remember the lesson!
The reproductive behavior of this frog is the most unbelievable stories in the rainforest! Males establish territories on logs and stumps at a spacing of about ten feet. Their mating call is a cricketlike buzz that pulses at a rate of four to five buzzes per sec., deterring males while attracting females. If another male approaches, the too ones rise up and grapple with each other like little sumo wrestlers. When a female approaches, the male leads her to nesting site in the ground litter, where he deposits sperm on a leaf and she lays two to five eggs on it. He guards the eggs and keeps them moist for about 7 days until they hatch. Then, the female returns, and the tadpoles climb onto her back, using their mouths as suckers. She climbs trees and backs into the water tanks of bromeliads or water-filled plant cavities. After the tadpoles slide into the water, she returns for the others. She visits them for the 50 days it takes to develop! When the tadpoles sense its approaching mother, they vibrate their tales. Then she backs into the water and lays an unfertilized egg for the tadpoles to eat! - 7-11 eggs for each baby during its development! This incredible adaptation developed to avoid raising tadpoles in fishful ponds.
I'm still posting butterfly images taken in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo : ) Butterflies are only there for part of the year, so I want to make the most of the chance to see and photograph these beauties. This is a female. Weather has been so bad for a while and I need sunlight to pour in through all the glass windows, so I haven't been over for another visit yet.
"The Common Mormon Papilio polytes is a common species of swallowtail butterfly widely distributed across Asia. This butterfly is known for the mimicry displayed by the numerous forms of its females which mimic inedible Red-bodied Swallowtails, such as the Common Rose and the Crimson Rose .... The male has one morph only. It is a dark-coloured swallow-tailed butterfly. The upper forewing has a series of white spots decreasing in size towards the apex. The upper hindwing has a complete discal band of elongated white spots. It may or may not have marginal red crescents. The males are smaller in size than the females. The female of the Common Mormon is polymorphic. In South Asia, it has three forms or morphs."