Raptors

Also known as “birds of prey,” raptors are hunters that feed on mammals, reptiles, and smaller birds. They are known for their sharp sight, powerful claws, and incredible skills. Some raptors are found near water and feed on fish, while others prefer wooded areas and tend to find small mammals and reptiles for dinner. Keep an eye out towards the skies as raptors can often be seen soaring high above, searching for their next prey.

 

Common Raptors at Lake Roosevelt

 

American kestral

NPS/Andy Bridges

American Kestrel

Falco sparverius

• Adult males are rust-colored on the back, with slate-blue wings and two black slashes on the face. Adult females are rust-colored with black barring on wings and back, a gray crown, and two black slashes on the face

• Lives in open or semi-open areas, including forest clearings, farmland, open country, and wood edges

• Commonly seen perched on roadside wires or hovering low over a field with rapidly beating wings, waiting to pounce on prey

• Diet includes large insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, dragonflies, moths, caterpillars, as well as small mammals, birds, and reptiles

 

• audio American Kestrel

  
  

  American Kestrel call
  Audio Transcript

  a loud, excited series of 3-6 klee! or killy! notes lasting just over a second

 

Bald eagle

© Rick McMeechana

Bald Eagle

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

• White head and tail with dark brown body and wings, and bright yellow legs and beak

• One of the largest birds in North America; adult males average 36 inches long with a wingspan of 6.6 feet, while females may reach 43 inches in length with a wingspan of 8 feet

• Feeds primarily on fish and waterfowl, as well as carrion when available

• Found near lakes, reservoirs, rivers, marshes, and coasts

 

• Bald Eagle

  
  

  Sound recording of bald eagle, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS

  Audio Transcript

  The high-pitched screeching sounds of a bald eagle's call.

 

Golden eagle

NPS Photo

Golden Eagle

Aquila chrysaetos

• One of the largest birds in North America; adults average 27–33 inches in length, with a 6–7 foot wingspan

• Dark brown with a golden sheen on the back of the head and neck

• Lives in open and semi-open country; nests on cliffs and steep escarpments in grassland, chapparal, shrubland, forest, and other vegetated areas

• Preys on small to medium-sized mammals, including hares, rabbits, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and marmots; capable of taking larger bird and mammal prey, including cranes, deer, and domestic livestock; often feeds on carrion

• Have been documented reaching speeds close to 200 mph at a dive

 

Merlin

NPS Photo

Merlin

Falco columbarius

• Adult males are generally slate-gray to dark-gray while females are brown and tan; chest is heavily streaked with dark underwings, and tail has narrow white bands

• Feeds on small birds, using surprise attacks to capture prey mid-air in rapid pursuit

• Found in open conifer woodlands, prairie groves, foothills, marshes, and open country

• Three subspecies in North America, including the dark-plumed ‘black’ variety in the Pacific Northwest

 

Osprey

NPS Photo

Osprey

Pandion haliaetus

• Large hawk, both male and female adults average 21–22 inches in length with a wingspan of 50–70 inches

• Brown above and white below; underside of wings mostly white with a prominent dark patch at the wrists; white head with a broad brown stripe through the eye

• Found along coastlines, lakes, rivers, estuaries, and reservoirs

• Feeds on a variety of fish

• Plunges feet-first into water to catch prey using its talons

 

• Osprey

  
  

  Audio file for the American Crow courtesy through Xeno-Canto.org

  Credit / Author:

  Xeno-Canto.org

  Audio Transcript

  Ospreys do not sing, but instead have a variety of different calls that are emitted in a high pitch whistling voice. One such call can be likened to the sound of a “whistling kettle” taken from the stovetop – a series of whistles that rise in intensity and then fall abruptly away.

 

Red tailed hawk

NPS Photo

Red Tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

• Common throughout North America

• Brown above and pale below, with a streaked belly and dark wingtips; tail is typically pale below and cinnamon-red above

• Typically seen soaring in wide circles high over a field or perched on telephones poles, fenceposts, or trees standing alone or along edges of fields

• Diet consists mainly of mammals, including voles, mice, wood rats, rabbits, snowshoe hares, jackrabbits, ground squirrels, and bats, as well as snakes, and birds such as pheasants, bobwhite, starlings, and blackbirds

 

• Red-tailed Hawk

  
  

  Audio file for the Red-tailed Hawk courtesy through Xeno-Canto.org

  Credit / Author:

  Xeno-Canto.org

  Audio Transcript

  This raptor does not sing, but its hoarse, screaming kee-eeeee-arr cry is one of the most iconic when it comes to films and the American West. Almost every time any bird-of-prey is depicted, filmmakers use the Red-tailed Hawk’s cry.

 

Burrowing owls

© Robert Bennetts

Burrowing Owl

Athene cunicularia

• Small owls with long legs, short tails, and rounded head without ear tufts

• Brown coloring mottled with sandy-pale spots on the upperparts; breast is spotted, grading to dark brown bars on the belly; bold white throat and eyebrows, and yellow eyes

• Lives in open, treeless areas with low, sparse vegetation such as grasslands, deserts, and steppe environments

• Eats invertebrates and small vertebrates, including lizards, grasshoppers, crickets, moths, beetles, mice, voles, and shrews

• Lives underground in burrows they’ve taken over from prairie dogs, ground squirrels, or other burrowing animals

 

Great horned owl

NPS/Robbie Hannawacker

Great Horned Owl

Bubo virginianus

• Mottled gray-brown body with reddish brown face and a neat white patch on the throat, two prominent feathered tufts on the head, and large yellow eyes

• Found throughout North America in a wide variety of deciduous, coniferous, or mixed forests, swamps, orchards, and agricultural areas

• Diverse diet of mostly mammals and birds such as rabbits, hares, mice, and American coots, voles, gophers, chipmunks, squirrels, marmots, bats, skunks, porcupines, ducks, loons, crows, ravens, doves, and other owl species

• Eyes don’t move in their sockets, but their heads can swivel more than 180 degrees to look in any direction

• Facial disc feathers direct sound waves to their ears to aid their sensitive hearing

 

Short-eared owl

NPS/Emily Mesner

Short-eared Owl

Asio flammeus

• Brown-spotted with buff and white on the upperparts, pale face with yellow eyes accentuated by black outlines; the breast is heavily streaked with brown; the chest and belly are pale

• Lives in open areas with low vegetation, including prairies, grasslands, meadows, shrub-steppe, and agricultural areas

• Hunts during daylight, flying low over short vegetation

• Eats small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, moles, lemmings, rabbits, pocket gophers, bats, rats, weasels, and muskrats