Brian Grimmett from KUER.org joined us and volunteers to to check a Kestrel nest box and band the chicks as part of our American Kestrel Study. This nest box was located on Salt Lake County open space/park land, and highlights our new partnership.   http://kuer.org/post/salt-lake-county-helps-hawkwatch-international-study-kestrel-falcons  

Much about raptor biology, taxonomy, and other aspects is still unknown and understudied. For instance, just in the past 6 or 7 years alone we have learned a great deal about the overlap in range and plumage of Harlan's Red-tailed Hawks with other subspecies…and Harlan's is one of the more…

Each week, I post a few photos that people have sent me requesting an ID. Sometimes I never get the name of the photographer, so if you see your photo posted here, please let me know (and I hope you don't mind, I post the pics to be educational).I'd love…

When juvenile Red-tailed Hawks are recently fledged they show a colorful buffy-orange chest like this bird photographed July 1st (image #1), but this coloration fades by late fall and becomes whitish. The fading process takes a bit longer in some birds, but for the most part the chest completely loses…

Fox 13 joined us and volunteers to to check a Kestrel nest box and band the chicks as part of our American Kestrel Study. http://fox13now.com/2014/06/28/local-study-may-help-dwindling-american-kestrel-population/

I want to point out something very tricky regarding Cooper's Hawks. If you flip through the accipiter section of any field guide, you will likely read something to the effect: "...juvenile accipiters are streaked below, with Cooper's Hawks the most lightly marked..." In my guides, I remark to "proceed with…

A question that I have heard many times in the past made me think about doing a post on counting hawks. The question is: how many birds do you think you miss? It is an interesting question. Of course, people are curious to know how many hawks the hawk counter…

We had a great group and a phenomenal day for the Flammulated Owl field trip in Mantua, UT this past Saturday. While the group checked and cleaned out nestboxes, we encountered with a flying squirrel nest, a Northern Saw-whet Owl nest with 2 newly hatched young and four other eggs,…

The four birds ('click' on image to enlarge) were sent to me at various times and I can't remember who sent them (except the last hawk sent by Bill Schmoker). There was a question on their ID's so I thought I'd post them to hear some suggestions and thoughts on…

We've been making an effort to get color bands on as many breeding adults as possible within the American Kestrel Study area. Color bands, also known as "resight" bands, allow for easier monitoring (sighting) of birds throughout the year and in future nesting seasons. A Kestrel that can be positively…