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Friday, April 2, 2010
Hawk Song
For about the past 5 years, we have had a resident pair of red-shouldered hawks living near our home. They provide
a gorgeous sight, flying low over the tree tops, their characteristic striped tail spread wide to catch the breeze.
They are most noticable during the breeding season, when they dive and swoop, singing out their unique cry -- short, raspy, dropping in pitch from the first high note.
 Today, however, I heard a red-tailed hawk, a large stocky raptor with its unmistakable cry. The red-tail is new to our little neck of the woods. It was awesome to hear the woods go silent when he screamed
high above.
It can be confusing, to the uninitiated, to hear this cry. The problem is that, without fail,
any time a bald eagle is shown flying majestically above in a movie or tv show, the cry you hear is that of the red-tailed hawk! Bald
eagles have a pitiful, high-pitched chirpy cry that is in no way "majestic". This aggravates me to no end.
"Our" red-shouldered pair
have not yet shown up, but I am eager for their return. ... hope all the raptors get along...
(on
the links you will be taken to a page where you can hear each raptor's vocalization.)
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I'll make changes to this site on a regular basis, sharing news, views, experiences, photos...whatever occurs to me.
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