A few birds from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
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Northern Harrier:Northern Harrier Qaku'urtaq A few days ago, I was watching a Northern harrier as it hovered above a nearby marsh, and my thoughts drifted back to the Yukon Delta where I sometimes saw these large raptors hunting on the tundra. While hiking behind Marshall I was able to identify a harrier from a mile away as it flew low across the tundra, making a few wingbeats, then gliding with its long wings held slightly in the form of a V. Stopping in midair to hover for a moment, it might drop suddenly to the ground and come up with its prize, a small vole or bird or even a young snowshoe hare. I wondered how they detected their prey, since they don't have telescopic vision as other hawks do. On watching this special hawk closely with my binocs I noticed that its face looked very much like that of an owl, having a curved facial disk. I later learned that, as with owls, this feathered ruff reflects sound, thereby allowing the bird to better locate its prey. This is unique among hawks. The Northern harrier is unique in other ways. It is the western hemisphere's only harrier, and it is farflung in its range, stretching from the eastern seabord to the Pacific coast and all the way north to the Arctic Ocean and west to the Bering Sea. It is also found throughout Asia and Europe. During a recent trip to Mongolia I saw a few of them in the grassy steppe country there. Another feature which distinguishes Northern harriers from other hawks is that the male and female are unlike in their coloration. Where the male is a pale gray with black wingtips, the female is predominantly brown. This is for camouflage purposes, since the female must sit on a nest located in a mostly brown context. As with many other hawks, she is larger than her mate. Both, however, have a conspicuous white rump patch, which is one of the traits I look for when I first spot them. On the Lower Yukon Delta, while observing spring rituals of the many different raptors found there I have three favorites: the Gyrfalcon, Long-tailed jaeger, and the Northern harrier. Like the other two, the courtship flight of the male harrier is spectacular. To demonstrate his prowess he flies up in the air, then dives in roller-coaster ups and downs, barrel-rolling as he plummets earthward, doing this over and over again. Simply watching him makes me dizzy. Quite often the male performs well enough to attract more than one mate. Whether one or many, the female selects a nesting site on a dry knoll in a marsh, bog or on the tundra and gets down to work, building her nest of small sticks, grass, soft vegetation and feathers. The male only helps by bringing her some of the materials. When the nest is ready, mating takes place and up to nine eggs are laid in as many days. The average number of eggs is five, first appearing as pale blue, later fading to dull white with pale brown spotting on some of them. Incubation is by the female alone and it takes one month until the hatchlings successfully peck their way through the egg shells and emerge into the bright of day. During the first two weeks after hatching, the mother bird remains with the young most of the time while her mate does the hunting and delivers the food to the female who then feeds it to the chicks. After about two weeks, mother takes over much of the responsibility of both hunting and feeding the by now quite large young. Within two more weeks or so these birds are feathery enough to take wing and begin to learn to feed themselves. The Yupik name for the Northern harrier is Qaku'urtaq, which probably relates to the scolding quality of its call when the bird is upset. Since its call sounds something like, kee- kee-kee or kek, kek, kek, I suspect the name could also be somewhat onomatopoeic. The Northern harrier's scientific name, Circus cyaneus, means dark blue circling hawk. Its common English name relates to the way this northern raptor harries its prey. Other English names are: blue hawk (male), frog hawk, harrier, hen-harrier, marsh harrier, mouse hawk, marsh hawk and white-rumped hawk. All of which goes to show how special this hawk really is.  |
