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- Vol 3, No 1 - Hawks in Kansas
Volume 3, Number 1 - October 1956
Hawks in Kansas
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THE FRONT COVER PICTURE, taken by E. L. Anderson, shows a nest of newly hatched marsh hawks near the Lyon County State Lake, 14 miles northeast of Emporia. According to Ted F. Andrews, Professor of Biology, Kansas State Teachers College, who observed this nest many times from early May until the young hawks left it, this picture, taken May 30, 1956, shows hawks of three ages. The upper right one was seven days old, the upper left one five days, and the lower center one, one day. The two eggs shown in the picture failed to hatch. The nest was about fourteen inches in diameter; the coarse materials were mostly stems of smartweed, the finer materials grasses and miscellaneous fibers. |
Published by John E. King, President Prepared and Issued by Editor: John Breukelman, Head, Department of Biology Editorial Committee: Ina M. Borman, Helen M. Douglass, Dixon Smith Online edition by: Terri Weast The Kansas School Naturalist is sent upon request, free of charge, to any citizen of Kansas. The Kansas School Naturalist is published in October, December, February and April of each year by The Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia, Kansas. Second-class mail privileges authorized at Emporia, Kansas. THIS ISSUE OF The Kansas School Naturalist was prepared by the production section of the 1956 Workshop in Conservation. The Workshop, supported by a grant-in-aid from the Kansas Association for Wildlife and the National Wildlife Federation, was a part of the 1956 summer session of the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia. The committee in charge consisted of Ruth L. Fox, Allen School, Hutchinson, Kansas, and L. U. West, Planeview High School, assisted by Lee Province, a senior at the college. The drawings are by Sandra Beck, a senior in Emporia High School. The photographs were taken by E. L. Anderson, of Emporia State's Department of Art. |
Two incidents led to the selection of "Hawks" as the topic for this issue of The Kansas School Naturalist.
First, a teacher of vocational agriculture in a Kansas high school directed this question to the educational representative of the Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission: "How many pOints should I allow, in our pest control project, for killing a red-tailed hawk?"
Second, a Kansas daily newspaper had an illustrated story about a high school student who had killed nearly 100 hawks, during the months from September to January, in a sponsored "pest control" project. The story was printed in several other papers, and in most cases it was told as if the killing of the hawks were a praiseworthy act.
It is quite possible that an interested biology teacher might have saved most of the hawks mentioned in the newspaper story. This issue of KSN is an attempt to provide some of the information which may enable teachers, scout leaders, conservationists, sponsors of youth groups, parents, and other interested persons to help in the conservation of hawks and their near relatives, which are among our important natural resources.
The encouraging thing about the hawk incident was the considerable number of letters, editorials, and other comments which followed. Space permits printing only a few quotations from these, selected to bring out some of the points impOltant to conservation. On the following pages are quotations from a statement by Dr. Harrison B. Tordoff, ornithologist at the Museum of Natural History of the University of Kansas, from an editorial in The Topeka Daily Capital, and from several letters sent in by newspaper readers. These indicate that many people are aware of the value of hawks.
In this issue of The Kansas School Naturalist we present descriptions of most of the Kansas hawks and of their near relatives, the vultures and eagles. We hope that the descriptions are sufficiently clear to enable interested persons to recognize beneficial hawks when they see them.
HAWK KILLING SHOULD BE STOPPED
Few things arouse greater despair in conservationists than discovery that a youth guidance program ... can become so misdirected as to encourage and reward wholesale killing of highly beneficial birds ...
So-called "chicken hawks" are actually any of several kinds of large soaring hawks. The 85 hawks killed . . . were examined by Prof. Harrison B. Tordoff, ornithologist at the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. Eighty-four were Red-tailed Hawks, one was a Marsh Hawk. Scientists have proved repeatedly and conclusively that both of these species are highly beneficial in food habits. Rarely does either species kill chickens or game birds. Instead, they feed largely on rodents which are harmful to agriculture.
Each hawk of the 85 killed would eat at least three rats or mice per day. It each rodent destroys 10 cents worth of forage or garden crops in a year, the 85 hawks would, in one year, have saved farmers over $9300...
Two kinds of hawks in Kansas do feed regularly on birds. These are the Cooper Hawk and the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Both kinds are uncommon or rare and are very elusive, living in woodlands where hunters rarely get a shot at them. Even these species should be killed only when actual damage to chickens occurs. Proper control should be directed only at the individual responsible for the damage . . . Game managers and other conservationists know that normal predation on game species helps to maintain strong and healthy populations. It helps to remember that the "good old days" of abundant game were also the days before "pest," "varmint," and other predator control programs.
Persons with a true love and understanding of wildlife recognize that every animal has its place in nature's scheme. These people feel that a countryside lacking hawks, owls, and covotes would have lost much of its appeal. They feel that indiscriminate slaughter of predators is morally wrong, as well as economically harmful.
Red-tailed Hawks, Marsh Hawks, and most other hawks and owls are protected by law in Kansas. In spite of this legal protection, the slaughter goes on unchecked year after year. Seldom does one read of any arrest or prosecution for hawk killing. Game agents say frankly that violations are ignored because public sentiment for protection of predators is lacking. Must we have on our conscience the gradual decline and perhaps eventual extinction of these superb creatures? - creatures useful to man, too! Above all, can we permit encouragement of youths in senseless hawk-killing through badly misguided school programs? \Vhere is our conservation conscience? The time has come to require that the laws of our state be enforced by judges and officers charged with this duty.
January 16, 1956
Harrison B. Tordoff
Federal and state game protectors, plus a large number of conservationists and bird lovers generally, are concerned over the exploits of boys engaged in a so-called "pest-control" program.
Under the state law only three kinds of. hawks and the great horned owl are adined as predatory. The Cooper's, Sharpshin and Goshawk, all small, fastflying hawks, are included in the list permitted to be killed. The federal and state game protectors have visited the boy, and informed him of the regulations. Heavy fines and possible jail sentences are prescribed for violation of the game laws...
The law does provide that certain migratory birds, such as blackbirds, may be killed if destroying grain or orchards. Most hawks are listed as migratory, hence are protected under federal laws based on treaties with Canada and Mexico, just as are song birds, wildfowl and other birds while crossing the United States on their annual migrations...
Promiscuous shooting of good and bad hawks also may lead to destruction of the bald eagle, protected by both federal and state laws, according to our game protectors. Several thoughtless hunters have been arrested and fined for destroying this harmless bird, which is easily stalked when watching the fields for rats, mice, or rabbits.
Organizations ·that have pest control as part of their programs should educate their youthful members in the identification of useful birds and those that are harmful.
Editorial in The Topeka Daily Capital, January 17, 1956.
The following are quotations from letters printed in the Kansas City Star.
A MILD PROTEST
My letter is a mild protest in regard to a picture and story... There are several things wrong with the story, but worst is the possible effect of the thing on our boys. The conservation commission has labored long in this state to help those lads along constructive paths... The main diet of red tails (and I suspect most of those on the fence are red tails since they are easiest to hit with a gun) has been proved over and over - in all sections of the country - to be rodents...
James F. Keefe
Associate Editor Missouri Conservationist
A PICTURE HOLDS THE ANSWER
If mice, ground squirrels, gophers, snakes and rabbits overrun the farm, and the farmer begins to wonder why, he will have the answer when he looks at the picture of the hawks he has killed...
If he will study the habits of the birds, I believe he will find he is doing himself harm.
F. C. McNitt
Washington, Kansas
BETTER IN THE SKY
...Most hawks live on mice and other rodents and more than compensate for the occasional chicken they catch. To my mind, they are much more interesting to see perched in a high tree or sailing in the sky than the sight of their dead bodies strung on a wire fence.
J.J. McKinny
DeWitt, Missouri
If you want to start an argument, bring up the subject of hawks. "The only good hawks are dead hawks" is a familiar saying. It is a shame that people still persist in condemning the hawks of Kansas. Our state has passed laws protecting all but three of them. Of all the kinds found in the state, only three can be counted as harmfui-the crowsized Cooper's hawk, the smaller sharp-shinned hawk, and the rare (in Kansas) goshawk. All other hawks are beneficial. An individual may once in a while pounce on a chicken, or more rarely a game bird, but the number of rat and mouse pests they destroy far outweighs their misdeeds.
Next time you see a hawk making circles in the sky or sitting majestically atop a lone tree in a pasture, hold back that urge to shoot at it. If he dives into a chicken yard or captures a game bird (which is rarer than you think) go after him; otherwise be thankful that he is your friend in the battle for survival.
Naturalists who have made studies of the redtail's food habits have found that about seventy-five per cent of its food consists of injurious rats and mice. Poultry and game amount to only about seven per cent. You can see that the common name "hen hawk" is wrongly applied. A better name would be "mouse hawk" or "rat hawk."
The Red-tailed hawk, Swains on's hawk ( a common hawk of the dry prairie country of western Kansas) and the marsh hawk (which we see Hying low to the ground over the prairies of Kansas ) are three of the most valuable hawks of Kansas, because their diet is made up mostly of harmful rodents.
The Cooper's hawk is the true black sheep of the hawks. His misdeeds have caused the wrath of man to be leveled at the entire hawk group. Birds are his main food. He has been known to inflict losses among the flocks of poultry raisers. He is a threat to game birds. Many people call the Cooper's hawk the "blue darter." He lives in the deep woods where he slips through the trees so cleverly that he is seIdell seen. Beneficial hawks, because of their habit of living in the open, usually fall victim to the gun of the angry farmer whose chickens have been stolen by the Cooper's hawk.
In the broad sense the term "hawk" may include all the birds listed in this issue; in a narrow sense the term includes only a part of the family Accipitridae (the "true hawks").
In a non-technical sense these birds of prey which are either hawks or hawklike may be grouped into eight categories, as follows:
1. Vultures, often called "buzzards," although "buzzard" was the original term for the Buteos.
2. Kites, found mostly in the south.
3. Accipiters, or "true hawks," including the harmful species of Kansas.
4. Buteos, originally known as buzzard hawks, including many of the most valuable species. These are, except for the eagles and vllltllres, the largest of the Kansas forms.
5. Eagles, the largest Kansas birds of prey.
6. Harriers, represented in Kansas only bv the Marsh Hawk, one of our most c~mmon and most beneficial birds of prey.
7. Ospreys, represented in Kansas by only one species, and that not common.
8. Falcons, the most streamlined hawks, with long painted wings, most commonly represented in Kansas by the blue-jay sized sparrow hawk.
For those interested in the taxonomic relationships of the hawks, the following checklist of the Kansas species is included. The list is according to Tordoff's Check-list of the Birds of Kansas, which may be obtained for 25 cents from the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
Order Falconiformes, Vultures, Hawks, Eagles, Falcons
Family Catharthidae, Vultures
Cathartes aura, Turkey Vulture, throughout state.
Coragyps tratus, Black Vulture, once occurred in southeast, but no record since 1885.
Family Accipitridae, Kites, Hawks, Eagles
Elanoides forficatus, Swallow-tailed Kite, formerly summer resident in at least eastern half of state.
Ictinia Misisippiensis, Mississippi Kite, south-central Kansas.
Accipiter gentilis, Goshawk, rare and irregular winter visitor in east.
Accipiter striatus, Sharp-shinned Hawk, throughout state.
Accipiter cooperii, Cooper's Hawk, throughout state.
Buteo jamaicensis, Red-tailed Hawk, throughout state.
Buteo lineatus, Red-shouldered Hawk, mostly in eastern Kansas.
Buteo platypterus, Broad-winged Hawk, fairly common in eastern Kansas.
Buteo swainsoni, Swainson's Hawk, more common in western two-thirds of state.
Buteo lagopus, Rough-legged Hawk, winter resident.
Buteo regalis, Ferruginous Rough-leg, corrunon transient and winter resident in west, rare in east.
Parabuteo unicinctus, Harris' Hawk, accidental.
Aquila chrysaetos, Golden Eagle, formerly common resident.
Circus cyaneus, Marsh Hawk, common in winter, but seen all year throughout the state.
Family Pandionidae, Ospreys
Pandion haliaetus, Osprey, irregularly throughout state.
Family Falconidae, Falcons
Falco rusticolus, Gyrfalcon, accidental.
Falco mexicanus, Prairie Falcon, rare summer and fairly common winter resident in west.
Falco peregrinus, Duck Hawk, rare transient and winter resident.
Falco columbarius, Pigeon Hawk, uncommon transient and rare winter resident in east.
Falco spaverius, Sparrow Hawk, common resident.
THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY has a hawk protection circular entitled Hawks Are Your Friends. It contains silhouettes of common hawks and descriptions of their food habits and their importance in a wildlife community. The Society recommends distribution of the circulars to farm and sportsmen's groups, schools, Scout troops, 4-H clubs, and the like. The circulars are available at $8.00 per thousand. An organization ordering as many as 3000 circulars may have its name imprinted without additional cost. Persons wishing to use these circulars or other information may want to get the bulletin How to Conduct a Hawk or Owl Campaign, available free from the Society. Address: Public Information Department, National Audubon SOCiety, 1130 Fifth Ave., New York 28,
N.Y.
Bichard, John, The Hawks of North America, The National Association of Audubon Societies, 1775 Broadway, New York, New York. 1935
Goodrich, Arthur L. Jr., Birds in Kansas, State Board of Agriculture, Topeka, Kansas. 1945.
Palmer, E. Lawrence, Fieldbook of Natural History, McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., N.Y. 1949
Pearson, Gilbert, Birds of North America, Garden City Publishing Co., Garden City, N.Y. 1942
Peterson, Roger, A Field Guide to the Birds, Houghton Mifflin Co. , Boston, Mass.
Pough, Richard H., Audubon Water Bird Guide, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, N .Y. 1951.
Zim, Herbert S. and Ira N. Gabrielson, Birds, Simon and Schuster, New York (A Golden Nature Guide) 1949.
Audubon Magazine, Audubon Societies, 1775 Broadway, New York, New York.
Nature Magazine, The American Nature Association, 1214 16th Street N.W., Washington 6, D.C.
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Since hawks are frequently seen flying overhead, the flight profiles on the opposite page will help to identify them.
Vultures soar in large circles, their wings held above the horizontal. The head, being without feathers, is so small that the vulture appear almost headless. The wings are broad and rounded, the tail rather long.
The Mississippi kite, almost the size of a crow, has a medium sized head, pointed wings, and a long notched tail.
The Accipters, two of which (sharp-shinned and Cooper's) are described in this issue, have short rounded wings and long tails. They do not soar much, but dart out after their prey. Typical flight consists of several wing beats, followed by a short glide.
The Buteos, five of which are described in this issue, are large hawks with broad rounded wings and short rounded tails. They spend much time soaring high in the air. This group includes some of the most valuable hawks, both in the nation and in Kansas.
The Eagles look like Buteos, but are larger and their wings are longer in proportion to their width. The wings are held almost precisely horizontal when soaring.
The Marsh hawk, which is the only representative of the Harriers found in Kansas, has long rounded wings and a long rounded tail. The wings are held at an angle above the horizontal when soaring.
The Osprey, which is the onlv member of its family in Kansas, is shaped like a Buteo, but has a larger tail in proportion to its body size, and has more of a kink or bend at the middle of the wing.
The Falcons, represented in this issue by the sparrow hawk, have long pointed wings and long tails. In the case of the smaller ones there is practically no soaring, the wing strokes being rapid and continuous.
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The members of the production section of the 1956 Workshop in Conservation of the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, supported by a grant-in-aid from the Kansas Association for Wildlife and the National Wildlife Federation, prepared textual material and illustrations for four issues of The Kansas School Naturalist - "Hawks," "Trees," "Spiders," and "Life in a Pond." These issues will appear during the course of the next year. Front row, left to right: Marie Shrock, Wilmore, grades 5 and 6; Evan Lindquist, Junior, Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia; William B. Fletcher, Downs High School, Social Science; Paul G. Jantzen, Radium High School, Science. Middle row: Ruth Louise Fox, Allen School, Hutchinson, 3rd grade; Katie M. Robinson, Cheney, grades 1 to 5; Mrs. Bert Brickell, Flowerhill Farm, Saffordville, Garden Editor of the Emporia Gazette; Carl W. Prophet, Instructor of Biology, Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia; Harland Pankratz, Buhler High School, Science; Ida Mae Cook, Yoder, grades 1 and 2. Back row: John Breukelman, Director of the Workshop; L. Ulverton West, Plainview High School, Science; H. W. Davies, Chapman High School, Biology and Chemistry; Frank Darrell Timken, Lansing Rural High School, Science and Social Science; Winjfred E. Utter, Senior, Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia. Not in picture, but participating in part of the workshop, Frances Evans, Coyville, grades 1 and 2; William Chai, Conway Springs High School, Physical Education. |
"All owls are protected by law (legally speaking) except one-the Great Horned Owl. The owls which we commonly have in Western Kansas are the little screech owl, the monkey-faced owl, the shorteared owl, the burrowing owl, and the great-horned owl.
These owls are all great mousers. While the hawks are diurnal (daytime) in their food-getting habits, the owls are noctural (night-time) food hunters. So both kinds of rodents and other small mammals (diurnal and nocturnal) are kept in check by one or the other of these capable rodent hunters.
The great-horned owl is our largest owl and powerful enough to easily kill a chicken, which it is likely to do if the chicken roosts out in the open.
The burrowing owl is more or less a day-time owl and lives largely on insects, lizards, snakes, with occasionally a young prairie dog.
With the exception of the great-horned owl the owls are exceedingly beneficial to man. One easy way to determine what an owl eats is to find its roosting or nesting place and there pick up the socalled pellets which contain the indigestible parts (fur and bones) of what they have eaten. These parts are done up in neat little pellets by the digestive tract and regurgitated."
The above is a quotation from Vol. 6, No. 11 of The West Kansan, a monthly leaflet published by The Western Kansas Development Association. This issue, which reached the editor's desk just as we were getting ready to go to print, also contains an article entitled "Good And Bad Hawks" which includes details of the feeding habits of some of the hawks and also some aids to recognition. If interested, write the secretary of the Association, L. D. Wooster, P.O. Box 581, Hays, Kansas.
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"Hawks" committee of 1956 Workshop examine Red-tailed Hawk. |
In 1899 only five states offered any legal protection to hawks, eagles or owls. By 1949 thirty states protected all species except the so called "bird hawk" and the homed owl.
Eight states now have laws that are inconsistent with the Federal protection afforded by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; however, as of 1955, only six states fail to protect any hawks or owls. They were Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Virginia. Rhode Island protects only the osprey.
It is becoming generally recognized that it is ecologically unsound to classify any wildlife species categorically as "harmful" since each has its function in maintaining a healthy wildlife community. Control should be undertaken only in cases where specific damage to health, crops, livestock, or property is involved.
Most state laws still exempt from protection the Accipiters or "bird hawks," as well as horned owls, thus reflecting the idea that bird species should categorically be listed as "harmful" or "beneficial." As a result, little attempt is made to enforce the laws in many areas, because, in general, the only people who can distinguish between the protected and the unprotected hawks are those who would not shoot them anyway. A violator brought into court often pleads that he thought he was shooting a harmful hawk, and usually the case is dropped.
In order to reduce the slaughter of hawks that are funneled into narrow flight lanes during migration, some conservationists have proposed that all hawks be protected, by an act of Congress, during the periods from September 1 to November 30 and from March 1 to April 30. Hawks would then be under state jurisdiction except during these periods, which include most of their migration.
Probably the most significant development of the past decade is the passing of laws in Connecticut, Michigan, and Indiana, protecting all species of hawks and owls except when they are doing specific damage. Some other states and Canadian provinces are also working to secure similar laws.
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This is the upper left one of the hawks shown on the front cover-almost two months later. Vlhen this picture was taken, the hawk, a female, was about eight weeks old. |
Birds of Prey; life habits of owls, hawks, vultures, eagles, including nesting and feeding; black-and-white, 11 minutes.
Great Horned Owl; nesting, eggs, young, feeding; black-and-white, 11 minutes.
Birds That Eat Flesh; hawks and owls, what they eat, and how; color, 6 minutes.
IT IS NOT TOO EARLY to plan to attend the 1957 Workshop in Conservation, which will be a part of the 1957 summer session at Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, during the early part of June.
The Workshop will cover soil and water, grassland, and wildlife conservation. Such topics as geography and climate of Kansas, water resources, soil erosion and erosion control, grass as a resource, bird banding, conservation clubs, conservation education, and wildflowers of Kansas will be discussed. There will be lectures, demonstrations, discussion groups, films, slides, field trips, projects, and individual and g;'oup reports. You may enroll for either undergraduate or graduate credit.
Exact dates, fees and other details will appear in further issues of KSN; for information write the director of the Workshop, John Breukelman, KSTC, Emporia,
Kansas.
Two members of The Kansas School Naturalist editorial committee are on leave during the 1956-57 school year to do graduate work.
Dixon Smith, assistant professor of social science, has a Danforth Teacher Grant to work toward his Ph.D. in geography at the University of Minnesota. These grants, which are awarded only to college teachers, involve no teaching or research on the part of recipients.
Helen Douglass, assistant professor of education, is doing graduate work at the George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tenn. She is on sabbatical leave.
IT IS NOT TOO EARLY to plan to attend the 1957 Workshop in Conservation, which will be a part of the 1957 summer session at Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, during the early part of June.
The Workshop will cover soil and water, grassland, and wildlife conservation. Such topics as geography and climate of Kansas, water resources, soil erosion and erosion control, grass as a resource, bird banding, conservation clubs, conservation education, and wildflowers of Kansas will be discussed. There will be lectures, demonstrations, discussion groups, films, slides, field trips, projects, and individual and group reports. You may enroll for either undergraduate or graduate credit.
Exact dates, fees and other details will appear in further issues of KSN; for information write the director of the Workshop, John Breukelman, KSTC, Emporia,
Kansas.
FUTURE ISSUES OF KSN
Copy and pictures of four issues of The Kansas School Naturalist were prepared by the 1956 Workshop in Conservation -
Hawks,
Spiders,
Trees,
and Life in a Pond.
A second issue devoted to Children's Books for Nature Study is almost complete; most of the books have been selected and the annotations written. Considerable work has been done on Summer Wildflowers, and preliminary plans have been made for Fossils. The exact sequence of these issues has not yet been decided. If you have suggestions for future issues, send them to the editor.
Two members of The Kansas School Naturalist editorial committee are on leave during the 1956-57 school year to do graduate work.
Dixon Smith, assistant professor of social science, has a Danforth Teacher Grant to work toward his Ph.D. in geography at the University of Minnesota. These grants, which are awarded only to college teachers, involve no teaching or research on the part of recipients.
Helen Douglass, assistant professor of education, is doing graduate work at the George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tenn. She is on sabbatical leave.
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