[cobirds] Re: Boulder Co, Golden Ponds, Cooper's Hawk wearing a wire?

On Monday, August 8, 2016 at 9:00:36 AM UTC-6, Gregg Goodrich wrote:

Stan,

 I compared your photo with a photo in iBird Pro of a Cooper's Hawk tail feather. It looks a feather shaft as opposed to an antenna. Cooper's are rarely used in flight programs or by falconers to my knowledge. Nice photo.

Gregg Goodrich
Aurora CO

Hi Gregg,

Thanks for your correct identification of my mystery "antenna" and thanks for your comment on my photo. I'm quite new to high resolution telephoto photography and I have much to learn about bird anatomy that has never been apparent through binoculars.

Over the weekend Anne Price sent me the very thoughtful message found below.

Hi Stan,

 

Thanks for the higher resolution close-up. Yes, that's the shaft, or rachis, of the tail feather. It runs directly down the center of only the middle two tail feathers, or the deck feathers. It runs slightly to very-strongly to the left, (or right) on the other feathers, depending on which side of the tail the feathers like. There are 12 total: 2 deck, and then 5 on each side. The different shape of the feathers, along with their actual position on the pygostyle of the bird, helps the bird turn and steer.  If you look at the very top of the shaft, at the upper base of the tail, you can see a few barbs crossing over it; these are from the deck feather directly below the top one.  The bird just needs to rouse its tail and do a little bit of preening.

 

REF teaches about 2-3 raptor ID courses each year, and we're doing one in the fall, Sunday, Sept 25. Karen Metz brings her excellent field ID slides, and we also feature our live raptors in the classroom for up-close viewing and comparison. A tour of our mews will follow where you can see approximately 17 species of raptors.

 

If you're interested, you may sign up here:

https://mkt.com/raptor-education-foundation/item/fall-flights-1

 

Feel free to call the office below if you have any questions, or I'd be happy to answer them as well.

 

Cheers,

Anne P.S. Price

Curator of Raptors

Raptor Education Foundation

www.usaref.org

REF on Facebook

Est. 1980

(303) 680-8500 office

(303) 587-6987 cell

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