In winter and spring, looking skyward, you might notice a
soaring raptor riding the updrafts along the hills that mark the
boundaries of our valley.
In winter and spring, looking skyward, you might notice a soaring raptor riding the updrafts along the hills that mark the boundaries of our valley. After effortlessly gaining new height, this bird of prey will tip one wing, slide off of the updraft and drift across the valley, watching with precise vision for an unsuspecting mouse or maybe a vulnerable snake.
But what the heck is that bird? Is it a hawk, an eagle or a vulture? Could it be some kind of falcon? Do we have falcons around here? Maybe it’s a kite. What the heck is a kite?
Most field guides have beautiful paintings of birds quietly perched on a limb, but that is rarely how we see a hawk or some other bird of prey. They are usually soaring high overhead where no colors are apparent, only shades of gray. Here are a few simple clues that can help the casual observer distinguish among some of our local soaring residents.
The majority of soaring birds you will see in this valley will either be a turkey vulture or a red-tailed hawk. he best way to tell them apart is in the manner of their flight, not by their markings. The spread wings of the turkey vulture has a deep dihedral or V-shape that distinguishes it from the red-tailed hawk whose wings are more straight across when soaring. The turkey vulture also rocks unsteadily back and forth like a tightrope walker struggling for balance while hawks soar steadily on the wind.
A common resident that is frequently perched on telephone wires is the American kestrel, the smallest and most common falcon. Falcons are the ”Top Gun” pilots among raptors, possessing unmatched speed and maneuverability (peregrine falcons approach 200 mph in a dive). In your ramblings along our country roads, look for American kestrels in a stationary wing-flapping hover in an open field. He has got his eye on meal and might drop in for the kill.
For years, while driving along U.S. 101 from Morgan Hill to San Jose, I have regularly seen a black-shouldered kite hunting near the freeway. Look for him there. He hovers like the American kestrel, wings madly flapping but his position is fixed. He stops flapping, drops 30 feet straight down (called kiting) and begins flapping again, fixed in a new location. A couple of Sundays ago, I was playing golf at Coyote Creek and watched this kite drop several times until he finally slammed to the ground and then flew off with an unfortunate critter locked in his talons.
A while back, I was excited to hear of an osprey residing along Coyote Creek. Years ago, I first saw an osprey flying down the Clearwater River in Idaho with a trout in his talons. I have since seen them at Lake Tahoe and elsewhere in the Rockies, but it seemed too exotic to hear of this wild mountain bird living by the freeway in San Jose. But I kept searching the Cottonwoods and Sycamores along Coyote Creek. Then one evening on Monterey Road just south of Metcalf Road, he was there perched atop one of the Cottonwoods. They always look to me like some avian punk rocker, dark brown body with an unkempt white hairdo sticking wildly up.
