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WESTERN GOSHAWK

Other common names: Blue Darter; Blue Hen-hawk.

Museum Specimen - Yakima Park (6400).

The goshawk is a bird of the mountains and shuns civilization unless driven to it in winter. And so our park has its share of these birds. In the spring, during the nesting season, the birds are secretive and remain pretty well in the dense forests unless one approaches too near the nest when they become very bold and will, at times, attack. In the fall we see more of them, especially young birds. Life is a continuous hunt then and their hunger never seems to be satisfied. They feed almost entirely on birds, so our grouse and ptarmigan suffer. Robins are another favorite tid-bit.

In flight, the goshawk resembles an air-plane - gliding, darting and twisting. With small, short wings and long, rudder-like tail, it quickly pounces on its victim before it has a chance of flight and escape. Not always are they successful, as the writer witnessed at Yakima Park. In September the Clark's nutcrackers are busy feeding on seeds of the white-barked pine, which they loosen from the cones. A tree may have several birds. Frequently the goshawk will fairly explode into their midst hoping to drive out the crows. But they are not so foolish and move into the center of the tree where they are protected by a regular net-work of tough twigs and branches. So the defeated tyrant departs, taking a scolding from all hands.

Owing to their long tails, the goshawk measures up with our largest hawks; he is deep-chested and strong. The adult birds are slaty-blue on the back, underparts light-gray, heavily penciled with blackish lines. There is a white line over the eye and four dark bands on the tail, more distinct on immature birds. The immature birds do not resemble the adults in coloring - they are brown above, whitish with heavy, dark-brown stripings below.

Nests are placed in the high coniferous trees and three to five dirty-white colored eggs, sometimes marked with faint brown, are laid. The nest itself is a basket of twigs lined with grass and bark.

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SHARP-SHINNED HAWK

Other common names: Bird Hawk.

Museum Specimen - Yakima Park (6400).

The sharp-shinned hawk is the smallest of the Accipiters. He is a killer of small birds and lives on them almost entirely. Fortunately for us in Washington, he is more or less of a migrant. We have only one actual breeding record for the state. In the park it may be considered rather common in the autumn, and many pass through in spring migration to more northern forests.

If one should visit Yakima Park in September he should recognize this hawk darting through the alpine trees or slowly soaring above the tree-tops in small circles, showing the identifying stripes under the wing. His smaller size and square-tipped tail separate him from the Cooper's hawk. The young birds show stripes below, and dark brown above, the adults show more rusty-red on the breast. Both have long, yellow legs with exceedingly sharp, needle-like claws. Woe to the feathered victim that crosses before him! He is over it in a second, reaching down one long leg; the claws pierce and it is all over in an instant. With smaller birds such as the goldfinch or siskin the attack is often made from below. As the hawk glides under the victim he deftly turns on his back and that long leg reaches up - it is done so easily, without effort.

They say there is some good in everything, and to the oologist the finding of the nest of this bird is a day of days. Four to six eggs are laid, very beautifully marked with colors of rich brown on the grayish-white background. No two eggs are alike in marking. Nesting begins in May and the site is usually in some swampy cedar grove. They are close sitters and one often has to climb the tree to flush the bird.

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COOPER'S HAWK

Other common names: Chicken Hawk; Blue Darter.

Museum Specimen - Longmire (2700).

This hawk is found in and about the park throughout the year. In late summer and fall it is often seen soaring above the tree-tops and over rock slides near timber. In spring they keep more to the dense woods where a nestful of young requires the attention of both birds. It does not seem to mix with the army of migrating hawks that visit the Yakima Park region in September, probably because it is not a migrant with us.

Its food consists chiefly of birds of all kinds from grouse to goldfinches. Cooper's hawks choose a certain wood for a nesting site and return often to the same nest each year. During the incubating period the old birds fly far for food, leaving the immediate section alone. But when the young arrive they seek the birds of the surrounding woods, and before the slow-growing young leave the nest that bit of woods has been pretty well emptied of bird-life. They take everything in and out of nests - even the sheltered basket of the kinglet does not always escape them. So we can put the Cooper's hawk down as our worst predatory enemy of local bird life.

Adult Cooper's hawks resemble the sharp-shinned hawk but are larger and have a more rounded tail. The immature birds are like the immature sharp-shin - brown above and white below, striped with broad, brown lines. Fresh eggs are laid about May 1 - four or five of a dull, greenish-white with faint, light-brown spots.

These hawks cannot be considered common in the park even in summer, and colder weather will drive them to lower altitudes. They have been recorded at Owyhigh Lakes (Taylor and Shaw) and at Paradise, Reflection Lake, Nickel Creek and the Colonnades.

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WESTERN RED-TAILED HAWK

Other common names: Chicken Hawk; Hen Hawk.

Museum Specimen - Yakima Park (6400).

The Red-tail is the commonest hawk in the park and has been recorded in all sections below the snow-fields. Though no records of actual nesting have been made, the mated pairs in spring and later on the abundance of immature birds prove beyond doubt that they are common breeders in the park.

But to see them at their best one should visit the open hillsides of Yakima Park in early September. Here the migrating birds as well as the local birds abound, attracted chiefly by the ground squirrels. On bright sunny days they sail lazily in circles over the alpine fields. The dark breast and red tail feathers of adult birds are plainly distinguished from the immature with a light, barred tail and with whitish underparts striped with dark brown lines. Their broad wings and large size separate them from other hawks except the Swainson's and Roughleg varieties. The Reflection Lake country is also a favorite section, and on a cool autumn morning these birds are seen sunning themselves on some high, dead snag.

This hawk is very beneficial as every record shows, but their love for the open spaces and their unsuspecting nature gives all too often a ready target to the man with a gun. One is surprised that there are any hawks left! If some of these unthinking killers could only visit the park during migrations and see the aerial circus put on by the remnant of the hawk families, they might stop this insane butchery of so-called "predatory foes". Small rodents, frog's and snakes form their principal items of food, and, they are Nature's strongest agent in keeping rodents in check and in balanced numbers.

Red-tails nest early - in April - and return to the old nest, adding a few budded twigs and leaves for a new lining - perhaps to freshen things up? Two to four eggs are laid - bluish-white with a stained cast of light brown markings.

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SWAINSON'S HAWK

Museum Specimen - Yakima Park (6400).

In habits and action the Swainson's hawk is like the red-tail, only smaller and, of course, lacking the red-tail. The underparts of most birds show different phases of melanism from reddish to black and the throat from white to one streaked with fine, blackish lines. Their true habitat is the hot, dry sagebrush plains of eastern Washington. However, a few seem to spend the summer in the north side of the park on the alpine fields above timber. A record of one bird was made at the Winthrop Glacier on July 24, 1935 (Kitchin) and of four birds at Grand Park (Taylor and Shaw) on August 22, 1919.

In late August and early September these hawks are fairly common, slowly migrating southward through the Yakima Park country. Here the resemblance to the red-tail is noticed as both birds are often observed sailing in circles over the gopher-infested meadows.

In the fall of 1937 Swainson's hawks were often seen during the first week in September, the last records being made on September 11th. After that date none were observed and the red-tails also were reduced in numbers. No weather change occurred at the time - simply a continued migratory movement.

In the eastern part of the State where the Swainson's hawks were once a common breeder, the cottonwoods and willows were used as nesting sites. Old crow and magpie nests were taken over and shaped to suit. They invariably line the nest with fresh, green leaves of the cottonwood. Two or three eggs are laid about May 15 - grayish-white marked with delicate blotches of rufous.

On May 18, 1928, the writer sighted a nest of the Swainson's hawk in a willow tree on the shore of Moses Lake. It was an easy climb and the bird flushed when the accent began. No eggs had as yet been laid, but the interior of the nest seemed actually glazed with the shiny, green leaves of the cottonwood, firmly pressed in shape by the body of the bird.

Swainson's hawks are very beneficial, living on the rodents and small reptiles of the sagebrush country. They are gentle birds and unafraid so that ruthless slaughter may soon add this species to the list of missing birds.

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Descriptions continued...