Zone-tailed Hawk
the turkey vulture's bff
Photo by Erick Houli
Before either of us got interested in bird-watching, my husband had a funny habit of hollering, “Look! An eagle!” at every vulture he spotted in the sky. That is, it was funny the first time or two. After a while it got old, and I told him as much, so the habit tapered off. Not before our six-year old caught hold of it though, and he has dutifully carried the torch.
I wish my son was in the car with me as I drove home after another soul-numbing trip to Costco, when I was mindlessly eyeing a group of vultures coasting in circles, delineating the shape of thermals. I redirected my gaze back to the road, unimpressed, when suddenly a vulture tucked its wings and rocketed towards land, swooping back up just before it crashed into the tree canopy. Once the bird reached a satisfactory altitude again with the rest of the circling vultures, it folded it’s wings decisively and hurtled toward the earth again. A J-dive.
Before I unloaded the groceries, I furiously googled this phenomenon until I discovered this was not an usually frisky vulture- this was a Zone-tailed Hawk. They’re frequently mistaken for vultures due to their black plumage and the way they hold their wings outstretched, at a similar angle and rock gently side to side. One key difference, if you’re close enough to see it, is that these hawks have highly contrasted white bands towards the end of their tail- giving them the name, Zone-tailed. They fly with groups of vultures and even roost with them, leading many people to think they mimic the harmless birds so as not to alert prey of their presence. Hunting, they circle low and slow, until some smaller creature catches their eye - a reptile, amphibian, bird, mammal, even fish-and they dive bomb their dinner, grasping it in their talons.
Zone-tailed Hawk and Turkey Vulture. Photo by Moises Rodriguez
Zone-tailed Hawks spend most of the year in Central and South America, and travel northward to the American Southwest and Texas between April-Sep exclusively to breed. Breeding happens in the summer months, between May-July, with confirmed nesting sites in the tops of ponderosa pines in the Davis Mountains and in remote cliffs bordering the Rio Grande in the Chisos Mountain Range. In the Edwards Plateau , nesting sites have been decreasing over the years (with more recorded in 1974 than 2004), earning them the unfortunate title of threatened by the state of Texas (the only state thus far that has recorded them as threatened). Across the world though, these hawks are doing well- so much so that there have been novel sightings both in Nova Scotia and Virginia. These are thought not to be one-off sightings, but indicative that like many creatures, they are slowly shifting their territories northward, driven by climate change.
For millennia, Zone-tailed Hawks have mastered terrain as varied as the Jungles of Central America and the rugged deserts of the American Southwest, mimicking ubiquitous vultures and preying on any small-enough creature that moves. Although globally they are of low conservation concern, development in Central Texas is most certainly threatening their breeding habitat here. I, for one, hope my children will know the shock of seeing one of these birds hurtling towards the ground, wings tucked- reminding us that mystery is around every corner, and even circling with the vultures. This kind of unexpected mystery is, afterall, what keeps our eyes glued to the sky.
Sources: