Hawks Aloft, Inc.

The magnificent Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a powerful bird of prey. It’s famed for its hunting technique called a “stoop”, a high-speed dive that can reach speeds of over 200 mph, making it the fastest species in the animal kingdom! By the late 1960s this falcon had been virtually eradicated in eastern North America due to pesticide use. Only after extensive recovery efforts, including captive-breeding and reintroduction programs, were Peregrine falcon populations able to make their extraordinary comeback. Thank you Doug Brown Photography for this photo.

It was March 8 that the call came in. NMD of Game and Fish Officers Heppler & King found this Red-tailed Hawk alongside the road in San Acacia. Mary Bruesch drove to meet them, boxing up the Red-tail and driving it straight to Chellye Porter . Chellye was in a meeting so Mary just put the box in the back of Chellye's car. Imagine Chellye's surprise when she went to her car to find, NOT a Red-tailed Hawk, but a very large Ferruginous Hawk (a female!) that had escaped from the box and was proudly standing in the back of her SUV as if to say, "Now, how do I get out of here?". She was standing atop Chellye's glove and all of her rescue equip! So, catching her up again involved getting help from her son, Travis Porter. Even though she appeared strong and healthy, something must have been wrong that enabled humans to catch her. Stay tuned for the rest of her story! It's a wild one!

This Is Us! The Hawks Aloft Crew 2022! from L-R: Maggie Stein Trevor Fetz Evelyn McGarry Rebecca Vigil Joe Acord, Sue Harrelson, Daniel Abram. Not Shown: Gail Garber, the photographer of the day! We all are looking forward to meeting you!

One more lovely portrait to round out our Prairie Falcon series. While this bird’s plumage resembles that of the American Kestrel and, even more so, the Merlin, DNA analysis has shown that it’s more closely related to the Peregrine Falcon. As it happens, our next series—starting tomorrow—will feature the Peregrine! Thank you Doug Brown for the photo.

Here’s a juvenile Prairie Falcon, identifiable as a youngster by the white plumage that extends up and behind its eye, and also by its pale-blue cere (the waxy covering at the base of its upper mandible) and eye-ring. Not shown in this photo: its pale-blue feet! Thank you Tony Thomas for the photo.

In the summer of 2021, this male Burrowing Owl was found by the side of the road by Larry Rimer and Steve Youtsey when they were doing a raptor survey in the Estancia Valley. He had head trauma and his recovery took too long for a release before Burrowing Owls migrated south. He overwintered here in the company of our nonreleasable female Burrowing Owl. This week, he got his USGS aluminum band in preparation for his release back to the area he was found. Thank you to everyone who helping in his recovery!

You may need to zoom in on this photo to pick out the adult Prairie Falcon (hint: it’s near center top) and what appear be its nestlings in a nearby crevice. Like their Kestrel cousins, Prairie Falcons do not build nests; instead, they scrape out a shallow depression in a crevice or ledge on a cliff face. Thank you Larry Rimer for the photo.

And it Begins: The 2022 Hawks Aloft Raffle Quilt! Thank you Cynthia Figueroa McInteer for the design, and Liz RobertsPottery for the painting.

What Prairie Falcon parents-to-be must face when scouting out potential nesting sites in the Rio Grande Gorge. Check back tomorrow for evidence that it can, in fact, be done — or train your eagle-eye on this photo! Thank you Larry Rimer for the photo.

You might remember this female Cooper's Hawk that was rescued by Charles Cummings and ABQ Animal Welfare Office Rademaker back in January. Turns out, she was shot prior to being dinged by a vehicle. After two months in recovery this female should be back in the wild very soon after Matt Mitchell imps some feathers to replace her damaged ones. She got her USGS aluminum band this week too so we might be able to learn what happens to her if it is ever recovered. Thank you all for your help with this beautiful hawk:
Amelia Thompson, Christine Fiorello, Acequia Animal Hospital, Lisa Morgan, Maggie Stein. Rebecca Vigil , Evelyn McGarry, and all who helped in her care.

Good advice... 🦋

Credit: Beaver Valley Gold Honey 🐝

Prairie Falcons can be seen flying low over grasslands and desert scrub, hunting for rodents and songbirds—or they may hunt from a perch. Like their Peregrine cousins, they are also adept at the bulletlike high-speed dive known as a stoop. Thank you Doug Brown for the photo.

Please join us in welcoming Rebecca Vigil as our new educator/naturalist! Rebecca is a proud New Mexico native. When she was young, the Rio Grande Zoo’s (Now ABQ BioPark) outreach program came to her class and sparked her interest in Conservation! This led her to attend New Mexico Highlands University where she received a Bachelors of Science degree in Forestry. After graduating, She worked as a Forest Technician for the United States Forest Service where she learned the importance of our natural resources. After that she obtained a job with the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Here she was the first point of contact for visitors at the museum and assisted in curating the Kiwanis Learning garden classes. In recent years, She helped manage an urban farm where she addressed food scarcity issues and implemented regenerative agriculture. Her past experiences have allowed her to understand the importance of transforming our food systems to not only be sustainable, but to also promote biodiversity and help conserve our wildlife.

Coming back from a successful hunt! During the breeding season Prairie Falcons rely on rodent prey—primarily ground squirrels—but switch to avian prey in winter. The bird being carried away by this Prairie Falcon is not easily identifiable in the photo, but could very well be a Horned Lark, a species that likes to flock to Prairie Falcons’ winter habitats.
This Prairie Falcon exhibits the classic field marks for falcons: long slender wings, malar stripe under the eye, spotted or streaked underparts—and one more that’s unique to this species: dark wingpits, colloquially dubbed “hairy armpits”! Thank you Larry Rimer for the photo.

The falcon in this headshot could almost pass for an extremely well-fed Merlin! But the squarish head and broad shoulders belong to Falco mexicanus, the Prairie Falcon. Its scientific name is something of a misnomer: while Prairie Falcons can be found in northern Mexico, their primary breeding and wintering ranges cover the western half of the US, including New Mexico. Notice what ornithologist Pete Dunne calls its “owlishly large eyes”; as a desert predator, the Prairie Falcon will be hunting prey that’s most active at dawn and dusk. Thank you Doug Brown for the photo.

Merlins are generally solitary outside of the breeding season; they start migrating to their breeding grounds in late February. Merlins are serially monogamous, pairing up for a single season. From May through June you may see them engaging in aerial courtship. During this time, they become more vocal and use short calls to attract a mate. When nesting, Merlins will utilize abandoned nests found in trees and shrubs in riparian or deciduous forests, or in crevices on a cliff-face. Some will build a shallow nest on the ground or even on human-built structures. Thank you Doug Brown for this photograph.

It didn't need to happen! Our Raptor Rescue hotline (505-999-7740) go a call yesterday morning about an injured Bald Eagle in a remote canyon at Navajo Lake. The only possible rescue would be by water, a very challenging operation. We contacted Lori Paras of the Santa Fe Raptor Center located in El Rito, NM, far closer than our Albuquerque location. With the help of New Mexico Dept of Game and Fish, she was able to capture the critically ill eagle. She spent the entire day gathering up this eagle and was still not back to her facility until evening! The cause of the inury? Lead poisoning! This bird ingested lead, either from dining on fish with lead sinkers, or eating a mammalian gut pile. Still alive today, Lori began chelation therapy immediately. Say a prayer for this magnificent eagle.

Merlins are expeditious fliers and skillful hunters that rely on their speed and agility to capture their prey. These diurnal hunters are most readily observed when flying fast and low above the ground. They camouflage in a tree or large shrub, then rush out to surprise their prey. They are notorious for catching their prey in mid flight most of the time. Breeding pairs frequently hunt cooperatively, with one bird flushing the prey toward its mate.

This image displays an adult female Merlin eating a House Sparrow. Thank you John C. Longhenry for this photo!

Please join us in welcoming @Daniel Abrams to the Hawks Aloft team as associate administrator. We are thrilled!

This is a special picture of Hawks Aloft's very own avian-ambassador falcons, whom we are always happy to have assisting us in our education and outreach programs. You can easily see the similarities and differences between Merlins and American Kestrels of both sexes. From left to right: a female American Kestrel, male Merlin, female Merlin, and male American Kestrel. The Merlin is larger-headed and shorter-tailed than its relative the American Kestrel and, on average, considerably heavier.

If you are interested in learning more about our avian ambassadors check out https://www.hawksaloft.org/adopt-a-raptor/

These small, dashing falcons breed in forests and prairies throughout North America. They appear spirited and energetic as they patrol shorelines and open spaces for prey.
Merlins are predominantly dark-colored with a heavily-streaked chest, dark underwings, and white bands across their tail. Their coloration varies geographically and by gender.

There are three subspecies of Merlin: Prairie Merlin is found in the Great Plains, Taiga in the boreal forest, and Black in the Pacific Northwest. Their plumage ranges from the very pale Prairie Merlin to the very dark Black Merlin. Taiga overlaps with Prairie and Black at both ends of the spectrum. Pictured above is a Prairie Merlin, Thank you Alan Murphy for this photo.