Hey TN-Biders: I have been trapping and banding Red-tailed Hawks from the wild for the better part of 20 years. We set out a roadside noose cage that tangles the Red-tail's feet when they try to capture a European Starling which is inside the noose cage. Once caught, the cage is too heavy for the Red-tailed Hawk to lift off the ground but they can drag it a short distance. Our trap weights about 1.5 pounds. Red-tailed Hawks get up to about 3.5 pounds in body weight and can't lift a trap as heavy as half their body weight. I've never even seen a Red-tail get our trap off the ground a few inches in the air. The largest Eastern Gray Squirrels usually run about 1.5 pounds in the wild. An Eastern Cottontail rabbit will usually not weight more than 4 pounds. A Red-tailed Hawk has no ability at all to lift and carry a full grown rabbit. It's talons are too small to even handle such a large mammal. I want to wink and raise an eyebrow when someone tells me that their 10 pound house cat has been carried away by a Red-tailed Hawk. Great Horned Owls are a slightly different story. This big owl has much larger talons and toes than a Red-tailed Hawk. It has great power when compared to a Red-tailed Hawk. A Great Horned Owl body weight is about 4 pounds, if it is one of the very largest ones. Great Horned Owls are famous for having the scent of the Striped Skunk in the feathers when brought into captivity. Charlie Muise made a nice point in explaining that. The skunk will weigh about 3 pounds or a little more if it is full grown. I have seen dead rabbits in the nest of a Great Horned Owl as food for young owlets but never the full animal. It is usually the hind part. I don't know if a very large female Great Horned Owl can carry a 4 pound rabbit up to its nest. The owl herself will not weight any more than 4 pounds. We have watched a Red-tailed Hawk trying to carry an Eastern Gray Squirrel one day and it had a tremendous struggle trying to get it off the ground and up to the branch of a small dogwood. It tried four or five times and ended up dropping it twice before it could get the squirrel up to a limb about 6 feet above the ground. I have seen Red-tailed Hawks carrying smaller Eastern Gray Squirrels high in the air. And I have seen Great Horned Owls hunting Gray Squirrels at night by a full moon. The tree had several squirrels running on the branches in the moonlight after midnight and the owl was in among them giving chase. A 10-pound house cat killed and/or carried off by a Red-tailed Hawk ;-) I don't think so. Let's go birding.... Wallace Coffey Bristol, TN ----- Original Message ----- From: "Raincrow" <raincrow@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: "TNbird" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 12:41 AM Subject: [TN-Bird] [Fwd: Aephids, yum: clothespins, ho-hum: owl/possum!] > Hi Dee > An old acquaintence, an old-timey sawyer, watched a red-tailed hawk take > one of his full-grown and very "battle-seasoned" tomcats, a 10 pounder > at least. If a red-tail can take a fully grown adult tom, I imagine (but > don't know for sure) that a Great horned can take whatever size of cat > it pleases, and the anecdotes I have heard about GH owls and cats > through the years support my supposition, but they are indeed just > anecdotes. > > Liz Singley > Kingston, TN > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [TN-Bird] Aephids, yum: clothespins, ho-hum: owl/possum! > Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 18:01:26 EDT > From: Dthomp2669@xxxxxxx > Reply-To: Dthomp2669@xxxxxxx > To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > Greetings from the Charlotte Park area of West Nashville just east of > the old > Cleece's Ferry which was on the Cumberland River. > About an hour ago, a migrating Cape May warbler appeared at the tender > end of > a grape vine which was wrapped around a perchable wire. Our little bird > proceeded to devour the yummy aphids which were sucking the juices out > of the > forming grape leaves. It was a male bird that perched in the brilliant > light at > just the proper angle for me to see its rufous around the eye and the > yellow on > its neck. > > For a couple of days, I have noticed my hummingbirds "checking out" some > RED > clothespins which I have clipped to some clothes hangers outside the > French > doors to the deck. (I use them for hanging freshly washed "zip-loc" > baggies > which I reuse) I think the hummers wonder if these clothespins are a > new kind of > feeder. They perch on the hanger, quickly investigate the RED pins > only, > they fly over to join the crowd at the hummingbird feeder with its RED > base. > It's beginning to look like Atlanta International with all the little > jet-hummers > zipping around or waiting in line for their turns at the "three-holer" > feeder. > > Regarding that owl that Charlie said may have been REALLY looking at > that > possum, I can tell you that if that owl was eyeing the possum, he was > looking at > about 7 to 8 pounds of BIG possum! I know the great horned is BIG, but > I > rather doubt that he could carry that much weight. I also doubt that it > planned > to eat the possum on my deck, but, who knows? Maybe that was its plan. > A > great horned did drop about a 3 pound rabbit in front of my car out in > Cockrill > Bend one night although I think my car lights may have blinded him > rather that > the weight of a wriggley rabbit causing it too lose its grasp. > > I DID finally have a lone baby cardinal come to dine day before > yesterday. > It was good to see a little "black beak" for a change! > > Cheers & prayers, > > Dee > > > =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== > > The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with > first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. > ----------------------------------------------------- > ---------------------------------------------------- > To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: > tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > ----------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, send email to: > tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society > Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) > endorse the views or opinions expressed > by the members of this discussion group. > > Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN > wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society > web site at http://www.tnbirds.org > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > ======================================================== > =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== > > The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with > first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. > ----------------------------------------------------- > ---------------------------------------------------- > To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: > tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > ----------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, send email to: > tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society > Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) > endorse the views or opinions expressed > by the members of this discussion group. > > Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN > wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society > web site at http://www.tnbirds.org > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > ======================================================== > > > =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================