ARCI has been studying Short-tailed Hawks, one of Florida’s
rarest raptors, since 1999. These stunning raptors are sometimes overlooked
because of their secretive behaviors. They hunt from high in the sky, often disguising themselves in a kettle
of vultures before diving down to surprise avian prey. They like to nest in forested strands often
associated with water; however, they have recently been nesting in more urban
settings, perhaps to take advantage of often-abundant small birds on which they
prey.
Why do we study Short-tailed Hawks? Well, the species has no state or federal
listing status and no monitoring program exists. In addition to their very
small population size (last estimated at 250 pairs in the United States, almost
all in Florida), several factors place Short-tailed Hawks at risk: a preference
for nesting in large tracts of mature forest, the accelerating loss of historic
nesting territories, concentrated winter distribution, specialized diet, and
unusually low nesting success.
Bird by bird and nest by nest, we are gathering that information
to answer these basic important questions and to help ensure that Short-tailed
Hawks will persist into Florida’s future. See our website for more information on ARCI’s Short-tailed Hawk research.
For the last two years, we have been collaborating with the
St. Petersburg Audubon Society as part of their “Raptors on the Move” program,
which is directed by Dr. Gabe Vargo.
In our first year, we tagged an adult
female Swallow-tailed Kite, Sawgrass, with a GPS/GSM transmitter (GPS locations
are sent to us via cell phone networks) and have been watching her migrate to
Bolivia and back over the last 18 months.
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| Dr. Gabe Vargo, director of St. Peterburg Audubon Society's "Raptors on the Move" program, holds Dark Arrow. Photo by JoAnna Clayton, 2017. |
In July 2016, knowing there was an active Short-tailed Hawk
nesting territory at Sawgrass Lake Park in Pinellas County, Florida, we began trying
to capture and tag an adult Short-tailed Hawk to add to "Raptors on the Move". After many trapping attempts with
various methods that spanned 10 months, we FINALLY succeeded when a beautiful dark-morph adult flew into our net on 23 May 2017. We’ve named this bird - most likely a male based
on its size - “Dark Arrow” because “Dark” is its color morph, and “Arrow” is
the name of the lake closest to the capture site in Sawgrass Lake Park.
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| Gina Kent of ARCI fits Dark Arrow with a GPS/GSM transmitter while Dr. Gabe Vargo safely holds the raptor. This transmitter uses the cellular network to send and receive data. Photo by JoAnna Clayton, 2017. |
Dark Arrow spent the rest of the summer at Sawgrass Lake
Park, where he and his dark-morph mate fledged a dark morph juvenile. Many of its foraging destinations lie about 4.5
miles east of the Weedon Island Preserve.
When the winds picked up with oncoming Hurricane Irma, Dark
Arrow returned to Sawgrass Lake Park to sit it out in a more densely forested
location away from the coast. This hawk’s
tracking data suggest he was restless through the stormy night, apparently
moving from one wind-tossed tree to another, possibly looking for stronger branches
on which to perch in the 70 mph wind gusts.
Dark Arrow is now back in his familiar nest-season
surroundings, between Weedon Island Preserve and Sawgrass Lake Park. We are curious
to see what he will do for the rest of the winter. Will he migrate to south
Florida as do many Short-tailed Hawks, or will he stay in Pinellas County? Short-tailed Hawks are seen throughout the
year at Sawgrass Lake Park, but most undergo a true migration within the state
of Florida for the winter months. Because there is a plethora of urban birds to
feed on year-round in the county and nesting conditions there appear
to be ideal, he may stay put to maintain ownership of his territory. Only time will tell. We will share the
tracking data with you as it accumulates.
