community.kjrh.com

This information may also help better understand the molt:

http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1657&mforum=raptors#1657

http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1704&mforum=raptors#1704

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If you continue to think the way you've always thought then you will continue to get what you've always got, is that enough?

Some more information on the egg that may help build a foundation for that aspect of the breeding season:

http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1673&mforum=raptors#1673

This information will help you understand the hatchling, nestling, eyas, chick, fledgling:

http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1675&mforum=raptors#1675

This later information is one of the reasons I disagree with some parts of the wikipedia information linked to on the KJRH Hawk's Nest page. Hawks are not altrical but are semi-altrical.

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If you continue to think the way you've always thought then you will continue to get what you've always got, is that enough?

Thanks for your warning about Wikipedia, Raptorman.  Everyone should approach that source with a healthy sense of skepticism about what one reads there.  I speak as one who worked for 40 years for a real encyclopedia that paid experts to write its articles.  Wikipedia is not that kind of encyclopedia.

Late Wednesday night, Hawkeye commented in the Observation thread:

Adult Female standing asleep with head tucked under wing.  She is swaying with the wind.  I can hardly believe they can rest this way.

Keep in mind that a nest is not really 'home' for the hawks.  It is simply a temporary place for the hawks to lay their eggs and raise their hawklets until they fledge.  After that, the adults and juveniles will be sleeping elsewhere--most likely perched in trees, which is probably where Jay spends his nights now.

Earlier today, the hawklet was almost blown out of the nest.  On April 16, a parent feeding the chicks was blown into the nest and had a tough time getting out.  Do you think the hawklet will attempt to fledge during high winds or will he wait?  Can he fledge when the wind is so fierce?

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Please help preserve wildlife and wildlife territories

This does not answer Birdrescue's question.  A source I find invaluable as an amatuer, amatuer bird watcher is Birds of Oklahoma, Field Guide by Stan Tekiela, published by Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minnesota.  It has pictures and is indexed by color of the bird.  The only birds in the book  are those that dwell in Oklahoma which makes it so much easier for us of little experience and knowledge. It is small and fits in your pocket.

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'Security—does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.' Helen Keller

I have only seen songbirds fledge. I don't think it matters about the weather. They just go. Some go too soon and wind up on the ground. Others just flap their way to another branch in a tree or bush. I have tried putting fledgling back in the nest, but they just hop, or fall, right out again. The parent take care of them on the ground until they can get into a bush or fly to a safe height. The biggest problem at this time is other predators....cats, dogs, other birds, snakes....CARS! So it will be interesting when this one fledges, since there are no trees adjacent to the tower, that I have seen.

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The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown

Today, May 7th, I have not seen the mom and it is after noon.  Is this normal for the mom to be gone for so long?

AnimalFriend,

I can't answer your question, but on a different website it was reported that the female was perched on the rail, sleeping, at 5 AM today.

Tough love, tough love!

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'Security—does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.' Helen Keller

10:15 - This is not a question but the answer to the is it male or female.  I was following this nest on another website and this morning it was posted that the thought was thatThunder is male not female.  In my opinion the name fits both, maybe even more so male.

 :0 Paradigm shift, paradigm shift!  I am happy with either male or female.

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'Security—does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.' Helen Keller

I wasn't aware you could sex nestlings, of some species. I do know that when they are adults, you can tell by their size. The females are much larger. And, the juvenile belly band is not as pronounced. Also, the coloring on the juveniles tail is different.

http://hawkwatch.org/rw_issue.php?id=57

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The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown

Moving this thread to the top for posting.

Bobdmac wrote:

Are hawk feathers a little water-resistant? I know barn owls have no oil on their feathers (evidently to help them fly silently) and get soaked in the rain to the point that they can't fly.

Definition of "preen" from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

transitive verb
1 of a bird : to groom with the bill especially by rearranging the barbs and barbules of the feathers and by distributing oil from the uropygial gland

Hawks have this gland, and at least one of the reasons they preen is to "waterproof" themselves.