March 28, 1991 - Birds Are Battling for Air SupremacyC8 The Suffolk Times • March 28, 1991
Birds Are Battling for Air Supremacy
By Paul Stoutenburgh
We have a windmill up back that we
can see from our picture window. Often
we eat our meals at a table in front of
the window and, of course, the windmill
catches our eye almost every day. (Oh,
yes, it's a working windmill and pumps
water any time I want it.) The windmill
has become a favorite resting perch for a
pair of red - tailed hawks, which made all
the effort in putting it up worthwhile.
Seeing I had such a structure I took
advantage of its height and placed two
king -sized bird boxes on its supports. I
made the holes three inches in diameter
in hopes of enticing a small screech owl
in one of them. Last year the only tak-
ers were — you guessed it: starlings.
These opportunists will take any box,
any size, anywhere. They have become
a real problem in overpopulation as
most of you know when these greedy
raiders invade your feeder, chasing
everything away.
If you think you have a problem ask
a grape grower who tries to protect his
grapes from their multitudes. Or, as a
matter of fact, most farmers will tell
you they also invade their crops in
waves of destruction. The starling is a
typical example of an introduced species
from Europe that has become overly
abundant because of ideal habitat and no
real predators to keep their numbers
down.
This year the story with relation to
my king -sized boxes is quite different.
As we ate lunch one day I noticed a bat-
tle going on up by the windmill. From
the distance I couldn't make out the
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Focus on
Mature
birds but one looked a bit larger than
the others. In no time I got the
binoculars and, to and behold, there
were two kestrels (little sparrow hawks)
chasing two or three starlings. Could it
be that they had eyes on my king -sized
boxes?
Kestrels Vs. Starlings
Eventually the battle disappeared and I
assumed the starlings were driven off
but then where did the kestrels go? Then
a day or so later we were watching one
of the red tails that had perched atop the
windmill when all of a sudden, out of
the sky, a small bird started diving and
bombarding it. Who would be that bold
to tackle this large -sized hawk? Again
the binoculars came into use and the at-
tacker was identified as the small
kestrel.
Evidently this was his territory. Time
and time again he would dive down on
the red tail and at each swoop over the
hawk's head would miss him by inches
as the hawk ducked just in the nick of
time. Finally enough was enough for
the hawk, and it left its perch,
swooping low over the field with the
kestrel in hot pursuit.
Yet all this time I'd never seen the
kestrel actually go near the bird boxes.
Then it happened. Again we were eating
and I noticed a bird atop the highest
box. It wasn't a starling for sure. As I
fumbled for my glasses I hoped it might
be our kestrel. Sure enough, there she
was walking atop the bird house. Then
she flew to the perch and promptly dis-
appeared inside. Whether she'll be satis-
fied with the accommodations and the
neighborhood no one can tell at this
time. Surely the rent is right.
Kestrels are cavity nesters and, if suit-
able cavities cannot be found, an open-
ing in a building will do. This is partic-
ularly true of outbuildings, barns, etc.
They are good little hawks to have
around, eating mostly insects with occa-
sional big dinners of field mice, voles,
and small birds now and then.
Eyes on the Birds
I say now and then because I'd like to
relate. something that just happened to-
day on our patio where we feed the
birds. At breakfast, Barbara and I sat
watching doves, house sparrows,
finches, etc., busy going over the seed
put out for them. Then suddenly some-
thing startled them and they all flew off
to the trees leaving one single bird be-
hind. What scared them I don't know.
Perhaps it was my kestrel or maybe the
cat coming around the corner of the
house or even the slamming of a car
door could have put them into flight.
What made this one bird stay is any-
one's guess. Could it be somewhere in
its gene makeup there was a flaw? Or
was the bird sick and couldn't muster
enough energy to fly? It stayed behind,
still for about two minutes and then
started eating again. It is this type of
bird that has lost the instinct to survive
that the sparrow hawk will take. Surely,
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a healthy bird, alert and full of energy,
will escape any threats made by the
kestrel.
Let's hope our kestrels will take one
of my king -sized boxes with the three -
inch hole. They'll be fun to watch and
observe. They, like all the myriad other
animals and plants that make up the
world we live in, are an important link
in the chain of life you and I are part of.
The thought we should ponder is what
happens when man interferes in this
chain of life.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
KESTREL —These little hawks
are most beneficial, eating a wide
variety of insects, voles and mice.
They nest in cavities and open-
ings in old buildings.
CREATIVE
ENVIRONMENTAL
David Cichanowicz
M6-765-e%V
Landscape Design • Planting • Construction
Division of Indian Neck Corp.
P.O. Box 180, Peconic, N.Y. 11958