Birds of Prey come to Cape

Keep an eye out for red tailed hawks like this one perched along our roadways, or get an even closer look this weekend when live birds of prey will be at the Cape Girardeau Nature Center with special guest Rusty Scarborough. Call the Nature Center at (573)290-5218 for more information or to register for the event.

This week is all about birds of prey for me. Have you noticed how many red tailed hawks are out along the roadways? Especially if you take a portion of I-55 to work in the mornings, or are fortunate enough to commute on one of our more rural highways, you're likely to see the hawks perched on fence posts, where they can keep a watchful eye out for their morning meal.

But this week is extra special because live birds of prey will also be at the Cape Girardeau Nature Center this Friday and Saturday with special guest Rusty Scarborough. Rusty has over 20 years of experience in his field and will bring the live raptors from Delta Rivers Nature Center in Arkansas. He'll teach us about raptor behavior and on Saturday, from 8 a.m. to noon, Rusty will show how birds of prey are used for hunting.

A great way to gear up for the weekend event is to get to know the hawk we're seeing so prominently this month and consider what it's prominence means about the health of our southeast Missouri habitat as a whole.

The red-tailed hawk is a powerful and husky representative of the raptors with a wingspan known to reach almost 60 inches wide. Its loud, defiant scream and frequent soaring are familiar to Missourians and its aggressiveness and adaptability have made it the most numerous and successful bird of prey in North America. Identifying the red-tailed hawk is easy, even from a busy highway, because the highly-visible rusty-red tail feathers can't be confused with any other species in Missouri.

In our state, red-tails prefer mixed forest and farmlands, but they successfully live in any habitat with relatively sturdy, tall trees for nesting, red cedars or pines for roosting and readily available prey populations.

Red-tails dominate all other Missouri hawks both in winter and during nesting. They often steal prey from northern harriers or displace northern rough-legged hawks from hunting perches. During nesting, red-tails often pre-empt nest sites from red-shouldered and broad-winged hawks while occasionally adding these and smaller hawks and owls to their menu.

Red-tailed hawks take a greater variety of prey than any other resident Missouri raptor. They play a large role in maintaining rodent populations because whatever animal is most abundant and most easily caught is their top choice for dinner. Not a picky eater, the red-tailed hawk eats small mammals and rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates like crayfish, grasshoppers, and worms.

According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, a healthy population of birds of prey, like red-tailed hawks is a good indicator of ecological diversity and environmental health. Abundance and variety of these birds in a given area demonstrates the presence of a healthy assortment of plants and animals on which they depend for survival.

For more information on these or other birds of prey in Missouri, go online to Missouri Conservation.org, or come to the Birds of Prey event this weekend at the Cape Girardeau Nature Center and get a live look at some raptors in action. But don't forget to reserve a seat by calling 573-290-5218.