Rough-legged Hawk Movement Update 7.21.22
Another unfortunate update on birds from our winter season. Two more rough legs, Champ and Lemons, were found dead in Quebec within the last few weeks. Again, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, is the likely suspect. That leaves Farr Cross, the only male bird with a backpack unit. He was the only bird to be outfitted…
American Kestrel Research Updates From the Field – 2022 Season Wrap Up
Our kestrel monitoring season is winding down and we are just waiting on a few boxes to fledge at this point.
Rough-legged Hawk Movement Update 6.16.22
A Rough-legged Hawk in Vermont in June?! Apparently!
Broad-winged Hawk Research
Broad-winged Hawks are small stocky hawks of the buteo genus commonly found throughout Northeastern and North central North America. Their backs are brown and they have chestnut barring on the chest and abdomen. They have a notable black and white striped tail visible during flight. They produce a high pitched whistle call which is an easy identifier, as they are more secretive during nesting season. Though they can be spotted in the thousands during migration. These huge flocks are called kettles.
Rough-legged Hawk Movement Update 4.18.22
Spring may finally be upon us, despite forecasts calling for snow in the coming week, and our Rough-legged Hawks are back in Canada continuing to move north for breeding in the arctic.
VINS & Landmark College Collaboration Reflection
Landmark students set out to uncover the mystery of how many sex chromosomes individual birds contain in their cells and ultimately, run gel electrophoresis to determine the sex of some of VINS Raptor Ambassadors.
Rough-legged Hawk Spring 2022 Movement Updates
Spring migration is just beginning across the state and birds are on the move!
Winter Raptor Research Updates From the Field – Season 2 Wrap Up
As fast as winter began, our winter raptor surveys have finished! We had a great few months looking for birds of prey in Addison County, with lots of snow cover and consistent cold temperatures.
Winter Raptor Research Updates From the Field – Season 2 Week 1
The week started off icy, with an Arctic north wind blowing drifts into the remaining snow cover. The frigid weather was fitting for our “target” species. These birds are in the same family as Red-tails, Red-shoulders and Broad-winged Hawks, however their breeding grounds are restricted to the arctic tundra throughout the world, and they are well-adapted for extreme cold. In North America, they breed in Northern Canada and Alaska, and migrate south into the “lower 48” states for the winter.
Hanover High School Kestrel Boxes
Students in the woodworking class at Hanover High School recently completed construction of several American Kestrel boxes, which they then donated to the VINS kestrel monitoring project. Using a completed box as a model, the students were able to draw up plans to build their own boxes using materials that were already available in their…
