Learning the Birds; Learning the Birds Promo

[Ruth] These are two reworked promos for Learning the Birds. Is the only bird watching you've done been down the barrel of a gun, or are you the kind of bird lover who'd never harm an innocent tweedy bird? Well this is Ruth, and I'm inviting you all to join us for Learning the Birds, where everyone's invited every Tuesday morning at 10:30 and Saturday afternoon at 12:45, here on listener supported High Plains Public Padio. Here on High Plains Public Radio. Can you tell a solitary sand piper from a mountain plover? How about a hooded merganser from a hill of beans? Don't worry, here at Learning the Birds we'll share with you a healthy curiosity about our bird world buddies. Join us every Tuesday morning at 10:30 and Saturday afternoon at 12:45, here on listener supported High Plains Public Radio.

Here on High Plains Public Radio. This is a rework of prairie falcons. Alas, the big bird perch is gone. This bare branch used to crown the tallest tree in the locust grove, but it came crashing down in a storm last fall, along with a great sad heap of rotten branches and broken trees. One bird often found on the big bird perch was a prairie falcon, and now that the perch is gone I hardly ever get to see a falcon perched so close to the house, lit up by a setting sun. I'll have to venture further out into this Texas panhandle prairie if I want another look at a prairie falcon. A slender raptor with narrow pointed wings- [Repeats line] A slender raptor with narrow pointed wings, found up and down the western edge of the high plains in winter. Prairie

falcons are year round residents further west, in wide open spaces, or creek bed canyons, or racing across the sky. One day, one hapless prairie falcon flew into my downstairs window. Perhaps the same bird that liked the big bird perch, but of course I couldn't say. I found it on the ground in a stupefied state, and before gathered its wits and flew off, I noticed those bright yellow legs and feet, the same yellow found around its eyes, and outlining a strong hooked pewter colored bill. A prairie falcon is medium sized, sixteen inches long with a forty inch wingspan, and a long tan tail. The overall color is a striking mix of tan and white, with an elegant shade of gray blended in. Feathers on the light colored breast are brown in the center and edged all around in white. Below each eye is a dark brown vertical stripe, set

alongside a white throat. In the air, a prairie falcon has a crisp clean outline. In bright light, it looks pale and tan. When the bird flies overhead it shows axillaries that are chocolate brown. In case you're like me and didn't know, the word axillaries is bird speak for what would otherwise be known as armpits. I suppose you could say wing pits too, but isn't it nice that we need not talk about pits at all but can use this delicate word axillaries instead? At any rate, the axillaries of the prairie falcon are dark brown unlike any other falcon, making this a bona fide identity clue. Prairie falcons eat birds. They eat other things too like small mammals and mice, but birds are definitely on the menu. Their favorite dish is duck, and many times the duck is as big

as the falcon. As a result, prairie falcons hunt ducks in a dramatic way. The falcon ascends far into the sky above a pond, so high as to almost disappear. Once a duck is in flight, and the moment is right, the falcon dives with incredible speed directly down upon the unfortunate designated duck. Most kills are achieved by sheer impact alone, the poor duck is knocked out of the sky. Assaults are timed to ensure that the duck tumbles on to land where the falcon can more easily manage. If necessary, the falcon finishes off its prey with a bite through the neck - that pewter beak has a special notch for the purpose. A duck pond when a falcon is near becomes a curious place. Ordinarily ducks are easily startled, but when a falcon is on patrol those ducks will cling to that pond for as long as they can, for the first one off the

water maybe the first one to die. Be grateful you're not a duck, or any prey of the prairie falcon, a bird whose skill and ferocity makes it an awesome predator deserving of our respect. My thanks to falconer Jimmy Walker and his bird Harley for teaching me all about prairie falcons.