Nesting habitat of the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) in North America has been associated with the amount of mature, closed-canopy forest in the nesting area; however, few studies have experimentally tested the effects of timber harvest on goshawk reproduction. We tested the effects of clear-cutting within goshawk nesting areas on reoccupancy and nesting success for two years following treatments. We also included habitat and weather variables as potential covariates in our models. We found no treatment effects on goshawk reoccupancy, nesting success, or number of fledglings between harvested and unharvested nesting areas. Our models suggested goshawk breeding area reoccupancy was a function of the amount of potential nesting habitat available in the 170-ha area surrounding the nest; goshawks reoccupied breeding areas if they contained >39% potential nesting habitat following harvest. Nesting success was correlated with mean April precipitation and January daily temperatures. Our results suggested that, in the short term, goshawks were more likely to attempt nesting after disturbance if >39% of the 170-ha area around their nest was left in potential nesting habitat; however, our models suggested that once goshawks attempt nesting, nesting success was more likely to be a function of winter and spring weather.

For this study, I compared sequentially molted feathers for a few captive raptors from year to year and symmetrically matched feathers (left/right pairs) for many raptors to see if color patterns of sequential feather pairs were identical or if symmetrical pairs were mirror-image identical. Feather pairs were found to be identical only when without color pattern (e.g., the all-white rectrices of Bald Eagles [Haliaeetus leucocephalus]). Complex patterns were not closely matched, but some simple patterns were sometimes closely matched, although not identical. Previous claims that complex color patterns in feather pairs are fingerprint-identical (and therefore that molted feathers from wild raptors can be used to identify breeding adults from year to year with certainty) were found to be untrue: each feather is unique. Although it is unwise to be certain of bird of origin using normal feathers, abnormal feathers can often be so used.

Chesapeake Bay, in the northeastern United States, is believed to support the largest concentration of breeding Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) in the world. Following the banning of DDT, this population exhibited significant spatial variation in growth rates, with the fastest and slowest rates occurring in the lowest and highest salinity areas, respectively. Because salinity can influence fish distributions, we quantitatively analyzed Osprey diet composition along the gradient in the Chesapeake Bay to determine if variation in foraging ecology contributed to this pattern of population recovery. We recorded >1800 hr of food-provisioning behavior for 25 pairs within nine study areas that were classified as either upper estuarine (<5 parts per thousand [ppt] salinity) or lower estuarine (>18 ppt). Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) and seatrouts (Cynoscion spp.) were dominant dietary components for pairs within lower-estuarine reaches, whereas gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) and catfish (Ictaluridae) dominated upper-estuarine diets. Lower-estuarine prey fish averaged 6% shorter (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test: D  =  0.203, P  =  0.004), 34% lighter (D  =  0.305, P < 0.001), and 40% lower in energy content (D  =  0.247, P < 0.001) than their upper-estuarine counterparts. We conclude that diet quality may be contributing to spatial variation in the growth rate of the Chesapeake Bay Osprey population.

Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) captured in the spring at Padre Island, Texas, nest across the arctic and subarctic from Alaska to Greenland and winter throughout Latin America. Padre Island, located immediately north of the Mexican border, is the peregrines' first landfall in the U.S.A. after spending about 6 mo in Latin America. Blood plasma was collected from spring migrants at Padre Island between 1978 and 2004 to monitor trends in organochlorine (OC) pesticides and their metabolites. Geometric mean concentrations of p,p′-DDE (µg/g, ww) decreased throughout the study: 1978–1979 (0.879), 1980 (0.617), 1984 (0.551), 1994 (0.406) and 2004 (0.013). Most other OC pesticides, with detection limits used during the earlier portion of this study, were no longer detected during the last two sampling periods. The reduced concentrations of OC pesticides suggest that other pesticides (including carbamates, organophosphates and pyrethroids) are likely being used as replacements. These replacement compounds are not as persistent and cannot be readily evaluated at migration sites like Padre Island. However, concentrations of flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers; PBDEs) have recently increased in bird eggs in many regions and have been reported in blood plasma. Concentrations of PBDEs in peregrine plasma could be evaluated at Padre Island for assessment of trends in the Americas.

The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is considered a globally endangered avian scavenger. In the 1980s, Bardenas Reales Natural Park in northern Spain held the densest populations in Europe. There, the population of the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), the main prey of this vulture, decreased dramatically after the arrival of the rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) in 1989, and did not recover. We monitored the population of Egyptian Vultures in Bardenas Reales from 1989–2007. During the study period, the number of breeding territories decreased from 56 to 26 (−54%). In contrast, the percentage of occupying pairs that laid eggs, the number of fledglings per pair, and the number of fledglings per successful nest remained stable, suggesting that the population decline was not attributable to reduced productivity. However, we found 34 dead birds, most of them poisoned, particularly in the second half of the study period (in 1996–1997 and 2004–2007), suggesting that high mortality rates could be contributing to the decline of this species. The fact that poisoning events mainly occurred outside the park suggested that the reduction in numbers of wild rabbits in Bardenas Reales Natural Park forced Egyptian Vultures to move into areas with greater human populations and higher mortality risks. We recommend implementing management measures and environmental education programs to prevent the illegal use of poisoned baits in the area surrounding the park.

We compared the breeding biology of sympatric nesting Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), White-tailed Hawks (Buteo albicaudatus), and Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) in south Texas during 2003 and 2004. We monitored 46 breeding attempts by Red-tailed Hawks, 56 by White-tailed Hawks, and 27 by Crested Caracaras. Observed nesting success was similar for Red-tailed Hawks (62%) and Crested Caracaras (61%), but lower for White-tailed Hawks (51%). Daily survival rates (0.99) were the same for all three species. Red-tailed Hawks and White-tailed Hawks both fledged 1.13 young per nesting pair and Crested Caracaras fledged 1.39 young per nesting pair. All three species nested earlier in 2004 than in 2003; in addition, the overall nesting density of these three species almost doubled from 2003 (1.45 pairs/km²) to 2004 (2.71 pairs/km²). Estimated productivity of all three species was within the ranges reported from other studies. Given extensive and progressive habitat alteration in some areas of south Texas, and the limited distributions of White-tailed Hawks and Crested Caracaras, the presence of large ranches managed for free-range cattle production and hunting leases likely provides important habitat and may be key areas for conservation of these two species.