Avian Encounters

Internship 2016Shawn Waxali

Past, Present, Future

• Interests:• Animals, People, Education• Zoos, Museums, Camping

• Background:• DeBakey HSHP• UH/TSU- Biology• Houston Zoo- Birds

• Career Goals:• Wildlife Biologist• Conservation

Internship Experiences• Birds Department• Kitchen & Incubation• Bird Gardens• Pheasant Run• Duck Lake & Flamingos • Off Exhibit Facility (OEF)• Attwater’s Prairie Chicken & NASA

Highlights!!!

• Habitat Construction• Animal Nutrition • Veterinary Care• Behavioral Analysis• Reproduction and • Egg Incubation and

Chick Brooding • Animal Training and

Enrichment

Thanks Birds Team!

Birds of Texas • My Backyard: 20+ species• Herman Park: 150+ species• The Houston Zoo: 250+ species• Houston Metropolitan Area: 250+ species• The Lone Star State• Over 620 species documented• No other state in the United States has more bird species• Nearly 75% of all United States bird species recorded in Texas

Notable Species:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD8nHfLYmPE

Cooper’s Hawk - Friend or Foe?

Overview• Medium-sized native

Accipiter• Nicknames: big blue

darter, chicken hawk, flying cross, hen hawk, quail hawk, Mexican hawk striker, and swift hawk.

Accipiter cooperii

Physical Characteristics• Mass: 220 to 440 g• Length: 35 to 50 cm• Wingspan: 62 to 94 cm• Color Primary: Gray, Rufous or

Rust• Underparts: White with orange

barring.• Upperparts: Blue-gray• Back Pattern: Solid• Belly Pattern: Barred or banded• Breast Pattern: Barred or banded• Enlarged Tarsus bones• Sexual Dimorphism & Regional

Variations

Cooper’s or Sharpie?

Although the coloration is generally somewhat similar between Sharp-shinned hawks and Cooper's hawks, Cooper's appear broader-chested and larger-

headed, with generally more robust features. The crow-like size of Cooper's hawks is sometimes distinctive from the sharp-shinned.

Behavior – Hunting

• Rely on cover and perching to deliver swift, stealthy attack

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology Study• Examined 300 Cooper's hawk

skeletons and 23% revealed healed fractures in the bones of the chest, especially the furcula

• Prey mainly on small-mid sized birds, including American Kestrel

• Also prey upon insects, rodents, small reptiles and some mammals

Typical prey species include American robins, other thrushes, jays, woodpeckers, European starlings, quail, icterids, cuckoos, pigeons and doves.

Behavior – Breeding Breeding Location: Forest edge

Breeding Type: Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population: around 700,000 individuals

Egg Color: Pale blue or white

Clutch Size: 4 - 5

Incubation Days: 32 - 36

Egg Incubator: Both sexes

Nest Material: Lined with chips, outer bark strips.

Condition at Hatching: Helpless and covered in white down.

Behavior - NestingThe nests are around 70 cm (28 in) in diameter and 15–43 cm (5.9–16.9 in) high with a cup-shaped depression in the middle that is 20 cm (8 in) across and 10 cm (4 in) deep.

Nests are built in pines, oaks, Douglas firs, beeches, spruces, and other tree species usually on flat ground rather than on a hillside. The nests typically are about 7.6–15.1 m (25–50 ft) high off the ground, halfway up the tree.

Friend or Foe? • Past encounters have proved

interactions between our Zoo’s collection birds and native Cooper’s hawks to be disastrous.• Bruce’s Green Pigeons• African Collared Doves • Plush-crested Jays

• Historically, misinterpretation of the name "chicken hawk" has labelled these birds as pests, hence justifying their slaughter.

Friend or Foe? • Serve vital ecological role as

regulators of “pest” species such as rodents and snakes.• Trichomoniasis, is commonly

spread by Mourning doves.• Mice and rats can cause

damage to birds, exhibit enclosures, and often jeopardize welfare of collection birds.

• Natural pest control can help save the zoo costs associated with aforementioned problems.

Solutions?• Installation of double netting on

targeted enclosures?• Softer inner-enclosure surfaces?• Humane trapping?• Installation of bird feeders in

other areas of the Zoo?• Cooping chickens at night? • Determination and sytematic

patrolling of hotspots?

Cooper’s Hawk Pellet

Other Evidence

Special Thanks!!!• Birds Team Interns, Keepers, and Supervisors!• Volunteer and Education Department!• All Zoo Staff Members and Conservationists !

References• http://fatbirder.com/links_geo/america_united_states/te

xas.html• http://

tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_p4000_0038.pdf

• carolinabirds.org• http://

www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/chicken-hawks-zmaz80mjzraw.aspx

• http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/HawksOwls.asp• https://

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/lifehistory