![]() Both sexes are strong, fast, charismatic, and have a vital role in their respective ecosystems. Are female raptors “better” than their male counterparts? In a biological sense, of course not. Whatever the reason (or reasons), it’s an anomaly within the bird world and across most of the animal kingdom. But a male, as mentioned before, can weigh as little as half of that.īetween Striker, Tundra, and Canaan, my crew of fierce birds of prey runs deep. Still, after I tell my audiences that female raptors are better, I’m quick to explain that no one knows for sure why the disparity exists. Striker, our non-releasable female Cooper’s (nicknamed Fluffy Pants by our volunteers), weighs close to a pound. In fact, falconers call male Peregrines tiercels, which comes from the Latin word for “third.”īut the biggest mismatch might be between female and male Cooper's Hawks. Tundra typically weighs a little under two pounds, while a male of her species might weigh one-third less. Outgoing and vocal, she squeaks at delighted children and has a voracious appetite for two-week-old quail chicks. The non-releasable female Peregrine in our care, Tundra, is one of our most popular birds. The weight difference between female and male bird-eating raptors, such as Peregrine Falcons and Cooper’s Hawks, is even more dramatic than what we see in Red-tails. In all her might and mass, she’s powerful, self-assured, and endearing. At home during feedings, she often clucks softly to me, one foot tucked up under her feathers, brown eyes focused on the dead mice in my hand. But she's settled into her role as wildlife ambassador very well, exuding calm confidence at programs. She never had a mate, eggs, or chicks to protect. ![]() She was gravely injured-shot with a rifle bullet-before she was a year old. Unfortunately, Canaan the Red-tailed Hawk never got to use her dimorphism perks in the wild. Smaller prey items are easier to come by than larger creatures, so his compactness allows him to bring home more goods. ![]() The male, on the other hand, might share some nest duties-but for the most part he’s out hunting food for his mate and to-be offspring. The female usually spends more time incubating eggs and rearing chicks than her male partner, and if she’s bigger she might be able protect her young (and herself) more effectively. The most convincing argument, in my opinion, has to do with a female’s ability to defend her nest against predators like raccoons, crows, and other raptors. Still, in many raptor species, males compete for mates as well. This also allows them to dominate smaller males and protect themselves from aggressive or demanding partners. Each partner would still hunt different prey if the sizes of the two sexes were reversed, so the explanation is incomplete.Īnother proposal states that larger females can better outcompete other females for territories and mates. This non-compete angle makes sense at first-except it doesn’t explain why the female is larger. In other words, a female Red-tailed Hawk might hunt for rabbits or squirrels, while her mate chases down bite-size mice. One hypothesis holds that if females and males are different sizes, members of a pair won’t compete with each other for food. This is unusual for birds in most species, the male outweighs the female, often because he spends so much time brawling and competing with other males. But despite many scientific studies on the subject, there’s no consensus on why the pattern is flipped for raptors. The male Red-tails we admit for rehab are usually closer to two pounds. Canaan weighs more than three pounds, which is especially massive, even for a female Red-tailed Hawk. Hawks, owls, falcons, and eagles are among the strongest, fastest, most dynamic birds on the planet-and in almost every case, the female of the species outweighs the male. (Neither does my audience, or so I'd like to think.) I’ve used this line hundreds of times while introducing wildlife ambassadors from the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia in West Virginia, and I never get tired of it. That’s because (I often add) females are better. Like in most raptors, the female Red-tail is larger than the male. "I think it’s a Red-tail, but I’ve never seen one so big.” “Is that a Golden Eagle?" someone calls out. As I move into view with the hawk perched on my fist, everyone sizes up Canaan and gasps. The audience-it could be schoolkids, college students, or members of a nature club-waits quietly to see what kind of bird will emerge.
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