Expedition Nomadic Adventures

I have been fortunate in photographing wildlife in their natural habitats. However, these photos were taken at the Brantly Lake State Park near Carlsbad New Mexico and my campground neighbors were two men from Arkansas who brought their Harris Harks and one Falcon to the New Mexico desert to practice their skills at hunting the local wildlife.

I know many of you will go “ugh,” but, there are no photos the birds hunting. However, these beautiful Harris Hawks posed for their photographs sitting on their perch-stands and as the owner fed his lovely pet. The ages of the Hawks are between 15-20 years of age.

The background of the Harris Hawks is they belong to the family of  Parabuteo unicinctus and is a medium-sized bird of prey. These types of hawks usually inhabit in Chile, Argentine, Southern United States, Western Europe, and Britain. These birds have unique style hunting.

Interesting Harris Hawk Facts

1. These birds are 46 – 76 cm (18 – 30 in) long.
2. The wingspan measures 1.1 m (3.6 feet).
3. Females are 35% larger as compared to males.
4. The average weight of Harris hawk is 1,020 grams (36 oz).
5. These birds have yellow legs and dark brown plumage.

Harris Hawk Habitat

These hawks construct their nests in woodlands, semi-desert areas, marshes, mangrove swamps.

They are not the migratory birds.

Their Diet is generally small mammals, lizards, large insects, birds, rabbits, and mice. They usually hunt in groups.

I was not able to get any photographs of the Falcon as it became too cold for me to wait around for the owner to complete the feeding of the four Harris hawks. I was excited to get the photos of these beautiful birds. 🙂

PS: I kept my distance and used the telephoto to capture the close-ups, just in case they wanted to try old retiree meat. 🙂

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