Harris Hawk

A couple of days ago I was making breakfast and talking with guests when I noticed two Harris Hawks sitting at the top of a big Mesquite Tree in our "oasis". The Harris Hawk is pretty much restricted to Southern Arizona and Southwest Texas in the US. Then south into Argentina. It's main diet is small birds and mammals. It is unique in many ways. First, it usually hunts in families, two to four, although I remember once seeing 8 fly over The Azure Gate. Second, it has a very deep rasping voice, quite unlike other raptors. Both Christine and I have walked towards one only to have it "scold" us, like the one in the photo above. Third, it can be trained, so it is a popular hawk of falconry. In fact, the Sonoran Desert Museum here in Tucson has a "raptor show" every afternoon at 1:30 that includes three or four Harris Hawks. They are quite beautiful with their "burnt orange" color on their shoulders.