AY Honors/Raptors - Advanced/Answer Key
1. Have the Raptors Honor.
For tips and instruction see Raptors.
2. Breeding / Offspring:
a. What are the mating and breeding habits of raptors?
b. What are some facts about the incubation period of raptor eggs and birth of raptor chicks?
c. Baby raptors can be called by what names?
d. Are raptors good parents?
3. Falconry:
a. What is falconry?
b. Name the basic equipment used to train raptors for falconry and what raptors they use.
c. Learn about the history of falconry and some famous falconers.
4. Migration:
a. Discover some facts about the migration of raptors.
Raptors are birds and most birds migrate. As with all birds, each species has variations. Twice a year, many raptors migrate, especially the diurnal raptors. Some owls, such as the snowy owl, migrate south in the winter
The Short-eared Owls living in cold regions are migratory but their migration is irregular and nomadic. Short-eared owls appear to concentrate where prey is abundant.
In the extreme northern portions of their range, Great Horned Owls will migrate if there is a shortage of prey in winter, but if food is available, migration is minimal.
Migratory raptors spend the spring and summer in northern areas where they nest and rear their young. During the winter, the raptors fly to more southern latitudes where food is more abundant. They spend the fall and winter there before returning to the north.
How do raptors migrate? Migrating raptors depend on thermals and updrafts to help them in their migration.
- Thermals
- The sun heats the surface of the Earth unevenly and warm air rises like bubbles in boiling water. Raptors gain altitude by soaring up in a thermal.
- Updrafts
- In mountainous areas, wind blows across the earth's surface and then upward giving raptors enough lift to soar for many miles.
Diurnal Raptors migrate during the day. The raptors that rely mostly on soaring do not start their migration until strong thermals begin to form after 8 am. Most migrate south from July through January. To spot hawks and eagles during migration put yourself in the raptor’s roadway (leading lines).
- Leading Lines
- Raptors often follow geographical features such as coastlines and mountain ridges as they migrate.
- Obstacles
- Raptors do not like to fly over water because there are no thermals
For more information on thermals, updrafts, leading lines and obstacles, see hawkwatch.org.
b. Choose two raptors and diagram, draw, or map their migratory routes. Include in your display where they start and end their journey, where they stop to feed, what they eat along the way, their migratory path, and landmarks along their route.
c. Draw or paint a picture of the world from the point of view of a migrating raptor. Accurately portray the habitat the bird might pass over, the altitude the bird is flying, and the feel of the air.
5. Complete a project, not previously done, from the list in the basic Raptor Honor #6.
See requirement 6 of the standard level for more information.
