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| Chat - Friday May 22, 2009; Hello Holiday Weekend (for most of us!) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 22 2009, 03:46 AM (591 Views) | |
| Harpo516 | May 22 2009, 03:46 AM Post #1 |
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Eaglepedia Revisited December 7, 2007 Using Talons Instead of Beaks...... Beaks: 1. Carrying things in the eagles' mouth would make their heads less streamlined, so flight would be more difficult. 2. Carrying things in their mouths puts too much weight in front of their wings, so flight would be much more difficult. It's easier for them to carry things between their wings in the area that scientists call their "center of gravity." 3. Prey animals might not move for a bit after attack, but they might still be alive. If a prey animal suddenly revived and attacked, it would be held far away from the eagle's face in the talons. (Even a tiny mouse could bite an eagle's eye if it were held in its beak.) Eagle feet have claws, but so do the feet on dogs, cats, squirrels, etc. What makes eagle feet different? First, the claws must be extremely strong and sharp. When an eagle catches a fish, those claws have to slice into a stiff, strong fish with thick scales protecting its body. All birds of prey use their feet for killing, from the tiniest Elf Owl and American Kestrel to the largest eagles. But sharp claws are NOT the reason eagle feet are called talons; after all, cats have sharp claws, too, but they don't have talons. What makes talons different? They are designed to carry things. An eagle foot is made up of four muscular toes, powerful enough to hang onto a fairly large fish as the eagle carries it through the air. Eagles, hawks, and owls have very sharp beaks as well as talons. Many of them use their talons to grab prey animals. Next they use the sharp points of their beaks to bite the animal at the base of the skull or in the neck to kill it. Eagles don't bother with that when they're carrying a fish, but ones that learn to hunt rabbits or ducks may do so. Although an eagle's beak is strong, powerful, and huge, it never carries sticks or fish in its beak. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/eagle/Talons.html http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/eagle/TalonsVsBeak.html ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Visit Eaglepedia DISCLAIMER: Information here has been gathered in good faith from the internet and cannot be guaranteed to be totally accurate. |
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| Harpo516 | May 22 2009, 03:47 AM Post #2 |
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Don't miss out - (copying here FYI)Many of the forum members and visitors, tend to follow one particular nest more than the others or like me at work - sometimes only have an opportunity to observe one during the day, etc. If you aren't familiar with or haven't recently saved the links to the other nests we can observe online and follow, you can go to IWS Eagle Forum or IWS.org for the most recent links: IWS Eagle Forum - Cam Link Page From time to time, Dr. Sharpe may upgrade or have to change a link (although not recently) and these are the two sights that would have the most current links. Both nests have a running live feed on UStream or as the case may be, they also have a slo motion feed that refreshes every 5 seconds. Thanks all! |
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| Harpo516 | May 22 2009, 03:49 AM Post #3 |
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![]() Did you vote for the 2nd name for the 2nd TH chick yet? Tomorrow is banding day and once we have the ID numbers available - we'll be able to designate a name ! Get on over and vote! click on photo above to get to where you need to be to vote |
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| Harpo516 | May 22 2009, 03:53 AM Post #4 |
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Today is the day - Dr. Sharpe and the IWS crew are planning on visiting the TH pair to do a physical exam, give them some wing bling as well as a radio transmitter for later tracking of their movements once they have fledged from the nest (in about a month )The banding team should arrive at the nest between 11 am and 1 pm. - that's nest coast time so if you live in another time zone - allow for that difference! Enjoy and set your clocks for later today so you don't miss out! WOO HOO
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| Topa Topa Hikers | May 22 2009, 04:15 AM Post #5 |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() A gentle reminder Please check out the various ways that you can help the eagles here: http://s11.zetaboards.com/IWS_Eagle_Forum/index/
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| Harpo516 | May 22 2009, 06:02 AM Post #6 |
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Did I hear Mom say that we were going to have visitors today?? Hmmm - wonder who it could be! Will they bring us presents!
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| Topa Topa Hikers | May 22 2009, 06:06 AM Post #7 |
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NDSDF National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Saving Grace ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
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| Bubala | May 22 2009, 06:57 AM Post #8 |
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Topa - thank you for the Eagleholic " not - so " anonymous
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| cdn-cdn | May 22 2009, 07:00 AM Post #9 |
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You're going to get some bling today, bling today, bling today You're going to get some bling today And we'll all shout .... Hurray! ![]()
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| Bubala | May 22 2009, 07:09 AM Post #10 |
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Naturegal - Got busy yesterday so didn't get a chance to reply. I love Edmonton it is a beautiful friendly city. Lots of parks and walking/biking trails along the River Valley. Lots to do and see. Moved here from Ontario last year and don't regret it one bit. You should come to Edmonton with your husband sometime, he can work and you can sight see. Would really like to go to Hornby Island and see if I can visit where Ma & Pa Hornby live, won't be this year but next year hopefully. Would also like to go to see where the Sydney Eagles live. Barb Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
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| Artsy Mom | May 22 2009, 08:01 AM Post #11 |
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Some of you may not be aware of the day long drama that unfolded at the Sidney nest yesterday.... Tiny had become entangled in something which prevented him from navigating the nest because his foot was snared in it This caused an uproar on the ZapLive chat and people wanted a nest intervention immediately.By the end of the day Tiny, with the help of his bullying older sister, managed to get free of whatever it is....twine, vine, fishing line ![]() Tiny Is Caught Thanks for helping me get free sis Click on pic for video Screencap by Eagle lovers from NYC Tiny Has a Very Full Crop David Hancock wrote this about the episode: Thoughts on Nesting Problems: Nature does not progress on our thoughts of kindness. The lessons are often rough and seemingly uncompassionate. And the lessons are many. We have been through sibling rivalry that nearly resulted in death -- but never has in any of our nests. This in fact is a constant threat for the younger or smaller chick in every nest. Then there are totally unexpected or even previously unknown causes of death like we all suffered through with the loss of Echo. There are some things we are allowed to do in rescuing a chick but these are few and do not involve entering an active nest. If a chick fell from a nest it might be rescued and taken to a rehabilitation center like OWL. Simply put we are not allowed by the Provincial laws to disturb a nesting bird. This means we cannot enter or approach closely an eagle nest that contains eggs or young. Even the horrible circumstance of us seeing an eaglet caught or impaired on something in the nest does not allow us to enter the nest. These laws are there for the long term benefit of the eagles. They are not always followed but they are always there. From another perspective, my experience on the BC coast is that in the 5 instances where someone (not HWF) entered the nest to place a CAM when the adult eagles were present all 5 nests were deserted. Since eggs were present all were lost. However something even more dramatic happens to these nesting sites. Each of these 5 nests were also abandoned for the next year. In other words the eagles carried over their concern that their nest was violated into at least the next year and would not renest there. This places a further great burden on me. When I go to a landowner their first question is always, will my placement of a CAM in their nest jeopardize their nest? They always want assurance that my activities will not disturb their eagles. My experience is as above. I cannot go into an active nest until the adults leave the area on their fall migration -- late August and September. Therefore to go into a nest and rescue a chick almost certainly means the loss of that nesting site for the next year -- at a minimum. What a dilemma for us. We have to watch a chick possibly starve or die from something and we cannot go into the tree for a rescue for fear of losing the breeding pair for the next and subsequent years. In many areas the eagles are more tolerant, they accept human entry into the nest for banding etc. In the Channel Islands the birds are almost domestic, most being raised in captivity and then fledged on the Islands. The acceptance of these eagles is quite different than any of the pairs we have had experience with here. Our eagles are certainly tolerant of human activity below the nests but that seems to be entirely different from the eagle seeing someone in or at the level of the nest. That is 100% destructive so far in this area. In the 1960's every nest I entered for banding also was not used the following year. The eagles did not leave the nesting territory -- they renested down the beach a few yards. In some areas the birds have been banded every year for decades. Just not here. And it is here I have to be able to look the landowner in the eye and say our actions will not drive the eagles from his nest. So in short we are confined to feeling empathetic, guilty and saddened. Between the law prohibiting our rescue actions and not wishing to disturb the nesting pair in future years, we have to simply sit by and hope for the best. And in most cases the thought to be "desperate" eaglet has survived! So nature is not always so cruel. Sometimes we simply don't give its 3 billion years of selection a chance. I realize this is not always the desired action of our viewers but it is probably best for the eagles. David Hancock |
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| jillers | May 22 2009, 08:05 AM Post #12 |
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![]() MAKING A COMEBACK SCOTT STEEPLETON, NEWS-PRESS CITY EDITOR May 22, 2009 12:00 AM A bald eagle has landed at Santa Barbara Cemetery and she's drawing a group of fans, some who have been keeping track of her progress via the Internet. The nearly 4-year-old bird sporting a blue tag marked 35 is part of the nonprofit group Institute for Wildlife Studies' restoration project at Santa Cruz Island intended to bring back the majestic creature, which was found throughout the islands until the early 1960s, when the population succumbed to the insecticide DDT. Through the Montrose Settlements Restoration Program, which took flight as part of a 2001 consent decree pertaining to Montrose Chemical Corporation's manufacturing plant in Torrance -- responsible for dumping millions of pounds of DDT and PCBs in the Pacific Ocean from the 1940s to 1970s -- eaglets hatched at the San Francisco Zoo and collected from nests in Alaska have been placed in hacking towers on Santa Cruz in hopes of repopulating the northern Channel Islands. Restoration program officials say 61 bald eagles have been hacked on the northern islands since 2002. In April 2006, the first eagle chick to hatch on the Channel Islands in 50 years pecked its way out of its shell on Santa Cruz Island. About 25 bald eagles live on Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands. Cemetery staff said eagle 35 arrived at the spot overlooking the Pacific Ocean, some 25 miles north of the island, about a week ago. Soon after, someone posted a picture of the bird and a nearby mausoleum at an online message board devoted to the restoration program. That post attracted the attention of restoration program followers Patti Karr and Linda Frazier, who have kept track of the bird via a Web cam pointed at the island nest and went to the cemetery Thursday morning with binoculars and cameras in search of the bird. The pair spotted the eagle high in a tree by way of a News-Press photographer, who happened upon it while documenting the placement of U.S. flags in honor of Memorial Day. "It's a female. She originated from an egg from the San Francisco Zoo, and she was released in a hack tower on Santa Cruz Island in 2005," said Ms. Karr, 54, of Carpinteria. "This is the first time I've seen one of the marked eagles from there over here on the mainland. I've been watching for them for three years," thanks to the Web cam, she said. "I tuned in and saw this chick on a wild nest and got hooked," she added. "That's how we got involved, watching this little chick grow up." "Us and a couple thousand others," added Ms. Frazier, 64. Following the eagles has led to friendships among onetime strangers. After sharing their thoughts online for years, a group of eagle enthusiasts decided to get together. "We all took a boat from Ventura, went over to Santa Cruz Island and it was like a big blind date," said Ms. Karr. Ms. Frazier has opened her home to people from New York, but she hears from residents as far away as Holland and Australia. "We only know each other from the forum, but yet we all feel like we're really good friends. We have this one major thing in common." Ms. Frazier even keeps a plush-toy key chain attached to her camera strap. "We're like children," she said. "We have out little stuffed eagles, some make an eagle sound. We have dinners. We take our eagles with us. We prop them on the table with our wine glasses. "Everyone makes fun of us, but it's something we have to do. It's like part of our makeup." e-mail: ssteepleton@newspress.com |
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| SpiritFox | May 22 2009, 08:50 AM Post #13 |
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I want to thank all of you for your concern and support during my last retinal surgery two weeks ago. Your care and concerned comforted me on that day, and I know that it continues to help with my healing. I was allowed to hold my carved Eagle Dancer totem, in its leather pouch, during the preparation and during the surgery itself. It the prep room I pictured an Eagle standing over me, protecting me, and after surgery a friend gave me a card with an Eagle on it. So, the Eagles and the Cruzers have been very much with me. Thanks again, and my recovery is challenging, so your continued good thoughts are really appreciated.
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| Summer818 | May 22 2009, 09:02 AM Post #14 |
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Good Morning Cruzers! It's gonna be a big day for our sweet little TH eaglets. I wonder what wing bling numbers they'll get. I noticed a little dancing from them this morning, think they have the Star dancing bug. Banding day is so exciting, and nervewracking! I wish the Peter, Steffani and the IWS staff the best of luck today.
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| Summer818 | May 22 2009, 09:04 AM Post #15 |
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BTW, heading to Santa Barbara this afternoon in search of A35! I hope she sticks around for a while. However, being next to a bird refuge is like living next to a fast food place.
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This caused an uproar on the ZapLive chat and people wanted a nest intervention immediately.



6:14 AM Jul 11