Immature Northern Goshawk Captures, Kills, and Feeds on Adult&Hyphen
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DECEMUER2003 SHO•tT COMMUNICATIONS 337 [EDs.], Proceedingsof the 4th Workshop of Bearded Vulture (Gypaetusbarbatus) in the Pyrenees:influence Vulture. Natural History Museum of Crete and Uni- on breeding success.Bird Study46:224-229. versity of Crete, Iraklio, Greece. --AND --. 2002. Pla de recuperaci6 del trenca- --AND M. RAZIN.1999. Ecologyand conservationof 16s a Catalunya: biologia i conservaci6. Documents the Bearded Vultures: the case of the Spanish and dels Quaderns de Medi Ambient, 7. Generalitat de French Pyrenees.Pages 29-45 in M. Mylonas [ED.], Catalunya, Departament de Medi Ambient, Barcelo- Proceedingsof the Bearded Vulture Workshop. Nat- na, Spain. ural History Museum of Crete and University of , ---,J. BERTP,AN, ANt) R. HERrre^. 2003. Breed- Crete, Iraklio, Greece. ing biology and successof the Bearded Vulture HIRALDO,F., M. DELIBES,ANDJ. CALDER(SN. 1979. E1 Que- (Gypaetusbarbatus) in the eastern Pyrenees.Ibis 145 brantahuesos(Gypaetus barbatus). L. 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Past reproductivesuccess affects fu- kleptoparasitic interactions of the Bearded Vulture ture habitat selection. Behav. Ecol. Soc. 40:307-312 (Gypaetusbarbatus) at nestingareasß J. RaptorRes. 37: W•KLUND,C.G. 1996. Determinants of dispersalin breed- 157-160. ing Merlins (Falcocolumbarius). Ecology 77:1920-1927. --AND D. GARCIA.1999. Nest use, interspecific rela- tionships,and competition for nestsin the Bearded Received31 January 2003; accepted11 August 2003 j. RaptorRes. 37(4):337-340 ¸ 2003 The Raptor ResearchFoundation, Inc. IMMATURE NORTHERN GOSHAWK CAPTURES,KILLS, AND FEEDS ON ADULT-SIZED WILD TURKEY GREGORY H. GOLET 1 TheNature Conservancy,500 Main Street,Chico, CA 95928 U.S.A. HEN[tY T GOLET 5-1 BinnyRoad, Old Lyme,CT 06371 U.S.A. ALINE M. COLTON 19 Burr Road,Lyme, CT 06371 U.S.A. KEY WORDS: Northern Goshawk;Accipiter gentilis; Wild (Accipitergentilis) are snowshoehares (Lepusamericanus) Turkey;Meleagris gallopavo;food-niche breadth; predator•Orey (Squiresand Reynolds1997). Although remainsof Wild interaction;sexual size dimorphism. Turkey (Meleagrisgallopavo) polts have been reported m goshawk pellets (Bosakowskiet al. 1992), we are not The largestprey regularlytaken by Northern Goshawks aware of any record of a Northern Goshawkkilling a full- grown turkey. Here, we document an observationof an immature goshawkkilling and feeding on a full-grown E-mail address:[email protected] juvenile Wild Turkey in Connecticut. 338 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS VOL. 37, NO. 4 Figure 1. A ti•male Northern Goshawk(Accipitergentilis) Figure 2. The yearling Wild Turkey carcass as it ap- standsabove a yearling Wild Turkey (Meleagrisga!!opavo) peared after the first day of being fed upon by the gos- that it killed the previous day at Lyme, Connecticut. Pho- hawk. Photograph by H. Golet. tograph (by H. Golet) taken with a Kodak 240 digital camera through a Bushnell Spacemasterspotting scope repeatedly bending over and straightening up, to drive (20)< eyepiece) from ca. 10 meters away. its talons into its prey. Lessthan 1 rain elapsed from the time the hawk initially struck the turkey until it ceased METHODS flapping, unconsciouson the forest floor. Shordy after the completion of the kill, the goshawkand nearby crows The initial attack sequence was observed (by A. Col- flew off; perhaps startled by our presence. ton) at close range from inside the house. All subsequent observations were made outside with binoculars and a Within 1 hr the goshawk returned to feed on the tur- spotting scope (ca. 30 m from the carcass) aimed key. It crouched virtually motionless tbr the first 5 min through a gap in a mountain laurel (Kalmia !atifolia) following its return, although at one point it spread its thicket. Continuous observation periods were confined wings (mancling) briefly to obscure the carcassfrom the to the early mornings of each day, with additional checks view of a Turkey Vulture (Cathartesaura) that flew over- on the carcassbeing opportunistic in nature. It is likely, head. The goshawk then began to pluck and eat the tur- therefore, that some feeding bouts were missed. key, which it did for 20 miu before flying off. The hawk RESUI.TS made no attempt to conceal the turkey by covering it with leaves prior to its departure, although caching behavior On 12 March 2002, at about 0930 H a Northern Cos- has been observed in goshawks previously (Schnell hawk (Accipitergentills) attacked and killed a Wild Turkey 1958). (Meleagrisgallopavo) at Lyme, Connecticut. The goshawk The hawk fed on the carcasssporadically over the next struck the turkey while it was feeding alone in a small three days (Fig. 1), primarily in the early morning, but clearing (3 m X 12 m) beneath a backyard bird feeder occasionallyat midday and in the early afternoon. On 14 situated ca. 5 m from a house. The turkey was unaware March (day 3) it arrived before 0610 H, and fed for over of the goshawk until the moment of the attack, when a 1 hr. The hawk consumed much of the dorsal muscula- strike on the back drove it to the ground, causing an ture (primarily the iliotibialis and !atissimusdorsi) on the explosion of feathers. Immediately the turkey rose and back of the turkey, partially exposing the bones of the ran, head down, toward a nearby (2 m away) mountain sternum and pelvic girdle (Fig. 2). At 0615 H on 15 laurel thicket that forms the border of the clearing and March (day 4), the turkey carcasswas found ca. 3 m from the adjoining oak/hickory (Quercus/Carya) forest. The its original position. The hawk did not return to the car- hawk "rode" the turkey to the edge of the clearing, but cassthat morning (through 0830 H at least), although it then jumped off and gavepursuit by flight. The goshawk was observedfeeding on it at around 1300 H. Sometime pumped its wings rapidly while flying within 1 m of the after this observation, and before 0600 H on 16 March ground. Approximately 50 m from the location of the (day 5), the carcassdisappeared from the site, although original attack the goshawk overtook the turkey, again there was no evidence of it being dragged through the pouncing upon its back. Meanwhile, a small flock of leaves as was the case the day before. American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)congregated overhead, flying in a tight circle and calling loudly. DISCUSSION Pinned to the ground breast down, the turkey beat its Our observation suggeststhat prey biomassand food- wings frantically while the hawk used a kneading action, niche breadth may be larger for goshawksthan has been DEC•MBER 2003 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 339 previouslyrecognized. We know of no previousrecord of availabilitydeclined, female goshawksswitched to preying a goshawkkilling a full-grownWild Turkey,although the upon hares, although males did not appear to have this remains of turkey poults have been fbund in goshawk option. Periods of reduced prey availability,such as win- pellets in the New Jersey-NewYork Highlands (Bosa- ter (the seasonof our observation),may bestreveal linuts kowski et al. 1992) and in prey remains on the Kaibab of prey capture that are imposedby body size. Plateau, Arizona (R. Reynoldspers. comm.). The imma- ture goshawk,which we suggestwas a female basedon a RESUMEN.--En marzo 12 de 2002, cerca de las 0930 H consultation with R. Reynolds (pers. comm.), likely un azor nortefio (Accipitergentiris) ataco, mat6 y segm- weighed ca. 1005 g (Mueller et al. 1976), or ca. 4X as damerite se alimento de un pavo silvestre(Meleagris gallo- much as the yearling female turkey (ca. 3900 g, Eaton pavo) de primer afio, mientras este se alimentaba solo en 1992). This prey differentialis 63% largerthan whathas un pequefio claro (3 m H 12 m) debajo de un alimen- been previouslyrecorded tbr female goshawks(2.4X tador para avesde jardin situado aproximadamente a 5 their mass) based on observations of snowshoehare (Le- m de !a casa.Aunque se conoceque los azoresdepredan pusam•icanus) predation (Squires and Reynolds1997). sobre pavipollos,para nuestro conocimiento, este es el The turkey weighed ca. 10X the previouslycalculated primer registro de que un primal sea atacado. Este en- mean goshawkprey masses of 307 g in Oregon (Reynolds cuentro es notable dada la gran diferencia en tamafio and Meslow 1984), 271 g in New Jersey (Bosakowskiet entre el depredador y la presa.Se estim6 que el pavo era al. 1992), 303 g in Connecticut (Bosakowskiet al. 1992), 4 veces mas pesado que el azor, y aun asi este fue so- and 413 g in Washington(Watson et al. 1998). metido con relativa thcilidad. El gavilfin se alimento del Also to our knowledge, this is the first record of a gos- cad fiver sucesivamente durante 4 dias. Las interacciones hawk returning to a prey item over such an extended entre estasdos especiesen Nueva Inglaterra pueden ser period (four successivedays), although a mule deer (Od0- mils comunesahora queen las dficadaspasadas dado que coileushemionus) gut pile left by hunters in Wyoming was las poblaciones tanto de pavos como de azores parecen visited by a goshawkon two subsequentdays (Squires haber aumentado.