Flyways and byways; raptors move through the area

With fall migration well under way, our songbirds have begun heading south for the winter.

Accompanying the stream of southbound songbirds, and much more visible overhead, you'll find several species of raptors that are more active in our backyards and neighborhoods during seasonal migration. The four most common in our area are sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks (called accipiters), and red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks (classified as buteos).

Sharp-shinned hawks, so-called sharpies, and Cooper's are smaller and sleeker than their larger and chunkier red-tailed and red-shouldered cousins. While red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks soar and glide, sharpies and Cooper's are more agile and rely on bursts of speed when hunting for a meal.

All four raptors rely on smaller birds for a portion of their diet. Red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks hunt for a wider variety of food sources while Cooper's and sharpies are more selective.

Many buteos that we see overhead stay in our area as year-round residents, although some birds drift southward during the coldest months. For birds that head south, migration peaks in late October through mid-November and we see far fewer over central Virginia until spring when both buteos are among the earliest to return to northern breeding grounds.

The buteos' appetites seem to change with the season and as smaller birds become scarcer as winter approaches, the hawks are more likely to hunt for squirrels, rabbits, reptiles and rodents to supplement their diets.

You'll often see the larger hawks in neighborhood parks or roadside fields where the landscape is more open with a few large trees that provide perches from which to hunt. They patiently wait for prey to move below and quickly swoop downward to catch unsuspecting rodents or other small animals.

The two accipiters often hunt near forest edges and are speedier than the larger buteos. Both species can zigzag through dense thickets and among stands of closely planted trees with great agility.

Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks depend more on small birds for their food source than buteos. Nearly 90 percent of sharpies' diet is small birds. Both hawks roam further southward in the winter, with Cooper's hawks migrating as far as Costa Rica and sharpies as far as Venezuela and northern Argentina.

Ornithologists believe that accipiters in our area that migrate southward are often replaced by those that breed in southern Canada and the U.S. northeast.

One sure way to know if a Cooper's or sharpie is around is the telltale mobbing by blue jays, common grackles and American crows. Their noisy pursuit usually drives the predator away for a short time, but with a guaranteed easy meal near your feeders they won't be too far away.

Contact Jerry Uhlman at .