What is a raptor? Raptors are top of the food chain animals, which is why many small mammals, like mice and prey birds, and insects are kept at a constant population. In nature, there are many different species of raptors. But, what they all have in common is that they are carnivores that hunt prey and keep populations at a constant without letting them go out of control. These prey animals that are hunted eat grass and plants that are essential to the environment, ecosystem and the prairie. This makes the prey birds, such as a morning dove, and small mammals, such as mice and rats, primary consumers and the raptors the secondary consumers. The plants that the prairie produce or grow in an environment are known as producers. At the bottom of the food web, the producers are the center of everything, RELEVANCE TO READER: Without raptors, prey animals would not be able to survive due to the lack of food if the populations keep increasing. Animals that are normally hunted down by these raptors, are r-selected, so the animals are able to produce a great amount of offspring at once. That is why it is important to keep the populations of the prey birds and small mammals down. That is where the raptors come in and are very essential to us and the prairie. If there were not any raptors keeping the population at control, plants in the ecosystem could go extinct by small mammals and insects over eating them. WOLF PRAIRIE: In our prairie at Westside, there are not that many raptors as some other areas in the country, but some birds that are often seen in this area are the screech owls, red-tailed hawk, and cooper's hawk. (red tailed hawk pictured on the side) |
Raptors on Wolf Prairie!
Screech OwlsThese raptors are hidden away in a tree during the day and come out at night to feed on its prey, which are small mammals and large insects. Since they are nocturnal animals, these owls will not come out during the day and if your see them in the daytime, it is very rare.
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Red Tailed HawksThese birds are commonly found in open type woodlands and when waiting for their prey, they simply sit in a tree or a pole and just wait for their prey to come out. The prey that they prefer to eat are prey birds, small mammals, and insects.
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Cooper's HawksThese raptors are very uncommon and hard to find or see during the day, although they are commonly found in open woodland type woods, like praires. Their favorite kind of prey are insects and mice.
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Biomagnification is a problem for raptors!
Biomagnification is the process by which the concentration of toxic substances increase as the food chain moves up. This means that the predators of wolf-prairie would be the most effected by toxins. Toxins permeate lower levels of the food chain, such as grasses, insects, and small rodents. Plants can accumulated toxins from over washed pesticides, while insects and rodents can consume small bits of waste. This makes it important for us to do our best to stop polluting our environment. Avoid using pesticides at your home!
Sources:
https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/screech/\
http://txtbba.tamu.edu/species-accounts/red-tailed-hawk/
http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Food-Webs.aspx
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id
http://www.raptorresearchfoundation.org/education/raptor-world
http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/birds_of_prey/facts3.cfm
Pictures:
http://www.birdseyesandbutterflies.com/red-tailedhawk/ - red tailed hawk
http://www.houstonaudubon.org/default.aspx?act=Newsletter.aspx&category=Bird+Gallery&newsletterid=302&menugroup=BFC - Screech Owl
http://ninnescahlife.wichita.edu/node/618 - Red Tailed Hawk
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kunm/files/201407/coopers_hawk_F5R6520-Edit.jpg - Cooper's Hawk
https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/screech/\
http://txtbba.tamu.edu/species-accounts/red-tailed-hawk/
http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Food-Webs.aspx
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id
http://www.raptorresearchfoundation.org/education/raptor-world
http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/birds_of_prey/facts3.cfm
Pictures:
http://www.birdseyesandbutterflies.com/red-tailedhawk/ - red tailed hawk
http://www.houstonaudubon.org/default.aspx?act=Newsletter.aspx&category=Bird+Gallery&newsletterid=302&menugroup=BFC - Screech Owl
http://ninnescahlife.wichita.edu/node/618 - Red Tailed Hawk
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kunm/files/201407/coopers_hawk_F5R6520-Edit.jpg - Cooper's Hawk