Vocabulary Terms

TERM	DEFINITION
Buteo	buzzard,
Albinism	occur more frequently in this species than in any other bird of prey
Clutch	two to three white eggs spotted with brown
Incubation	approximately 28 - 32 days
parental care	approximately 6-7 weeks
Adult plumage	obtained at 2-3 years of age
sexual maturity	2-3 years of age
diet	mice, rats, rabbits, birds, squirrels and some insects
brain	Eyes are larger than the brain
self feeding	4 weeks of age
	at 5 weeks, hawklets can tear intact prey organisms apart
	6 weeks, hawklets are almost fully grown
	7 weeks, begin to gledge
hunting	learn to hunt through trial and error
	parent birds ignore and typically quickly lose their often noisy young when they go out hunting
	12 weeks young birds are on their own and take on the role of active hunters
	*Red-tails are fast learners. Will quickly acquire behaviors based on hunting successes.
Band	A plastic or metal identification ring that goes around the bird's leg
Beak	keratin covering of the mouth protecting the tongue and mouth opening
Blood feathers	Feathers which still are still growing and have blood supplied through the shaft
Bloom	healthy sheen to the feathers indicating proper nutrition, management and waterproofing
Bob	Up-and-down head movement showing interest
Brood Patch	Patch of bald skin on Mother's belly where she warms her Eyases
Cast	regurgitation of indigestible fur and bones
Cloaca	external opening to expel fecal matter. In birds there is a single opening for intestinal (fecal matter), urinal (urine & urates) & genital tracts
Crop	Vascular sac were food is first digested. softens it and separates the digestibles from the indigestibles
Eyas	downy baby raptor; no pin feathers started. raptor before fledgling
Eyrie	raptor nest site
Feak	When the bird cleans his beak
Fledgling	immature bird who has flown at least once, but is still not in control and remains under the care of adult birds
Haggard	A raptor that was over 1 year old
Hallux	toe which faces backwards. The talon most responsible for puncturing the vitals of prey.
Mail	The breast feathers
Malar stripe	dark streak of feathers below the eye. much like athletes putting blacking under their eyes to prevent glare.
Mantle	To hide food from onlookers by covering with wings
Molt	annual shedding of the feathers
Mute	Referring both to the fecal matter and to the act of defecating. To mute usually refers to falcons defecating where the material drops from the cloaca straight down
Penned-Hard	Fully grown feathers
Post Prandrial Stupor	Sleeping after eating
Preen	Straightening feathers with the beak - grooming
Preen gland	gland at the base of the tail that produces oil important to proper feather and beak health as well as waterproofing. The bird spreads this oil over the feathers and body through preening actions
Principals	longest two feathers on a hawk's wing
Rangle	small, smooth stones ingested by bird to help clean out crop
Rouse	Shaking feathers out as a grooming action
Slice	propelling the fecal matter out of the cloaca
Snite	To sneeze
Stoop	rapid decent from altitude, usually in pursuit of quarry
Tiercel	male of a hawk or falcon. The term is based on the Latin word for "third," and stems from the fact that male hawks and falcons are usually smaller than the female often by roughly 1/3
Vision	red-tail hawk has vision that is 8 times better than a human. This allows them to see small animals moving on the ground from as far away as 100 feet in the air

I hope this vocabulary list helps you as much as it has me. If you have any suggestions as to words/terms to add, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Cheryl