By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Though still endangered, American bald eagles like the intimidating one screaming at Dowagiac Middle School students, are a success story.
Bald eagles can have seven-foot wingspans and weigh 12 pounds (females are larger than males).
This one visiting Dowagiac Middle School Thursday is almost nine years old.
Fifty years ago, in 1956, there were only 80 pairs of adult bald eagles remaining in Michigan and 450 breeding pairs in the lower 48 states.
There are some 420 in Michigan alone today.
Bald eagle populations dwindled because of contaminated habitat.
"The pesticide DDT was bad for birds," according to Jesse Gabbard. "it affected how they processed calcium. We drink milk for strong bones. So do birds. Egg shells are made out of calcium."
DDT was banned in the United States in 1972.
"Bald eagles are cool to look at, but they're pretty useful, too. If their population's healthy and they're reproduction's healthy, that's an indication that habitat is healthy. We call animals like this indicator species," Gabbard told students.
This bald eagle suffered a crushed wing and has never been able to fly.
"He's actually missing about six inches of his wing," Gabbard said. "He's only 9 years old and they can live 50 years. The nest he came out of measured eight feet across and weighed one ton. They've been known to reach 12 feet and weigh two tons."
The bald eagle's cry is more grating than majestic, so much so, Gabbard related, that in movies and commercials, red-tailed hawk voiceovers are dubbed in like the vocal equivalent of stunt doubles.
While he's been bit and scratched, none have ever gone after his face except to play with his earring or co-worker Jenny's long hair.
But the potential's always there if they get nervous and frightened. They can't tell someone to stop, so they displace their aggression, like when a dog left home alone chews up a shoe.
Gabbard said the bald eagle might be screaming at all the teen-agers wearing bright colors, which it does not like.
"We don't know why. He can also see his reflection in the window, so he thinks another bald eagle is here, even though he hasn't seen another one since he was eight weeks old."
They respond to his voice because he feeds them and protects them from danger.
Ever wonder how a zooming bird of prey can catch a tiny mouse in a grassy field anyway?
Take an American kestrel. It can see ultraviolet light. It makes blue on their wings and heads glow, so they can spot another from a distance.
"It also helps them find mice," Gabbard said. "They have a bad habit of going to the bathroom." Their urine glows in UV light.
"He sees those mouse trails like a glowing map," he said. "Then, he can flap his wings back and forth and hover over that mouse and drop right down on top of it – a pretty amazing hunting technique from a very common bird of prey in Michigan."
The American kestrel's story is that it was found by someone who thought it would make a cool pet so they took it home. "He's perfectly healthy, but he doesn't know how to survive in the wild because he was raised by people illegally. He's very old and has been with us for nearly 14 years."
Michigan offers 25 species of birds of prey, in size from five inches tall to three feet tall.
The 25 species can be classified into five more groups – owls (Michigan has 11 kinds), falcons (Michigan has three kinds), hawks (Michigan has eight kinds), eagles (Michigan has two kinds) and fish-loving osprey.
Gabbard dons his gauntlet, the big leather glove which protects his hand from sharp talons while the birds, restrained by short leads, perch.
For four years he has been a wildlife education specialist with the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC).
Dowagiac Conservation Club sponsored his Dec. 7 "Wildlife Encounters" appearance for eighth graders in Lynn Steil's DMS classroom.
Gabbard said he his first exposure came as a volunteer in college. He later worked with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"They can be intimidating when they flap those big wings," he cautions students. "If they lose feathers, don't try to reach out and grab them. Quick and sudden movements scare the birds, and it's also illegal to own a bird of prey or any part of a bird of prey without a special permit. It's actually a federal offense. I need to take all the feathers with me when I leave here today."
When they're not traveling to schools in the draped cages he calls their "car seats," the birds live at Michigan State University School of Veterinary Medicine.
"They live at the doctor's office," he said. "Every one of the birds behind me has been physically hurt or raised by people. None of those animals can ever go back in the wild. They have to spend the rest of their lives in captivity. But we cannot forget they're wild animals because when they come out of those cages they don't see 40 people sitting here. They see 40 other animals that are bigger than they are. An animal in the wild that's bigger than you in most cases is going to be a predator. They think you're going to eat them. It's like you standing up here in front of 40 lions. You'd be a tad bit nervous" faced with fight or flight.
Red-tailed hawks
Found in most Michigan habitats, red-tailed hawks are adaptable "generalists" that eat large insects, mice, frogs, snakes, rabbits, even other birds. Like humans, it can eat just about anything and live just about anywhere. They live from Mexico to Alaska and from California to Maine.
Michigan's largest hawks don't get red tails until they become adults at 2 1/2 years old – even though they grow to full size in eight weeks.
When a bird leaves the nest for the first time – "fledging" – they lose their feathers and grow new ones. People change their clothes every day. Hawks change their feathers every year over two to three weeks. Some species change feathers four times a year.
Gabbard introduced the concept of natural selection – survival of the fittest – that says the most adaptable animals survive to reproduce.
"Eighty percent of the red-tailed hawks that hatch and fledge every summer die before they reproduce. Wingspan is about four feet across. This red-tailed hawk weighs 2 1/2 pounds. You can't weigh very much if you're going to fly. One adaptation is feathers, which are much lighter than hair found on a mammal. Another is straw-like bones that are hollow. This red tail broke her wing and has not been able to fly since we received her nearly 19 years ago. That means she's nearly 21 because she had a red tail when we got her. They live eight to 10 in the wild, but in captivity, into their 30s."
Eastern screech owl
Gabbard said the second-smallest of Michigan's 11 species doesn't live up to its name.
"They don't screech," he said. "I have no idea why we call them that."
They are found in woodlands, wetlands and farmland, so long as there are trees. Nocturnal, they are active at night. By day their feathers act as camouflage, their "cryptic coloration" concealing them as they doze in trees.
At night, the owls' keen vision could locate a mouse in a dark gymnasium by the light of one birthday candle.
While people have round eyes like ping-pong balls which swivel in their sockets, owls' tubular eyes are shaped like paper tubes and can't move. They compensate by turning their heads. People can pivot 90 degrees, to one shoulder or another. Owls can look behind 180 degrees or to the side 270 degrees. This one is 14 years old.
Barred owls
Seldom seen, barred owls take their name from broad stripes on their feathers. They like dense forest habitats, whether conifer or hardwood, such as northern Michigan. Bark coloration blends them in when hunting.
It has excellent hearing, though its "ears" are holes on each side of the head. "He uses his whole face to funnel and amplify sound – not just ear flaps," Gabbard said. The ears are also at different levels, so the owl can triangulate a sound and pinpoint its exact origin.
"This owl does hoot," Gabbard said. "Only three of Michigan's 11 species do. Barred owls make all different kinds of noises. They hoot, they scream, they screech, they click, they hiss. They communicate with their mates and their offspring and to defend their territory. They're not real picky about their food choices. They eat mice, small birds, grouse, squirrels. All birds of prey have excellent eyesight, sharp talons, but owls have specially-designed feathers. It was hit by a car and broke its left wing. Worse, it can no longer see out of his right eye," impairing ability to gauge distance.
Falcons
He brought the smallest of Michigan's three species, the American kestrel.
"This little bird can do some crazy things," Gabbard said. "A falcon can see 1,000 feet without a problem. Imagine standing at the bottom of a 70-story building and being able to see a sparrow perched on top of it. That allows him to find his food, including butterflies and grasshoppers, frogs and mice and, his favorite, other birds. His wings are long and skinny, so he's fast and agile. He can dive at 40 mph and run into a sparrow like a football player, knocking it out. Why? An American kestrel weighs three ounces – as much as half a stick of butter. A sparrow's beak can crush seeds. It could injure a kestrel. Holding on to another bird that's struggling, it's kind of hard to steer."
Barn owls
"Changing or destroying habitat is the number-one reason any species, anywhere in the world, becomes endangered," Gabbard said. "Poaching, diseases, pollution, predators contribute, but habitat destruction is the number-one reason," although there are three for barn owls – they like warm climates, so Michigan never had a large population; their habitat changed, with grassland becoming food-producing farmland.
Great horned owls, Michigan's second-largest, are three times the size of barn owls and like to eat other owls.
"We don't have any barn owls still having babies in the wild in Michigan," he said. "On the up side, barn owls like this one are found all over the world in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and South America. This one was born at Potter Park Zoo in Lansing about 15 years ago. He's never learned those skills. He should reach 30 years old in captivity," Gabbard said.
"They lay their eggs in tree cavities or small caves in the ground, which we don't have. Most of our maple groves have been destroyed. They like barns and old, abandoned buildings. Big piles of hay are great places for barn owls to lay eggs. They eat mice."