Living

The McKees Rocks Historical Society Marched in the parade in their new T Shirts. These shirts are available for $15. Please contact mckeesrocksnews@yahoo.com for info on how to purchase them.

Cedar Waxwings

autumn baby

Photos used by permission, Nature Observer News.

Above: Cedar Waxwing eating a crabapple. Photo by Chuck Tague.

Autumn Babies - Cedar Waxwings
By Susanne Varley

Delicate, wispy forms dart over Mckees Rocks. A flock of Cedar Waxwings, tiny birds with silvery wings, crosses the deep blue autumn sky. Once they land their sleek profile flaunts a sophisticated crest, unique black mask and delicate yellow-brown plumage. Look at its wings for the distinctive red tips. The waxy-looking red is named for sealing wax once used by royalty to seal their correspondence.

Their main food is fruits and berries. They opt for tiny round berries just the perfect size to roll from their beak, along their tongue and down into their crop – a temporary storage bin in their throat. When Cedar Waxwings consume fruit that has fermented on the tree they become intoxicated by the alcoholic content and will fly about irregularly.

They nest in late summer and early fall when these berries are plentiful for themselves and their young. Although fall is near, it’s not too unusual for waxwings to breed now. On September 28, 2002 I saw a fledgling tumble from the nest. This nest was on Locust Street behind Silver Star Meats. While walking my dog Mickey I saw a feathery tumbleweed roll down a maple tree right beside me. The tumbleweed broke its fall along the shorter Golden Rain tree and then gently touched down in the lawn. I looked down into the grass to see two large eyes peering up at me from beneath a uni-brow. As I looked closer the brow blended into a mask. I crept as close to the piercing eyes as I could, making sure that Mickey was out of the tumbler’s reach. Oblivious to my find, Mickey continued to retrieve his messages. I discovered a baby bird. Its gray wings, one neatly folded against its body, the other slightly askew against a blade of grass, were anticipating their next move. I studied the tiny bird and realized that the tail was tipped bright yellow. I actually watched a baby Cedar Waxwing fledge!

It looked a little bewildered and watched me as I spoke softly. Suddenly its tiny crest spiked up. Little Cedar quickly discerned its position on the food chain. Within a nano-second the bird opened up its wings and raced off to a fence post across the road. Only two weeks before, it came out of its shell. Until two minutes previously its parents’ nurturing kept it within one degree of separation from death. They kept it dry and warm, fed, cleaned and preened daily. The embryo entirely depended on the adults for its existence. Now, Little Cedar was taking on a life of its own. I pivoted around for a better look. It recomposed itself on the fence post, then flew upwards to its comfort zone in the lofty green.
Wait a minute! In just three days it’ll be October. Our days are getting shorter and shorter. Songbirds normally feed their babies every 20 minutes for 15 hours of daylight. These harried parents only had 12 hours of daylight. Maybe they squeezed an extra feeding into every hour in order to provide the appropriate calories the embryos need to develop. Whatever they’re doing works quite well.

Cedar Waxwings give back to the forest. Their tiny bodies not only digest the pulpy fruits but also disperse the seeds for future generations. In order to do this they simply eliminate the seeds from their bodies along with a drop of “fertilizer” to maintain the continuity of the forest.

Look for Cedar Waxwings on your ornamental shrubs. They like to feed on the Black Cherry tree in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Go to http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/CEDWAX/
or
http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/bird_id/cedar_waxwing.aspx

to listen to their delicate song.

Wings Over The Rocks - Late Autumn

hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Susanne Varley

Majestic. The pair of Red-tailed Hawks circles higher and higher into the clear October sky. Columns of warm air rise from the parking lot by St. John of God Church and lift the raptors high above our town.
The male, smaller and lighter than his mate, catches another thermal, rises higher and screams his scream of delight. The female hawk circles silently below him. The rays of light penetrate her fan-shaped tail and cast a rusty, reddish glow. As she banks I can see she spreads her wings in a straight line. She breaks free of the thermal’s spiral and her broad wings tipped with finger-like feathers carry her on her way.
Early the next morning I walked my dog Chloe along Rose Alley. We stopped for a moment. I shrugged my jacket a little tighter and pulled the collar up around my neck. Chloe stopped in her tracks. I followed her gaze to a pear tree just ahead of us. A large cryptically colored bird blended into the baring branches. Its tail was tightly closed but I could still make out a black horizontal band near the base. I was looking at the back of a Red-tailed Hawk. It turned its rounded head sideways to display a powerful hooked beak. Its deep-set eyes gave the hawk a fierce appearance. Chloe and I stood motionless not wanting to end the moment. The hawk stretched its torso, defecated, opened its wings and took off.
Red-tailed Hawks are widespread and common over much of the United States. There was a time when they were much less common, due to persecution and the overuse of pesticides. Hawks are at the top of the food chain and control rodent populations. Hawks, falcons and eagles that fed on prey contaminated with chemicals could not reproduce. Their eggshells were too thin to protect the fragile embryo inside and the female would inadvertently crack the eggs when she tried to incubate them. Thanks to Rachel Cason’s Silent Spring these raptors now thrive in our skies.
Red-tailed Hawks hunt by sight. Their eyes are much keener than ours. Although they soar high overhead, they search for prey from a perch, usually a tree or pole. The word raptor means to seize. When a hawk sees a meadow vole it swoops down and seizes the animal with its powerful feet.
After it swallows its prey in one gulp it casts a pellet. In other words it regurgitates little clumps of indigestible hair, feathers, and bone.
Red-tailed Hawks are faithful to their nesting site. Their ambition in life is reproduction – the continuation of the species. Once they find something that works for them, they work with it. Although they mate for life, when one dies the other hangs around the nest until another of the opposite gender joins up. Red-tails mate in the spring. The male and female together build their nest – a nest they will use year after year. They prefer to nest on a steep hillside such as the ridge over Chartiers Creek. The female hawk lays two or three spotted eggs. She incubates the eggs for about a month. The male provides food for her and the young the entire time they are in the nest.
The eggs hatch according to clutch order. The first egg laid first is the first to hatch – the first one to mature – and the first one the adults will feed whenever food is scarce. In 45 days the young leave the nest. At this stage they are the same size as their parents. The only way to tell them apart is in their plumage. The young fledglings have plain brown tails. They stay close to their parents until they can hunt for themselves.
Migration is a mystery. Some Red-tailed Hawks migrate. Others spend the winter in McKees Rocks. In the fall ornithologists and birders chart their migration at The Allegheny Front in Somerset County. Every February volunteers drive through their assigned counties in Pennsylvania counting hawks during the Winter Raptor Survey. Will humans ever understand migration?

If you would like to volunteer as a spotter or a driver for the Winter Raptor Survey, visit the There Rivers Birding Club at
http://www.3rbc.org

Listen to the Red-tailed Hawk’s call.
http://www.hangingrocktower.org/birds/red-tailedhawk.htm

The series Northern Exposure begins with this familiar call. Whenever you hear it, look up and observe the masters of flight. You can also see Red-tails perched on utility poles along the parkway watching the traffic below.