Hunters Among Us

by Bruce Schimmel

Copyright 2009, Doug Wechsler/VIREO FOWL FARE: Baby red-tailed hawks dining on Logan Square pigeon, looking northwest, from a ledge of the Franklin Institute.

I get shivers thinking about it, and it wasn't just the icy weather.

Bird scientist Doug Wechsler and I had just come in from an early morning freeze. We had gone to FDR Park to spot waterfowl and try out BirdsEye, a new iPhone app. We had just gotten into the warmth of the Academy of Natural Sciences, when from his window, Wechsler spotted a stone-faced killer on the make. Aha! I thought. An avian assassin.

Across Logan Circle, from atop the courthouse roof, a red-tailed hawk was checking out pigeons pecking below. This hawk was one of a pair that nests nearby on the ledge of the Franklin Institute. Last spring, thousands of "Franklin Hawkaholics" watched the pair raise their young, via Webcam and Facebook.

"Did you give them names?" I asked Wechsler. "No," he answered quietly, "I don't usually name wild animals."

At the Academy, Wechsler is surrounded by wild things, though most aren't living. He runs VIREO (Visual Resources for Ornithology), the Academy's collection of 150,000-plus bird photos. And outside his door is the Academy's famed bird collection — an avian necropolis of about 200,000 specimens, some dating back to the late 1700s.

Outside, the hunt continued. The red-tail, says Wechsler, wants to snag a sick or slow bird. So he'll circle down to test the flock, sending the pigeons into a frenzy. Other avian predators, like the peregrine falcons nesting on City Hall, says Wechsler, will grab and carry blue jays, flickers and even bufflehead ducks.

Hunting birds make great theater, and Wechsler says they're all over the city. Fortunately, Philly has the biodiversity and natural resources to support predators at the top of the food chain.

The city has a surprising variety of birds. In last year's Philadelphia Mid-Winter Census, some 96 species were identified and over 27,000 individual birds counted. The Canada goose came in first, at 5,823. But birders also saw scores of hunting birds — hawks, kestrels, eagles, falcons and owls.

This year (Jan. 9), some spotters will get help from BirdsEye, with photos from VIREO and bird songs from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The app features GPS mapping that tells you what birds are nearby. Soon, users will be able to add their own sightings.

If you do go out, dress warm. And watch out for avian hunters.

(bruce@schimmel.com)

For info on the Census, visit dvoc.org. For a chart of 2009's sightings, courtesy of my spouse's design firm, visit maskar.com/calendar2010.html.