Raptor Counterparts

     Raptors are birds of prey; hawks, eagles and owls.  Hawks and eagles are related to each other, but owls are in a bird family of their own.  Yet all raptors have strong, sharp talons for catching and killing prey and hooked beaks for tearing off chunks of meat.  That is conversion, meaning although they are from different families, they have the same role in life and are, therefore, similarly equipped. 
     As we know, hawks hunt by day and owls do so mostly at night, which reduces direct competition for victims between those two groups of predatory birds.  Therefore, a kind of hawk and a type of owl can live permanently in the same niche, without much interference with each other.  Many of those hawk and owl species even nest in the same habitats, without direct competition from each other.
     All these raptors are camouflaged, except for adult bald eagles with their white heads and tails.  Hawks need that blending into their environment so they are not spotted when trying to ambush prey.  And owls need it so they can rest in the trees during the day, without being seen and harassed by small birds all day instead of getting their rest. 
     Many kinds of hawks and owls have a raptor counterpart in the other family, because of their similar lifestyles in the same habitats.  For example, red-tailed hawks and great horned owls are about the same size- large.  And they are counterparts, doing the same job in upland woods, fields and suburbs.  They are both capable of catching mice rats, rabbits and other prey of similar sizes.  But, of course, the hawks hunt for prey during the day and the owl does so mostly at night.  However, both these raptors raise young on platforms of sticks on tree branches, nurseries made by crows or herons, so there may be some rivalry for nesting sites between them. 
     Red-shouldered hawks and barred owls inhabit bottom land woods along impoundments and creeks, where they snare mice, small birds, frogs and other bottom land critters.  These raptors not only don't compete directly with each other because of the different times they hunt prey, but they also aren't rivals to red-tails and horned owls that inhabit a different niche in the uplands.
     Red-shoulders hatch offspring on stick platforms on tree limbs while barred owls rear young in tree hollows.  Therefore, they don't compete for nesting spots and both types of raptors can live in the same woods.  And barred owls don't rival horned owls or red-tails for cradles in the trees.
     Northern harriers and short-eared owls nest and live in open country, including prairies, tundra, marshes and tall-grass fields.  They are not direct competitors because harriers cruise low over the ground by day as they search for rodents, while short-ears do so at night.
     American kestrels and screech owls are small raptors in farmland.  But again they are not direct competitors for food because of the different times they hunt.  But they can be rivals for nesting cavities in trees, fence posts and boxes erected especially for them to raise young in.  However, screech owls are more prone to nesting in woodlots and suburbs, while kestrels generally stick to cropland habitats, thus reducing competition a bit.
     These have been some examples of raptors spreading themselves into different niches and diverse hunting times to help insure enough food for themselves and their offspring.  It seems that every niche has at least one form of life in it.  There are many species of life because there are many niches.