Accipiter and Falcon Counterparts

     Accipiters and falcons are two branches of the hawk family.  They are different from each other because they developed in different habitats.  Accipiters have short, rounded wings and long tails for flying swiftly and steering quickly among the trees of woodlands they're adapted to.  Falcons have long, pointed wings for sweeping along at great speed in the open habitats they developed in.
     All the accipiters and most of the falcons catch, kill and eat birds of varying sizes.  The bigger birds of prey snaring the larger birds in their strong, sharp talons.
     Interestingly, accipiters and falcons each have three species, of diverse sizes, that regularly live part of each year here in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere across much of North America.  Each size of accipiter has a counterpart among the falcons.  For example, sharp-shinned hawks are the smallest of accipiters while American kestrels are the most diminutive of falcons.  Both species live here the year around, the sharpies in woods and older suburbs with their many trees and the kestrels in farmland.  Sharp-shins nest in stick platforms on tree limbs in the woods and suburbs, while kestrels hatch young in tree cavities and nest boxes erected for them in farmland.  Kestrels consume mostly mice and larger insects they find in fields and along country roadsides.
     Cooper's hawks and merlins are the medium-sized species of their respective hawk families.  They both snare and ingest birds, the permanent resident coop's mostly in woods and suburbs, but sometimes in fields as well, while wintering merlins catch horned larks and other sparrow and dove -sized birds from open fields with little, or short, vegetation.
     Cooper's hawks nest on stick platforms on tree branches in local woods and suburbs, where they also get a lot of their food.  But Coop's are also adapting to catching pigeon-sized birds in fields near those wooded habitats, including a few kestrels at times.
     Merlins raise offspring in woods on the southern edge of the Arctic tundra, but migrate south for the winter, mostly along seacoasts.  Recently, merlins discovered the wide open fields of this part of the United States and some of them are now wintering here increasingly each succeeding winter.
     Goshawks and peregrine falcons are the largest species of their respective families.  Goshawks raise youngsters in the forests of Canada and Alaska but winter in woods from there south into the northern United States, including in southeastern Pennsylvania during some winters.  There they catch jays, crows, grouse and other kinds of larger birds they find in woodlands.   
     Peregrines nest on cliffs overlooking rivers, but have also adapted to hatching young in nurseries on tall buildings in cities and under bridges spanning rivers in much of the world.  The open country peregrines snare rock pigeons, mourning doves, a variety of ducks and other kinds of larger birds in the fields and along rivers.              
     All these interesting, counterpart, hawks are adapting to using human-made habitats for wintering grounds and nesting.  They are becoming more common here in southeastern Pennsylvania, much to the delight of birders and non-birders alike.  Look for them in the woods, fields and suburbs of this region, and other places in North America.  They can add excitement to a day.