Cropland Hawks and Eagles

     Lancaster County, Pennsylvania's human-made croplands, that are plowed and harvested to the ground, hardly seem a place where hawks and eagles would live or hunt in, but at least eight species annually do, at least part of each year.  Not all those raptors are in that farmland at once, but each kind is there in its own time.  All of them are predators and all make farmland more interesting to experience.  Some only pass through here in migration, others are permanent residents, and still others are here in winter. 
     Red-tailed hawks, American kestrels and bald eagles, as species, are permanent residents in Lancaster County cropland, including nesting here.  The majestic red-tails and eagles can be spotted soaring gracefully high in the sky, anytime of year. 
     Red-tails and eagles start their breeding cycles by late December.  Females of both these stately species lay two or three eggs on large, stick platforms high in tall, lone cropland trees or big trees in woodlots and hedgerows.  By courting early, their young will be fledged and independent of parental care by June when prey animals are most abundant.
     Red-tails and bald eagles are scavengers of dead animals, as well as hunters of live creatures.  They consume animals killed on country roads that have minimal traffic, and they have the sense to rise from those roads when vehicles approach.  These large raptors also ingest deceased farm animals, particularly chickens, that were discarded onto the fields.       
     The much smaller, colorful kestrels court in March and raise young in tree cavities, barns and boxes erected for them and screech owls.  This little relative of peregrine falcons commonly perches on roadside wires and hovers lightly into the wind on rapidly beating wings to watch for mice, small birds and larger insects to eat.
     Peregrines, and their smaller relatives, merlins, migrate through this area in September and October.  They are adapted to wide open spaces, including beaches, salt marshes and croplands to hunt a variety of birds.  Peregrines go after mourning doves, rock pigeons, starlings and similarly-sized birds, while the pigeon-sized merlins hunt sparrow-sized birds.  In Lancaster County, I sometimes see peregrines and merlins perched erect and stately on top of roadside poles in farmland as they watch for prey.  Or I see them speeding low over fields on long, swept-back wings after zig-zagging birds desperately trying to elude them.        
     Crow-sized Cooper's hawks are traditionally woodland raptors that have learned to hunt birds in farmland.  They are swift on the wing, fast enough to catch many kinds of birds in woods, suburbs and fields.
     Today, many pairs of Cooper's raise young on stick platforms in tall trees in older suburban areas and hunt birds in that human-made habitat and croplands.  A pair or two of Coop's hatch offspring here in New Holland, Pennsylvania where I am thrilled to see them.
     The handsome northern harriers are hawks that mostly just pass through Lancaster County in their north-bound and south-bound migrations.  Only a few might stay here all winter, where fields of tall grass offer them shelter at night and field mice to hunt during the day.         
     Because they adapted to open ground with few perches to watch for prey, harriers developed the habit of hunting mice and small birds by pumping slowly, and gracefully into the wind low to the ground as they watch and listen for prey.  If a potential victim is spotted, each harrier suddenly drops to the ground to snare it in its long, sharp talons.  If no prey is perceived, each harrier eventually turns and glides with the wind, then swings into the wind again for another run at catching a small critter.  Harriers' method of hunting is interesting to watch.
     A few rough-legged hawks, down from nesting territories on the high Arctic tundra, spend winter in Lancaster County farmland.  They used to winter here in greater numbers, but I think there is a limited number of field mice in fields harvested to the ground, planted to winter rye, or plowed in autumn, none of which supports mice.  And, I think, rough-legs are chased out by the stronger, permanent resident red-tailed hawks.
     Rough-legs are spotted as erect forms perched in lone trees in fields, or hovering into the wind as they watch for mice.  It's exciting to see them because of their beauty, scarcity and where they came from.
     These are raptors seen in Lancaster County cropland at least part of each year.  And they make that human-made habitat a bit more intriguing.