Monday June 14, 2010
Happy to get away from his desk, a FISHBIO biologist conducts a Swainson’s hawk nesting survey in preparation for a stream habitat enhancement project. This survey was done to document whether nesting Swainson’s hawks or their young are in the vicinity of the rehabilitation area and could be affected by construction noise. No Swainson’s hawks were observed during this assessment.
Swainson’s hawk was listed as a threatened species by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1983 due to a 90% decline in the number of nesting pairs. The largest population of Swainson’s hawks in the state is located in the midsection of the Central Valley in the area between Sacramento and Modesto and it has been reported that in Central California, about 85% of Swainson’s hawk nests are within riparian forest or remnant riparian trees. They inhabit North America in the spring and summer and have been seen in huge congregations when migrating to South America to spend the winter.
Photo source: FISHBIO