NY officials seek sightings of color-marked hawks
Posted at: 03/11/2013 10:40 AM
By: AP
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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The state Department of Environmental Conservation is color-marking and banding northern harriers in eastern New York to gather more information on local movements of the hawk, which is threatened in the state.
Biologists are marking the underside of flight feathers or tail feathers and banding with colored and numbered leg bands. They want people who spot these marked birds to email details to Mark NOHA@gw.dec.state.ny.us.
Survey locations include the Washington County Grasslands, Coxsackie Creek Grassland Preserve in Greene County and Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge in Ulster County. Sightings in other areas are also sought.
Northern harriers, formerly called marsh hawks, hunt in grasslands mostly for rodents. They're 16 to 24 inches long with a long tail, yellow legs, a white rump patch and wings held in a shallow "V."
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