Jump to content

birds of prey


berger
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi, feel priviliged kicking off this new section !!, can anyone enlighten me as to the exact species of the wonderful birds of prey we have here in france. I have been watching with great delight what i believe are common buzzards and have been lead to believe that red shouldered kites are resident here aswell. Been searching on the web for info and various on line information sources but can't seem to find the correct info, not having great knowledge of ornithology, but a huge general interest in wildlife.

many many thanks

monty01

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First I would like to thank James our Forum -Webmaster for adding this section, I hope that it becomes widely used!

There are a number of different Birds of Prey in France, so it does rather depend on where you are as to what you may see.

Buzzards are certainly common and these are often the birds that are seen soaring high on thermals frequently in groups.

Other birds of prey in Poitou-Charentes where I live are Black Kites, Red Kites, Hen Harriers, Marsh Harriers, Monatagu's Harriers, Osprey, Goshawks, Honey Buzzards, Sparrowhawks, Hobbys and Peregrines.

My favourite French bird site is: http://www.oiseaux.net

Hope that this gives you a starting point,  Chris

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

many thanks chris, i live in the charente maritime myself, have been here a year and watched these wonderful birds regularly and just have not been able to put a name to many of them, now thanks to you i can i.d. each species.

many thanks again

monty

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, Chris, that's what I thought. However, there is a place not too far from here called Arguibelle, a phantastic climbing site and bird of prey breeding area. Since they've started to protect this particular rockface the bird population has soared, and now there's a problem with feeding the birds. Consequently, there have been attacks by the, predominantly Griffon and Egyptian, vultures on livestock. The farmers did admit however, that it was mainly sheep that got attacked and, quite frankly, I didn't have a lot of sympathy as sheep are truly the dumbest animals, particularly intent on dying as soon as they are born.

There is however a bigger picture, which points out the faults in the protection of species, birds in this case. I am a big bird lover and I live in a particularly interesting area, as we have birds of prey, loads of storks and are on the big migration routes. But I think it is most difficlt to find a finetuned balace between protection and over-protection.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be interesting to know whether this has been verified by the bird agencies that cover that region, all the information that I have states categorically that neither species takes live food, in fact it seems that the Egyptian vulture actually lands on the backs of "large animals" and removes the ticks. Could the sheep / lambs have already been dead?    

Protecting creatures from human activity is not exactly disrupting the natural order, more like reestablishing it I would have thought?

Should you discover more I would be interested in being kept informed. Thanks, Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, I am sorry, I really don't want to hijack this thread but , I found what Paysbasque said about sheep very interesting. I have heard this before about sheep being dumb but I have seen a few things on this to the contrary.  I have seen where someone had a lamb and kept it indoors and it was trained just like a dog. As it got older was treated and acted just like a family pet, became very cheeky, playful and loyal to the family. Also, another program I saw said that it could prove that sheep (and cows) mourned for their babies when they were taken away. Please tell me it ain't so. Always wanted know if this was true.

P.S. I have another question about ducks and geese but will save that for another time

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chris,

I honestly don't know if the sheep/lambs were already dead, and I haven't spoken to anybody but farmers about this. One did admit that the animal in question was between life and death and pretty immobile in the field. Anyway, if I do get the chance to speak to somebody official I will let you know.

In reply to WJT: I'm sure that there are exceptions even in the sheep world, but my remarks were actually based on experience with normal farm sheep. Do they grieve? I have no idea, but then again I don't like to eat very young lamb.

Regards,
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote]It would be interesting to know whether this has been verified by the bird agencies that cover that region, all the information that I have states categorically that neither species takes live food, i...[/quote]

Hi , i have a fairly good knowledge of birds of prey, in particular the ones used in falconry in UK being an ex Austringer/Falconer.

I have never heard of a Vulture of any kind taking live prey, i may be wrong but i think their talons aren't suited to gripping particularly well, all their power is in their beaks for ripping carrion, also i think due to size if beak picking out ticks would be at best difficult unless they are rabbit sized.

This posting is not meant to be anything other than well meant, i have previous experience of this forum and have been villified for previous postings and as such have been wary about posting again, in friendship, hugh.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"This posting is not meant to be anything other than well meant, i have previous experience of this forum and have been villified for previous postings and as such have been wary about posting again, in friendship, hugh."

Hi hugh, agree with you there, i'm   pretty new to this forum as well and  think sometimes replies are too harsh. You obviously have experience and should be taken as so, as with others who usually are trying to pass on a bit of experience or knowledge.

Your right in that vultures do not usually taken live prey, they are scavengers and usually wait on the dead or as near to it, they cannot risk injury to wings as theirs are very fragile .

also in freindship, monty

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello I'm new to the forum and I'm going to be studying an aspect of birds of prey in france for my university course. I was thinking perhaps of endangered species.

Unfortunatly I know very little about the birds of prey in france so I'd be grateful for any information you might be able to give me about them. Also weather there are any b.o.p centres that can be visited? I have been told that there is a big centre south of Bordeaux but havn't been able to track anything down.

Any information will be gratefully received! Many thanks,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have done some further research on the Egyptian Vultures, it seems that they have been observed on the backs of cattle where they remove parasites either with their beaks or sometimes with the use of a talon. In addition, although mainly eaters of dead creatures, they will also eat lizards and insects from time to time - never live animals.

Zoe. If you can wait a few days I will be having a meeting with my local LPO Friday and I will try to get some useful information for you.

Best wishes to all,  Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum, Zo. Sorry I can't answer your questions as I'm not very knowledgable, though interested. I was wondering if herons can be classed as birds of prey? We have one in our area and you can often see it standing on the jetty of our lake casting a beady eye on the perch and carp. When you approach it takes off in the slowest laziest glide you have ever seen and leisurely flaps away. Fascinating. Pat.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello, lived on a farm in the Yorkshire Dales once and I can tell you that when we 'spained' the sheep, which is taking away the lambs, they cried for a day and night. Hundreds of them calling for their lambs...

Anyway...there is a hawk preying off the frogs in our local pond which has all but disappeared. Great to watch it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

interesting thread!

We keep chickens and I have seen a buzzard come down and attack and kill live ones - fully grown, too.  Recently Mrs Roast lost her only chick (don't know how) and although I have never caught her reading Kubler-Ross, she sat and grieved for a couple of days, then shrugged her pinions and got on with life.  Interestingly she didn't display any desire to search for it - she just looked thoroughly miserable, and wouldn't leave the coop, although the others - Mrs. Fried, the nuggets and Lewes (a white sussex, of course) all went off without trouble.  They will usually stay in if there is a predator around.

We have kites, harriers and lammermuirs (well you know what I mean) and the occasional vulture too, and this spring we saw a huge crowd of migrating raptors - perhaps they were honey buzzards?

We live about 40 miles from the Pyrenees, so we get a good range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

interesting thread!

We keep chickens and I have seen a buzzard come down and attack and kill live ones - fully grown, too.  Recently Mrs Roast lost her only chick (don't know how) and although I have never caught her reading Kubler-Ross, she sat and grieved for a couple of days, then shrugged her pinions and got on with life.  Interestingly she didn't display any desire to search for it - she just looked thoroughly miserable, and wouldn't leave the coop, although the others - Mrs. Fried, the nuggets and Lewes (a white sussex, of course) all went off without trouble.  They will usually stay in if there is a predator around.

We have kites, harriers and lammermuirs (well you know what I mean) and the occasional vulture too, and this spring we saw a huge crowd of migrating raptors - perhaps they were honey buzzards?

We live about 40 miles from the Pyrenees, so we get a good range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you meant Lammergeler, Feuillant, that could be one for Zoe!    Didn't think of that, the Bearded Vulture is definitely under pressure and France is supposed to be providing better protection. French Government got a big ticking off from the EU for not doing enough recently      Chris
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow you get such a range of raptors in France...i'm so jealous.

On our property we have resident kestrels and some buzzards nearby that we see flying over quite often. Most excitingly this year was a pair of red kites who decided to nest in a tree in our paddock. They raised one chick who fledged succesfully and we havn't seen any of them for months now. I hope they come back next year (despite them mobbing my hawk.)

I'll do some research on Chateau de Milandes and Lammergeler. The place I had heard of was called Rocamadore, but i havn't been able to find out any more than the name. Have any of you heard of it?

Thanks very much for your suggestions,

(P.S. I've never heard of vultures eating anything other than dead, or very nearly dead, animals.)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...