The other day, I took a break from taking pictures of migrants and snapped shots of one my favorite subjects, the Aplomado Falcon.
An Aplomado Falcon with unidentified prey item in South Texas.
This beautiful falcon has been reintroduced to prairie and other open habitats of South Texas and is always a pleasure to see. The bird above had caught some small mammal and perched on a post to eat it.
A falcon or other raptor eating its prey is never a pretty thing to watch…
Aplomados feed on a variety of birds and small mammals. Unlike most other falcons, they don’t catch prey in the air but swoop down onto small birds and mammals on the ground.
Like other raptors, Aplomado falcons need an abundance of prey items.
Getting ready for another bite.
Like other raptors, male and female Aplomado Falcons also differ in size. Males are smaller than females. This bird looks more like a male.
It uses its sharp hooked bill to tear pieces of meat off of its prey.
Other raptors also occur in the same habitats as the Aplomado Falcon. One of the other key raptor species of the Texas coastal prairie is the White-tailed Hawk. This large, long-winged hawk is mostly found in tropical grasslands in Mexico and South America but also occurs in southeastern Texas.
A close look at a White-tailed Hawk.
One of the other beautiful grassland species that can be seen in South Texas is the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
This spectacular species is common throughout most of Texas. I should see some the next time I go birding along with a variety of birds that winter in South Texas.