RED TAILS

The wind blowing through the needles of the nearby saguaros sounded like sighing pines in the north woods, but the sunset was as typical of the desert as a jack-rabbit or a Gila monster. Hidden, with my cameras, inside a little igloo of artificial grass perched atop a 25 foot tower, I watched the sun's final moments of glory as it slipped lower and lower toward the cactus-crested hills in the west. Silhouetted in the blazing sky just 25 feet from my perch was a bushel basket sized cluster of sticks lodged in the arms of a giant cactus. Settled in this were two young Fuertes' red-tailed hawks. Both looked expectantly to the south. There, just 40 feet away, was a fence line marking the international boundary as well as the southernmost extremities of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 30 miles south as the crow flies, from the town of Ajo. However, the hawks were not concerned with the close proximity of the Mexican boundary. Their interest, and mine, too, centered on the anticipated arrival of one of the parent birds with food.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS By KARL H. MASLOWSKI

This eyrie had been shown to me in mid-day by William Supernaugh, Custodian of the Monument, who had discovered the nesting site while supervising the building of a fence line by a crew of Papago Indians. The position of the nest, between saguaro arms and trunk which grew to north and south, made it ideal for photography. I had journeyed some 2000 miles from Ohio to make pictures of Arizona's desert life, so I lost little time in erecting a blind or hiding place nearby from which to make a motion and still picture record of the activities of this avian family. The blind was erected on the aforementioned 25 foot high tower constructed of lumber and metal. The metal part, 10 feet high, and less than 100 pounds in weight, was a collapsible affair of duraluminum which I'd brought with me, fastened to the top of my car, for this very purpose of making films of birds which nested above the desert floor. Originally the tower and blind were placed 50 feet from the nest so that this weird structure would not alarm the parents and frighten them to the point of deserting their half-grown progeny. For four successive days the tower was moved nearer and nearer to the nest until the distance had been halved. From this point, 25 feet, it was possible to make intimate close-ups. I spent an average of five hours a day for five days making ob servations of these predators, and during that time I saw the parents bring food to their young 18 times. Their diet consisted of two species of ground squirrels, and one kind of snake.

Both parents sometimes came to the nest at feeding time, but only one would be carrying food. Their arrival could usually be anticipated by about half a minute, inasmuch as the parents would loose lusty screams while still a quarter of a mile away. These screams would bring the young to an immediate state of attention and they would peep softly like baby chicks.

Arrived at the nest, both parents would glare at my blind and cock their heads inquisitively at the whirr of a camera motor. In a few seconds they always seemed satisfied that the queer piece of architecture which had sprouted so recently on the desert was of little consequence. Then, one parent would glide away to a nearby saguaro top while the other fed the young. Holding the prey with its talons, the hawk would rip the victim apart with its heavy beak. As fast as bits of meat or entrail were torn loose the babies would snap them from the parent. Frequently a fore or hind leg of a ground squirrel would cause dissension between the babies. One would start to swallow the big glob of meat only to have its nestmate pluck it away. I once watched the hind leg of a round-tailed ground squirrel passed back and forth five times before one of the young managed to swallow it. The parent followed this action like a spectator at a tennis match who turns his head from court to court during a fast volley.

Between feedings one of the hawks would sometimes brood the young for an hour or so. This was particularly true during the heat of the day when the desert sun beat down on the unprotected nest. The old hawk would gently spread its wings, thus forming an effective shade under which the young could doze. During such a period on one occasion I observed the other parent alight at the nest with a fresh sprig of mistletoe in its beak. The green leaves were placed in the bottom of the nest, possibly as a measure of sanitation.

The sunset vigil I was keeping was an effort on my part to round out the observation of the activities of this family for a full day. On previous occasions I had watched the hawks from sun-up to late afternoon. This was the last watch I was to have, for I had to leave the following day to make films elsewhere in the state.

In time, man is prone to judge the value of everything in relation to his own existence, and as I sat there in my cramped quarters peering into the blue and gold sky I reflected on the merits of these desert dwellers.Had the nest been in an agricultural area, their diet consisting principally of ground squirrels would have been of decided benefit to man. But here in the National Monument amid arid, cactus-studded plains and mountains, their diet was not a consideration. Had they been feeding solely on highly prized game birds like Gambel's quail and white-winged dove, it would have made no difference either, for a fauna in a National Monument or Park is, in a sense, supposed to be competitive. With man removed as a predator Nature must do her own balancing, and she does it very nicely, if left alone. The value of these red-tailed hawks, then, had to be judged by some other system.

As the sun dipped lower and lower and then disappeared, leaving behind a ruddy afterglow, a parent alighted on the rim of the nest. Looking to the east I could see a full moon already edging its way over the horizon. The hawk fed the young a small serpent, and then, as the sky darkened, the nestlings sidled forward to bury their heads under their parent's wings. It would guard them thus through the long, dull, desert night. This was the most beautiful and touching bit of action I have witnessed in the bird world.

I knew then by what standard to judge this bird's value. It must be decided on the amount of pleasure its very presence on the desert affords mankind and on this basis it ranks high. For the sight of one of these majestic predators in the skies of Arizona's Saguaroland affords man with a joy and inspiration that can never be reckoned in dollars and cents.