In my region I observe Red-tailed Hawks and Swainson’s Hawks in about equal numbers. While I have often observed Swainson’s perching on one leg, I don’t recall ever seeing a Red-tail doing so.
Has anyone else noticed this? It’s hard to observe the legs/feet of our other common buteo, the winter resident Rough-legged Hawk, so I don’t know if it is ever a one-legged percher.
I can’t say that I’ve seen this behavior from a Red-tailed Hawk or Rough-legged. I am around Red-tailed Hawks fairly often, but don’t really have any experience with Swainson’s Hawks.
Oh yes, they absolutely do this. It always makes them look to me like they’re about to give a lecture or something.
Like, this bird is definitely about to get down to business, right?
Generally when birds do weird things with their feet, it’s to do with heat regulation. It’s warmer up under those feathers! Some waterfowl will also stick their feet out, which I guess can help them to absorb warmth from the sun.
I suspect they also do it because they can (they have mechanisms that make it easy for them to grasp something while they are perching), so why not? And maybe it gets to be a habit? I don’t know, but it’s funny to imagine a raptor going “oh, oops, standing on one foot for no reason again”.
Actually, I have seen Coopers Hawks do this.
Yes, many hawks (not the Kestrels, Flacons who may not) including the two mentioned do perch in one leg.
Here some confusions. I think this is still not 100% proven. e.g the Flamingos of our Country (India). Why do they do this? There are some theories:
1. Regulating body temperature: Why will they need this even during April-May in our country (India) when the temperature goes even up to 40 deg C.
2. Turning off half of their brain in this position thus saving energy.
3. Reduce Muscle Fatigue:- I think this is so far the most accepted theory. The locking mechanism in their ankles help them to keep balance in one leg position while keeping the other stress free.
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