More on size

When you have 6-7 years of field work with raptors and perched raptors and raptors in flight, then you can play- around with the word SIZE. The size of a raptor is important to the raptor and the scientist— it is not important to you. Yet it is very difficult to not take into account the size of a raptor. Why this is I do not know.

If you think it is important to size a raptor, then go ahead and use your calipers and rulers and place the specimen on the road side or in the bed of your truck and document with pen and paper. That is after you learn to take accurate measurements. But, don’t get caught at it! And, I just learned a better way to identify accipiters and it is quicker than using a ruler and calipers, or whatever instruments the scientists use. I will get into this subject on another essay- post.

You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say Goshawk. You reply - The bird is too big for a Goshawk. But, you are not going to to get away with that. You must add more to the conversation. You cannot just get away with - The bird is too big, or the bird is too small. I have evaluated the hawk, you must have also evaluated the hawk. So what is your evaluation other that the bird is too small or too large?

Here might be an axiom- You cannot tell the size of a bird until you know the distance to the bird. I say this is a false statement. It might be doubly false, or even false to the triple degree. Even if you know the distance to the raptor perched or in flight, let us say one- half mile away, you cannot tell the size of the raptor. But, with years of practice you can place a bird or a raptor within a bracket of size. However, it also depends on the direction and the intensity of light. It also depends upon the background, the texture and color, of the background.

I have more to say and demonstrate, but will add just a little more for this post. Hawking is not about size. It is about shape, proportion, wing movement ( many aspects) and wing holding (how a bird holds it wing in a soar or in a glide.) When a raptor moves its wings it gives up its species, that and the wing holding. That is in accordance with this web- site which concerns a set- group of raptors: residing in the Puget Sound Area and in the East - areas such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. Also concerning the three species that invade from the North in winter.

You should get yourself a “marker bird” pertaining to sparrows, some sets of shore birds, and raptors. Then classify the size of the marker bird. You are trying to get a feel for the size of that sparrow. So, you can have a large marker bird which for sparrows should be a Song Sparrow. Then become familiar with a medium size sparrow. Any other size sparrow will of course be a small sparrow. There are three sets of sizes for raptors. I say there are only three large raptors. But that is my classification. Your bracket system might be different from mine, might be more complicated. NB.