Trivia question for May-12-2011

Olivia likes these guys because she said their name describes the way they look in flight.  Their diet consists mainly of small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, young hares and rabbits. It also feeds on a wide variety of carrion including sheep carcasses and dead game birds.

The species is currently endemic to the Western Pale-arctic region in Europe and northwest Africa. It is a rare species which is resident in the milder parts of its range in western Europe and northwest Africa, but birds from northeastern and central Europe winter further south and west, reaching south to Turkey.

So here are Olivia’s questions:

At signs of danger a mother will signal the young to do what?   Also, tell us what these birds are called and what object that man uses was named after them?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Mangesh from India for bring the first with the correct answer, and thank you for the kind email.  Carter and Olivia loved your comments.  The bird we featured is the Red Kite.  The store bought kites flown by humans get their name from these birds.  The Red Kite is a medium-large bird of prey which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers.

At signs of danger a mother will signal the young who will “play dead” to the extent that a fox will believe them to be dead and leave them, thinking it can return to eat them later.  German populations declined by 25-30% between 1991 and 1997, but have remained stable since then, with the populations of the northern foothills of the Harz Mountains (the most densely populated part of its range) suffering an estimated 50% decline from 1991-2001.

In Spain the species showed an overall decline in breeding population of up to 43% for the period 1994 to 2001-02, and surveys of wintering birds in 2003-04 suggest a similarly large decline in core wintering areas. The Balearic Islands population has declined from 41-47 breeding pairs in 1993 to just 10 in 2003. In France, breeding populations have decreased in the northeast, but seem to be stable in southwest and central France and Corsica.  Here is more on these guys: Red Kite

Thanks for playing along 😉