Trivia question for Nov-01-2011

Olivia found these birds to be fascinating.  They are elegant birds of prey that hunts at a leisurely pace, flying low over open country in search of small birds and mammals.

In the UK, these birds suffers illegal persecution by gamekeepers and their employers on shooting estates, particularly those managed for Red Grouse shooting, resulting in local and regional extinction in many areas, particularly in England where only 20 pairs survive despite abundant suitable habitat capable of holding several hundred pairs. Because of this they are now very rare in many parts of the UK, and under threat in many more areas.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us what kind of bird this is and what their favorite rodent is to eat?  Also, these guys spend about 40% of daylight hours on wing and cover about 100 miles every day.  Tell us how fast they are able to skim over plowed fields or short grass in search of food?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to Tami Kannenberg from Bellingham, Washington for being the first with the correct answer and for getting all our questioned answered. The awesome looking bird we featured is the Northern Harrier.

These guys will eat small birds and rodents of all kinds but they particularly like voles.  They are extremely aerobatic and agile and are capable of skimming low over the terrain at an average speed of 25-mph.  Here is more on these birds: Northern Harrier

Thanks for playing along 😉