Alamo • Danville • Blackhawk • Diablo • San Ramon
VALLEY
Look inside for the latest Regional in Nature Activity Guide!
THE
SENTINEL always for the community VOl 19, nO 6
June 2014
www.valleysentinel.com
SPOTLIGHT
Madison Ricks and Kristi Yamaguchi
Danville Rotary honors female athletes By Kathy O’Donnell Chiverton Danville Rotary recognized four outstanding high school female athletes at a recent luncheon in their honor at Faz Restaurant in Danville. The athletes were each nominated by their school and were selected based on their accomplishments and honors in their sports, their leadership and sportsmanship and their service to their community. The four nominees for Danville
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Residents of the San Ramon Valley gather at Oak Hill Park in Danville for the 23rd annual Memorial Day ceremony. See page 15 for the full story.
Red-tailed Hawk comfortable in Contra Costa’s diverse habitats by James Hale
One of the best known and most widely distributed raptors in North America is the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). It breeds from central Alaska, across Canada, and south to Florida, the West Indies, and Central America. The Red-tail is numerous throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area and northern California, and is frequently seen perched on a fence post, snag, or exposed limb overlooking open fields or grasslands. It occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including grasslands, deserts, woodlands, agricultural fields, forests, and urban areas. It is second only to the Peregrine Falcon in the use of diverse habitats. The Red-tailed Hawk is quite tolerant to considerable human activity, unlike most raptors. They often nest in urban areas where rock pigeons and rats support their population. One famous urban Redtail, known as “Pale Male” for its light
coloration, has raised young in Manhattan on Fifth Avenue near Central Park for decades. The Red-tail is a common nesting raptor throughout Contra Costa County and the East Bay, and has benefited from the planting of Eucalyptus trees and construction of transmission towers, which provide nesting habitat. The distinctive shrill, rasping “scream” is often heard while hunting, soaring, during courtship or around its nest when defending its territory. The fierce, descending cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is frequently used as the raptor sound effect in motion pictures, television, and other media, even if the featured bird is not a Red-tail. The call is often imitated by jays, particularly Steller’s Jay. Red-tailed Hawks exhibit sexual dimorphism in size like
most raptors, with the females being up to 30% larger than males. Males average two and one half pounds in weight, with females averaging around three pounds. Large birds may weigh up to five pounds, with a length of more than two feet and a wingspan of almost five feet. Red-tailed Hawk plumage may be quite variable, depending upon the subspecies and region. In California and the west, three color morphs exist: light, dark, and intermediate or rufous. The dark and intermediate morphs constitute almost 20% of the population. The red tail, for which the species is named, is brick- red above and light buff- orange below with a dark terminal band in adults. Immature birds have barred tails and attain the red coloration of adults when sexually mature.
Immature birds can be readily identified at close range by their yellow irises which darken to a reddish-brown hue as the bird attains full maturity
This month’s Special Sections:
Summer Beauty pages 8-9
Kids Camps page 10
See HAWKS page 5