Black Hawks
Hiking at Stagecoach Stop in Sedona on a sunshine spring day. Our path takes us alongside a seasonal stream which is currently running, fast, and wide, loud and rough over the rocks. At a beautiful spot along the creek where several braids come together to form a gradually descending waterfall, we spot a Black Hawk and then two atop a sycamore tree. Between the two birds we notice a nest in the crown of the tree. I take a couple quick and mediocre photos before we move away, careful not to disturb the birds.
The Black Hawk is a bulky bird with very broad wings, short tail, and long legs. From a distance a Black Hawk looks a lot like a Zone Tailed Hawk. Black Hawks are slightly larger birds and have a single white stripe across their tail. A Zone Tailed Hawk will have multiple white tail stripes. Black Hawks usually hunt low, flying beneath the tree lines and along streams. Sometimes they even use those long legs to wade in the water and chase frogs and fish. Black Hawks even predate upon crayfish.
Worldwide, the population of black hawks is about 2,000,000 birds. Almost all of these birds live in the tropics ranging from Costa Rica to Venezuela. Most of the Black Hawks live near estuaries and coastlines. Some of these birds are so intertwined with the ocean that the main item in their diet is crabs. A bird that hunts crabs strikes me as a tough bird.
How strange then to discover Black Hawks in the middle of the Arizona desert far inland from any ocean. A small percentage of the population has been migrating north to the Sonoran Desert to breed. The large raptors build their nests along the riparian zones of Arizona, raise their young and return to the tropics. The number of Black Hawks engaging in this behavior has increased dramatically in recent decades. In the 1980s I remember hiking in Aravaipa Canyon and being excited to discover a Black Hawk nest which was considered the furthest north extent of their range. Since I moved to the Verde Valley in 2003, I have found nesting pairs at Spring Creek, Oak Creek, and Dry Beaver Creek. This is an extension of their range by a couple of hundred miles in a couple of decades. I post photos on Facebook and my friend Gary Ehlenberger reports he has a nesting pair on his land in the Aquarius Mountains, further extending their range.
Many scientists believe but have not yet confirmed that this northward migration is yet another sign of global warming. Several years ago, I lived in Cottonwood, Arizona and loved leaving my porch light on in the summer. The porch light attracted the most amazing number and variety of insects. It also attracted three geckos. When I posted the photos of the geckos online a friend who is a herpetologist at the University of Arizona asked if he could use them. The geckos were an invasive species, escapees from a pet store and their ability to withstand north central Arizonan winters was further evidence of a warming climate.
While I am thrilled with every Black Hawk sighting, I am also alarmed that they have become more common. Most of these photos were taken along Oak Creek. While most of the tourists are snapping photographs of the beautiful red rocks and sunshine, I discovered a quiet place hidden in the shade, where a side stream is just a trickle, and often a pair of Black Hawks would come and perch near me. They would perch there, sometimes alone, sometimes as a pair, oftentimes for a half hour or more. Me and the birds would sit in silence, except for the trickling creek, sitting beneath the canopy of shade, and ponder the ways in which the world is changing.
