Raptors: the animals in your life that are not household pets
GREAT HORNED OWLS have been spotted flying from date palm to date palm at dusk on Van Ness and Norton avenues.
Having your very own pet and the constant responsibilities they require is not for everyone. But how about a relationship with an animal that you have no obligation to? The L.A. Raptor Study, sponsored by Friends of Griffith Park and the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, seeks volunteers to take on a raptor—behind a pair of binoculars.
Participants watch nests of Great Horned Owls, Red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks, falcons and other majestic, powerful top predators.
Launched in 2017, the research group assigns novices to learn by observing populations in parks, schools and even in your own backyard. The program starts with a general information Zoom every January. In-the-field meetings begin in March and April. May holds the promise of egg incubation, chicks and fledglings. In August, volunteers celebrate with a party, including data analysis and presentations.
Nurit Katz, a co-director of the study, who is currently working toward a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA, said, “It’s really a community science project. We find many of the nests we watch from neighbors offering information.”
So many predators are threatened by the top predator on this beautiful planet—us. Katz said studying the birds by collecting data on them and analyzing it “teaches us how they are adapting to city environments. Key predators help keep populations in balance and contribute to biodiversity. They help maintain healthy populations. When you remove a predator, there can be a collapsing of an ecosystem.”
Katz is also researching the cultural relationship of Indigenous populations to birds of prey.
RED-TAILED HAWKS live right in our vicinity, sharing the city.
Dave Brown of North Irving Boulevard has been working with the program for a few years, observing a Cooper’s hawk’s nest in a cedar tree within his parkway. “The hawks mate for life and will often reuse a nest for years. One year they hatched two chicks. The next year there were three eggs, but just two hatched,” Brown said. He also pointed out what we all know about the Larchmont area in particular: “We are so lucky to live in the middle of a huge city and have nature right nearby.”
Unfortunately, the same winds that contributed to the January wildfires in Los Angeles also destroyed the hawk’s nest. Brown said he realized by April there would be no chicks. He mentioned he has his own baby due soon (“By stork?” I asked), so dad might be busy learning about a new sort of baby.
Not ready for any relationship to animals yet? That’s perfectly acceptable. But we, as the very top predators on earth, can all be good stewards to raptors. Katz said, “People can plant native plants that attract native bugs. Don’t ever use rat poison that will inevitably kill a bird or other animal. Keep leaves under your shrubs, and please resist trimming trees during nesting season, which is mostly during spring and summer months (except the Great Horned Owls, who sit on their nests in January).”
To become a volunteer or learn more, visit friendsofgriffithpark.org. To learn safe practices in the maintenance of your land, visit treecareforbirds.com.
Category: Real Estate
