Meeting Abstract

P2.49  Sunday, Jan. 5 15:30  Responses of Red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) to prey and novel odours CUNNINGHAM, G.B.; St. John Fisher College gcunningham@sjfc.edu

Red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) are sit-and-wait predators that hunt for mice, voles and cottontails from exposed perches. These raptors also take small birds on the wing. It is well established that Buteos use visual cues while hunting, and may use UV cues found in prey scent marks (urine) to help locate areas where the likelihood of encountering prey is high. It is currently unknown whether a Buteo has a functioning sense of smell. Some members of another well-studied group of birds, the procellariiformes, however, are known to use olfactory cues to locate productive areas of the ocean where prey is likely to be found. Once identified these seabirds likely switch to visual cues to locate individual prey items. Given this well-understood foraging strategy in seabirds, I tested migrating red-tailed hawks for sensitivities towards the scent of one of their prey items: the house mouse (Mus musculus). Forty-five hawks were caught and then hooded, causing them to enter into a calmed state. After 15 seconds of acclimation hawks were exposed to three odors: mouse urine and feces mixed with wood shavings, 1 mM phenylethylalcohol (rose scent) mixed with wood shavings and distilled water mixed with wood shavings. Birds responded by moving their head, or gulping at the air, and responded significantly different to the three deployments, suggesting that that they possess a widely tuned sense of smell. Thus, a hawk moving through an area may be able to detect the presence of prey by scent, and elect to perch in areas where prey is likely to be encountered.