Category

Swainson's Hawk

The Swainson’s hawk is a bird of prey found through much of Texas, and indeed well into South America. The hawk suffered a severe decline in the 1980s due to contamination by an insecticide, monocrotophos, used to protect sunflower crops in Argentina. While it has largely recovered, there are continuing concerns about the hawk’s migration through wind turbine sites in central America, and their use of aging nesting trees in the Panhandle of Texas.

Interviews

Narrator: Mary Anne MorrisTitle: InsecticideDuration: 00:03:20Date: July 2, 2020Mary Anne Weber, the Education Director for Houston Audubon, discusses the threat to Swainson's hawks from monocrotophos, an organophosphate insecticide used in Argentina to protect sunflower crops. She makes the argument that the toxicity of the chemical poses a serious risk to birds, as well as farm workers, and requires an international response.Narrator: Jim RayTitle: Turbines and ElmsDuration: 00:02:13Date: September 14, 2022Jim Ray, a wildlife biologist who has studied a number of creatures, from birds, to mammals, to macroinvertebrates, in the High and Rolling Plains, here discusses the risks posed to Swainson's hawks. During migration, these birds funnel through mountain passes in Central America where wind turbines are being installed. When they arrive in the Panhandle of Texas, they also face the difficulty of nesting in elm trees, many of which are dying out due to age and/or drought.