For raptor enthusiasts a “slice” has nothing to do with golf. Falconers and others refer to the ejection of fecal matter by birds of prey as a slice. Interestingly falcon excrement drops straight down but hawks and eagles fling their fecal matter out behind them some distance and often with significant velocity.
This is the male of the nesting pair of Red-tailed Hawks I’ve posted other photos of recently. Yesterday morning I only spent a few minutes with him while he was away from the nest and his mate was on eggs. He was far away from me so these images have been cropped significantly and some of them are sharper than others.
At one point he gave me a nice wing lift and I guess he figured that as long as he had his tail up and out of the way he might as well defecate.
I really don’t have an undue fascination with poop but with birds things happen so quickly that I often instinctively fire off a burst when their behavior changes to make sure I don’t miss anything interesting. That means I take a lot of “poop shots”. So when this guy let loose, especially since he was performing a wing stretch at the same time, I fired away.
But this time the string of excrement just kept comin’ and comin’…
until the flying poop looked to be approaching 3′ long.
I’ve seen raptors slice many thousands of times over the years but I thought this was a particularly impressive performance. The poor bird must have been “backed up” all the way to his gizzard!
Even the hawk seemed impressed as he looked back at his handiwork. After this shot I left the bird and drove down the road looking for other subjects figuring nothing could top that performance.
I suppose these are just “novelty shots” but hey – it’s Saturday morning. What better time for it?
Ron
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who shares these personal moments. I just discovered your blog and am enjoying your commentary along with your photos. Thanks for sharing!
I couldn’t help but laugh endlessly at your “poop shots.” 🙂 Impressive as it was!
Ron,
Impressive.
Stephen
I wonder why that slice of juice, AKA “sluice”, curved instead of shooting out straight….(can’t help wondering about weird stuff…sorry!)
Air resistance, Patty. The leading end had a side-glob coming off it forming a “Y” shape that would have more air resistance than the rest of the “projectile”. That (in addition to the fact that that end is thicker than the rest leading to more air resistance) would slow the leading end down and force it into a curved shape.
At least that’s my theory…
Thank you…that makes sense…
Patty, the answer to your question is basically, gravity works 🙂
These comments today were very mirth inspiring, Thanks to everyone.
🙂
Wow. You should try scraping that off carriers and cages. They need to make paint that sticks as well.
I’ve tried getting it off of other things, April. Ain’t easy!
Better out than in. Much, much better. I assume flying was easier after as well.
And huge thanks to Laura for her lesson as well.
“Better out than in”
That’s for darned sure!
Longwings (falcons) almost always mute and rouse (not necessarily in that order) before they fly in a falconry context. The falconer holds their fist high and waits for those two happenings to happen. Sometimes they take their sweet time, surveying their options, gathering weather information that’s pertinent to flying. Then, they’re off.
I failed to mention that Harris’ hawks are somewhere in between buteos and longwings. They slice, but nowhere near as far as redtails and not as vertical as longwings.
Have I mentioned that I love raptors, birds, critters, oh never mind 🙂
I never cease to learn from your Blogs. I’ve never thought much about this subject, but this series of photos are amazing. You raise my awareness on this and so many other topics. Thank you.
Good to know, Alice. Thank you.
Clearly the person who coined the phrase “eats like a bird” was unfamiliar with this end of the process! Great series, Ron!
Clearly!
Although most of what we see is white uric acid – a nitrogenous waste similar to urine rather than digestive wastes.
Oh my — now THAT’S a poop shot! Or, slice if we must be precise. Oh the beautiful Red-tail! Brilliant photography, Ron, another “you are there” adventure for those of us unlikely to ever see such a thing up close & personal (thank goodness). And now I kind of wish I was on Facebook so I could see those scoring competitions Deborah mentioned. 😁
Chris, from what I saw there’s all the poop on that page you’d ever want to see!
Haha! I learn so much from this blog and all the reader’s comments!
Good. So do I, Joanne.
He’s just makin’ room for breakfast! 😉 It was enough of an event to knock one of his feathers askew.
Marty, this same bird had a (different) feather askew in one of my previous posts. Perhaps he needs to pay more attention to his grooming.
Quite a series! When I worked the birdshow at Hogle Zoo, I occasionally saw this behavior on the stage (but never so much!). The various birds that flew over the 300-500 members of the audience never once let go of their load while in flight. However, many years ago on a California beach, a soaring gull let go and got me on the arm. Ouch.
I too have been bombed by a gull, Utahbirdlover. And starlings poop from the air regularly.
Mainly on our car’s windshield…
You KNOW I LOVE this series! I’m a fool for redtails (and other raptors, birds, critters…oh never mind! 🙂 But there’s just something super special about redtails in my world.
Second rule of falconer–don’t ever stand behind a redtail with its tail up or going up 🙂 (First rule is make sure the talons are under control at all times). But, think of redtails as a critter that can fire out mutes 6 to 8 feet like a Super Soaker loaded with stucco. With redtails (and other buteos) and Harris’ hawks, it’s called a slice, which is another one of those ancient falconry terms (I LOVE ancient falconry language!). Slice, from the Dutch “sluis,” means the horizontal channel with a head gate. You do your own anatomy analogies there. It was used to describe the actual splotch of the slice–the slice being the act of shootage.
For the falcons, it’s called a mute or the straight downward slice of a longwing (falcon). They’re much more polite than hawks. The mute is “the straight-downward slice of a longwing (they’re much more polite than hawks). Also in falconry, the (peregrine) falcon is presumed to be the female. The male is called a tiercel. There are other words for the males, like the gyrkin–the female is the gyrfalcon.
As a falconer, you get to learn way more about poop than you ever thought possible!
And now y’all are ready for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. You’re welcome! HEHE!
Really interesting, Laura!
“Super Soaker loaded with stucco” — great analogy, Laura! Love the lesson on raptor excrement, too …. 😄
Glad you enjoyed it! As a falconer, you get to learn way more about poop than you ever thought possible 🙂
Thank you for the interesting lesson(s), Laura.
You’re welcome Ron. I’m just full of useless information 🙂
Poop Power Points: When most birds “slice” are they (usually but not always) “grounded”? i remember you saying they often do this when rousing and just before taking off. I know from personal experience gulls and Canada geese open the “bomb bay doors” during flight—and that when banding gulls, they’ll regurgitate and defecate on you at the the same time (slickers and hats are mandatory!!!)…
Patty, Yes, most birds slice while “grounded” but not all every time. I’ve seen several varieties of shorebirds and waders do it in the air. And as has been mentioned, gulls are (in)famous for it.
Ron, there is actually a Facebook page that celebrates this with occasional competition scoring . It’s called “Scatastic”. Thanks for sharing your bird tales/photographs!
I checked that page out, Deborah. It’s a bit much for me… 🙂
WOW! Glad nothing was behind him! 🙂
Especially me!
Shit happens….
Yup, it does.
WOW, VBG!, Never seen that before, but to be honest haven’t shot any slice, poop, shots! Have to admit that was some defecation!! Sure looks like 3 feet long, ah what a relief he obviously felt!
Thanks for sharing.
“what a relief he obviously felt”
That says it all, Dick.
Love your humor!
That’s good to hear, Dave. Thanks.
LOL… of course… once again, “Thank you?” for sharing ALL your experiences with us. LOL
You’re very welcome, CaJ.
Clearly a strong ‘inner core’ that any Pilates enthusiast would be proud of! Thanks for this look into this fascinating display!
Inner core is right!