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Abstract

In the mid-20th century California's breeding population of Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) decreased precipitously, and its range contracted. But for reasons not yet clear, since the 1990s the population has increased and the birds have begun to recolonize areas from which they had long been extirpated. Among those areas are the Coast Ranges of central California, in Santa Clara and San Benito counties. In this issue of Western Birds, Stephanie Klein, Larry Baer, and Ryan A. Phillips report their monitoring of up to five pairs nesting in this area in 2019 and 2020. Notably, they found the hawks foraging in farmland even more than in grassland, while avoiding urban development. Merlin Parental Behavior and Chick Development as Revealed by Webcam