Thesis advisor: Marilynn Johnson / This dissertation is a study of how the pursuit, advent, and popular response to professional sports in Atlanta both shaped and reflected the region’s evolving political and consumer culture during the 1960s and 1970s. It examines the concerted effort by municipal elites during this time period to acquire professional sports franchises for their city and its environs. Atlanta’s leadership succeeded at luring four major professional sports franchises to Atlanta in a six-year period (1966-1972) by securing significant public and private investments in two playing facilities in the Central Business District (CBD). Scholars of the economic history of professional sports describe the increasing geographic mobility of the major leagues in the post-World War II era as “franchise free agency.” Atlanta took advantage of this expanding market by making civic investments in two playing venues as a means of attracting franchises. This dissertation analyzes how the emerging metropolis’ negotiation of “franchise free agency” reshaped the culture, public policy, and urban planning of Atlanta. It shows how Atlanta provided a model employed by future Sunbelt cities as they pursued professional teams of their own, often luring clubs from Rust Belt cities with similarly lucrative offers of public support. This dissertation proceeds to analyze the response to professional sports in Metropolitan Atlanta in the decade after it achieved major league status. The city’s elites assumed that residents would embrace the teams and transform their tony playing facilities into twin focal points of leisure and communal pride. Instead, Atlantans from all of the region’s racial, socio-economic, and residential clusters responded apathetically to the teams. The collective shrug with which Atlantans reacted to their new franchises demonstrated the growing cultural divergence which characterized life in the booming Sunbelt center over the course of the 1960s and 1970s. In subsequent decades, civic elites in other rapidly growing Sunbelt centers believed, like their predecessors in Atlanta, that municipal investments in professional sports would provide their communities with a wellspring of unity and prestige. Residents of these metropolitan areas responded to their new stadiums and teams in the 1980s and 1990s with an apathy similar to that of Atlantans toward their teams during the 1960s and 1970s. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History.

Telemetric observations were conducted on a pair of Sharp-Shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus velox) nesting in Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah in 1972. The movements of both adults were monitored from the time their eggs hatched in late June until they left the study area in early August, fourty-two days later. A transmitter was also attached to one of the young at the time of fledging. The adult's main hunting area was a single plant community located 1600 meters from the nest. The male performed the majority of the foraging while the female spent the greatest part of her time at the nest. Information on sixty-one Sharp-shinned Hawk nests in Utah was analyzed. The typical nest site was determined as being a small stand of coniferous trees present in a deciduous tree community. Sharp-shinned Hawks in southern Utah began nesting activities up to twenty days before the same species 350 miles away in northern Utah. Thirty-four nests averaged a clutch size of 4.3 eggs.

No description available.

Os gaviões buteoninos são aves pertencentes à família Accipitridae de distribuição cosmopolita, mas predominante na região Neotropical. Nas classificações mais tradicionais, os buteoninos incluem os gêneros Buteo, Busarellus, Buteogallus, Geranoaetus, Geranospiza, Harpyhaliaetus, Leucopternis e Parabuteo. Recentemente, dados moleculares agregaram a este subgrupo os gêneros Ictinia e Rosthramus, historicamente considerados como pertencentes a outro subgrupo da família, popularmente conhecido como kites. Neste trabalho, foi realizado um estudo da anatomia comparada do esqueleto craniano de representantes da família Accipitridae e, entre eles, amostrados os táxons historicamente relacionados aos buteoninos. Para tanto, foram analisados 98 esqueletos cranianos, totalizando 45 espécies de representantes da ordem Falconiformes, sendo selecionadas 34 como espécies terminais para as análises filogenéticas. Foram codificados 59 caracteres do esqueleto craniano para a construção da matriz, sendo esta posteriormente submetida à análise filogenética e otimização dos caracteres, de acordo com o princípio da parcimônia. Foram calculados diagramas de consenso estrito e de maioria e, em uma análise adicional, foram realizados procedimentos de ponderação sucessiva dos caracteres. Os resultados permitem o reconhecimento da subfamília Buteoninae sustentada por quatro sinapomorfias e composta pelos gêneros: Buteo, Geranoaetus, Buteogallus, Harpyhaliaetus Leucopternis e Parabuteo. Dessa maneira, o resultado aqui obtido é parcialmente discordante da maioria dos estudos moleculares sobre o grupo, uma vez que os gêneros Ictinia, Rosthramus e Geranospiza não aparecem como componentes deste clado, enquanto o gênero Busarellus mostra-se como o táxon mais basal do componente irmão de Buteoninae. / The buteonine hawks are members of the family Accipitridae with a worldwide distribution but mainly restricted to the Neotropics. Traditionally, the buteonine group has included the genera Buteo, Busarellus, Buteogallus, Geranoaetus, Geranospiza, Harpyhaliaetus, Leucopternis and Parabuteo. Recently, molecular data has indicated that two other genera, Ictinia and Rosthramus, should be incorporated in this subgroup, although historically these have been treated as representative of another family subgroup, commonly known as kites. A comparative anatomical study was made on the cranial skeleton of representatives of the family Accipitridae, including those taxa historically related to the buteonine hawks. A sample of 98 cranial skeletons of 45 species representative of the order Falconiformes was analysed, and 34 of these were selected as terminal species in the phylogenetic analyses. A total of 59 characters were used to construct a data matrix which was submitted to a phylogenetic analysis and character optimization according to the principle of parsimony. Strict and majority rule consensus trees were calculated, and in an additional analysis, successive weighting approaches were conducted. The results permit the recognition of the subfamily Buteoninae supported by four synapomorphies and comprising the genera: Buteo, Geranoaetus, Buteogallus, Harpyhaliaetus Leucopternis and Parabuteo. However, the analysis does not fully support the relationships indicated by the molecular data for the group, since the genera Ictinia, Rosthramus and also Geranospiza are excluded from this clade, while the genus Busarellus appears as the most basal taxon of the sister group to the Buteoninae.

I assumed that the reproductive strategies of the two Accipiter species investigated in this study, the northern Goshawk (A. gentilis) and the Cooper's hawk (A. cooperii), would be similar to the strategies of other monogamous raptors with sex role partitioning. Any differences in the species' reproductive strategies, particularly hunting strategies, were expected to be a function of their size differences. Contrary to predictions, results indicated that, in north-central New Mexico during brood rearing, both species had similar hunting strategies and utilized similar prey species. These results also indicated that the reproductive strategies of the Cooper's hawk were not adequately described by simple models of sex role partitioning. In this population, over 50% of the female Cooper's hawks deserted during the fledgling-dependency period and made no attempt to renest. In all cases of desertion, the male provided uniparental care until the young were independent. Based on time-energy budget estimates, the deserting females were in poorer physical condition at the time of desertion than were the nondeserting females. This was attributed to the deserter preferentially feeding the nestlings when the quantity of food delivered to the nest by either parent was inadequate to meet the family's requirements. Based on these observations, I developed a dynamic stochastic optimization model to explore the hypotheses that (1) the optimal reproductive strategy of the female Cooper's hawks is the strategy that maximizes her reproductive fitness; and (2) the major factors affecting the female's reproductive fitness and, thus, her optimal strategies are her physical condition, the physical condition of the nestlings, the risks to the nestlings associated with each strategy, and the foraging capabilities of her mate. The model defined reproductive fitness as the weighted average of the nestlings' expected survival and the female's expected reproductive potential in the next breeding season. Using independent sources for the parameters, the model validation compared the model predictions with actual observations of the behavior of radio-tagged, nesting females in this population of Cooper's hawks. The model correctly predicted 90% of the strategies exhibited by the nesting females, which supported the initial hypotheses.

No description available.

Os gaviões buteoninos são aves pertencentes à família Accipitridae de distribuição cosmopolita, mas predominante na região Neotropical. Nas classificações mais tradicionais, os buteoninos incluem os gêneros Buteo, Busarellus, Buteogallus, Geranoaetus, Geranospiza, Harpyhaliaetus, Leucopternis e Parabuteo. Recentemente, dados moleculares agregaram a este subgrupo os gêneros Ictinia e Rosthramus, historicamente considerados como pertencentes a outro subgrupo da família, popularmente conhecido como kites. Neste trabalho, foi realizado um estudo da anatomia comparada do esqueleto craniano de representantes da família Accipitridae e, entre eles, amostrados os táxons historicamente relacionados aos buteoninos. Para tanto, foram analisados 98 esqueletos cranianos, totalizando 45 espécies de representantes da ordem Falconiformes, sendo selecionadas 34 como espécies terminais para as análises filogenéticas. Foram codificados 59 caracteres do esqueleto craniano para a construção da matriz, sendo esta posteriormente submetida à análise filogenética e otimização dos caracteres, de acordo com o princípio da parcimônia. Foram calculados diagramas de consenso estrito e de maioria e, em uma análise adicional, foram realizados procedimentos de ponderação sucessiva dos caracteres. Os resultados permitem o reconhecimento da subfamília Buteoninae sustentada por quatro sinapomorfias e composta pelos gêneros: Buteo, Geranoaetus, Buteogallus, Harpyhaliaetus Leucopternis e Parabuteo. Dessa maneira, o resultado aqui obtido é parcialmente discordante da maioria dos estudos moleculares sobre o grupo, uma vez que os gêneros Ictinia, Rosthramus e Geranospiza não aparecem como componentes deste clado, enquanto o gênero Busarellus mostra-se como o táxon mais basal do componente irmão de Buteoninae. / The buteonine hawks are members of the family Accipitridae with a worldwide distribution but mainly restricted to the Neotropics. Traditionally, the buteonine group has included the genera Buteo, Busarellus, Buteogallus, Geranoaetus, Geranospiza, Harpyhaliaetus, Leucopternis and Parabuteo. Recently, molecular data has indicated that two other genera, Ictinia and Rosthramus, should be incorporated in this subgroup, although historically these have been treated as representative of another family subgroup, commonly known as kites. A comparative anatomical study was made on the cranial skeleton of representatives of the family Accipitridae, including those taxa historically related to the buteonine hawks. A sample of 98 cranial skeletons of 45 species representative of the order Falconiformes was analysed, and 34 of these were selected as terminal species in the phylogenetic analyses. A total of 59 characters were used to construct a data matrix which was submitted to a phylogenetic analysis and character optimization according to the principle of parsimony. Strict and majority rule consensus trees were calculated, and in an additional analysis, successive weighting approaches were conducted. The results permit the recognition of the subfamily Buteoninae supported by four synapomorphies and comprising the genera: Buteo, Geranoaetus, Buteogallus, Harpyhaliaetus Leucopternis and Parabuteo. However, the analysis does not fully support the relationships indicated by the molecular data for the group, since the genera Ictinia, Rosthramus and also Geranospiza are excluded from this clade, while the genus Busarellus appears as the most basal taxon of the sister group to the Buteoninae.

Feathers is a young adult novel about two knucklehead boys and a summer of mischief they share. Boots and Gopher, the two principal characters in Feathers, are twelve-year old boys who are fascinated by a loft of racing pigeons kept by a peculiar man living on the edge of their small town. The fascination leads them to steal a few pairs of pigeons in hopes of generating their own loft. Their plan is to release the adult pigeons back to the man's loft while Boots and Gopher keep the babies. In stealing the pigeons, they discover the man also houses falcons and hawks. Gopher becomes obsessed with falcons and begins a study of falconry. The obsession overrides better judgment and federal law, and the boys also steal a small kestrel falcon. They don't realize the gravity of the situation until a "wanted" poster is put up at the local feed store letting people know that a federal law has been broken. The story continues with the resolution of this conflict and the relationship that is developed between the young men and the old falconer. It is a story about consequences of seemingly simple acts; it also explores relationships between the boys and their parents, and between the boys and an unlikely mentor.

Research was conducted to determine the effect of prey numbers on the nesting success of the Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis). Conditions associated with nest site selection were also established. Frequent visits were made to active nests to determine clutch sizes, hatching dates and fledging success. Prey remains were collected from nests and analyzed. Kilometer square transects were made throughout the study area in 1974 to determine jackrabbit densities. A drastic decline in numbers of Ferruginous Hawks occurred. The number of young fledged also declined throughout the study while nestling mortality increased. Jackrabbit numbers were high in 1972 and then declined prior to the spring of 1973. The decline in hawk numbers appeared to be directly correlated with the reduction in prey densities. No directional trend was evident in nest exposure. Shade was not an apparent requirement in nest site selection. Tree nests tended to be in isolated trees that were taller than those surrounding them.

I studied the social organization of the Harris' Hawk (Parabuteo unicintus) in Arizona, 1984-1986. Breeding groups ranged in size from 2-7 and averaged 3.8 hawks. Offspring fledged during previous nesting attempts accounted for 72% of immature helpers. Aggregations averaged 5.9 hawks and were composed primarily of individuals from 2 or 3 neighboring groups. I identified 2 affiliative behaviors and 5 aggressive behaviors that Harris' Hawks used during social interactions. Behaviors that constituted overt aggression were rare in groups, but occurred in aggregations during interactions between hawks from different groups. Groups defended only their nesting areas during nonbreeding periods but defended foraging and nesting areas during breeding. Groups formed aggregations only during nonbreeding periods in specific areas between territories. I observed a peak in aggregation formation about 2.5 weeks before nesting. Open water was used frequently by nesting Harris' Hawks for drinking and bathing. Water sources were not defended and were shared by >1 group.