Red-tailed Hawks: “Stay Away”

The loud screeching screams of the two Red-tailed Hawks sent a clear message: I was in their nesting territory of Eliza Howell Park and I was not welcome.

The Red-tailed Hawk, a large raptor (about 20 inches long with a 45 – 50 inch wingspan), regularly nests in the park.

         Note: All the photos here were taken by Margaret Weber.

By the middle of February, the resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks has usually claimed its nesting territory and is protecting it. For most of their long breeding season, I avoid going close to their nest, but early in the year I usually walk the probable area once in order to verify that they are again intending to nest here and to observe their territory-protecting behavior.

I cannot decide if the call of this hawk is best described as a screech or a scream, so I think of it as a “screeching scream.” It has been used for decades in movies and on TV to depict the scary call of any large raptor, including a Bald Eagle. Listening to the call of the Red-tailed Hawk and the call of the Bald Eagle (via a Google search) will explain the movie maker’s preference for the hawk call to depict a scary atmosphere when showing a picture of an eagle.

I was impressed again this year at how scary the loud screeching screams of the Red-tailed Hawk really are, especially when I know that the two birds circling overhead are screaming directly at me. As soon as I confirmed that the nest they used last year is still intact and that they are patrolling that specific area, I left, at an increased walking speed.

Their nest is made up of piled sticks with an inner cup of bark and vegetation. They often use the same nest more than once. The picture here is of one that they used in Eliza Howell a few years ago, before it fell.

Though it can often be identified by the reddish tail when flying (see picture above), the Red Tail is usually best recognized by the dark belly band clearly visible when it perches.

Red-tailed hawks primarily eat rodents and other small mammals, occasionally including reptiles and birds. They have two hunting patterns, soaring or perching. They are the hawks most commonly seen perched on trees and poles along highways, apparently a good place to wait for a rodent to show.

If I have a bird-watching specialty, it is locating bird nests and showing them on field trips.

Red-tailed Hawks, probably the same pair, have nested for years in Eliza Howell Park. Yet I have very seldom guided others to see their nest. When they scream at me as loudly as they did last week, I have a definite sense that they are much more disturbed by nest watchers than most other species. I try to respect that.

And I don’t like being screamed at.

 

Finding Nesting Birds in EHP: 2018 Report

Each year since 2010, I keep a record of the bird species that I observe nesting in Eliza Howell Park. As of July 1, I have seen 22 different species actively nesting in the park this year. It is possible that I will still add to the number (last year I found American Goldfinches, a late-nesting species, building nests in July), but this seems like a good time to report.

This list is only of those species whose nests I actually find, and does not include those I only see carrying food for their young or feeding fledglings; I need to actually find the nest. The total number of species over the 9 years is 34.

At the bottom, I list the 22 species. The pictures, all taken in 2018 in EHP, provide a few examples of experiencing the nests.

The latest found is also one that I have not found in the park prior to this year – Red-eyed Vireo. The nest, built the last week of June, is likely the second brood for this pair.

Photo by Margaret Weber

Note how the vireo has twisted its body around to look at us, without getting off the eggs.

Much earlier in the nesting season I came across this ground nest of a Killdeer. It is not much of a nest in terms of construction, but is wonderfully camouflaged. (For more on this, see my April 24 post, “Killdeer: A Story of Nest and Eggs.”)

Normally, I find a nest only when the bird’s behavior leads me to it; it is unusual to find nests by simply looking for nests. But, occasionally, I see a nest before I see the bird. In April, when shrubs were still free of leaves, I saw this nest.

Revisiting it, I found a female Northern Cardinal incubating. One day, when she was absent, I took a picture of the inside.

Most birds that nest in Eliza Howell are quite featherless and helpless when they first hatch (Killdeer, duck, and goose hatchlings are the only exceptions). American Robins are the most common nesting species in Eliza Howell and I stole a very quick picture of the inside of one nest shortly after hatching.

The Blue Jays being fed below are much further developed.

Photo by Margaret Weber

I wrote a couple weeks ago about watching a pair of Mourning Doves building a nest (posted June 13). At last look, incubation continues. This is probably the male on the eggs. I cannot tell that from observation, but those who study Mourning Doves report that the male usually takes the day shift and the female the night shift.

Photo by Margaret Weber

——-

Nests found in 2018          (** = nest in tree cavity)

• Red-tailed Hawk
• Killdeer
• Mourning Dove
• Rock Pigeon
• Red-bellied Woodpecker**
• Northern Flicker**
• Downy Woodpecker **
• Barn Swallow
• Tree Swallow**
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Eastern Phoebe
• Eastern Kingbird
• Blue Jay
• American Robin
• Eastern Bluebird (bird box)
• Red-eyed Vireo
• Yellow Warbler
• European Starling **
• Common Grackle
• Baltimore Oriole
• Orchard Oriole
• Northern Cardinal

Finding nesting birds is definitely a highlight of my spring and early summer. Thanks to Detroit Audubon field trips, every June since 2011 I have had the opportunity to share some of this excitement with others.

Red-tailed Hawk Nest: The Beginning of the 2018 Bird Nest Season

About the middle of February, I commented that the behavior of two Red-tailed Hawks indicated that they would likely nest in Eliza Howell Park again this year. I can now report that I have found the nest. It’s great to have this raptor nesting in the park again!

Photo by Margaret Weber

The basic strategy for successful bird nest hunting is to let the bird lead one to the nest. Using three pieces of information:

• where I have most frequently seen the hawks soaring during the last month;
• the fact that they call/scream most when I walk in a particular section of the park;
• the location of last year’s nest (they are one species that may re-use a nest from the previous year);

I knew the general area in which to look. The plan was for a one-time-only approach, simply to confirm the fact of nesting. After that I would observe only from a long distance to minimize disturbance.

Because there are no leaves on the trees yet, the nest was not hard to find.

The nest is bulky, made of twigs with a finer lining inside, and may be over a foot deep. Hawks can be in a high nest like this without being visible from below. Right after I took this picture, a hawk flew out and scolded me. I headed away immediately, satisfied. It is likely that there are 2-3 eggs in the nest, which need to be incubated for about a month.

This begins one of my favorite annual bird-watching activities, locating active bird nests. I observe an “active” bird nest when I see it being built or see a bird on it or entering it/exiting it. I don’t consider a nest without the bird an active nest. In the winter, when leaves are down, I often see additional no-longer active nests that I have missed during the previous breeding season.

In each of the last three years, I have located the active nests of at least 16 different species in Eliza Howell Park. Over the years, I have found the nests of 37 different species here.

Most are song bird species and each year in early June, Detroit Audubon sponsors a breeding bird walk in Eliza Howell Park during which I can guide participants in their observation of nests and nesting bird behavior. Baltimore Orioles are among the EHP nesters each year.

Photo by Margaret Weber

Invitation:

The 2018 Detroit Audubon Breeding Bird field trip in Eliza Howell Park is Saturday, June 9, from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 10:30 a.m. Detroit Audubon membership is not required. Anyone interested is welcome.

Red-tailed Hawk: Soaring, Screaming, Nesting

It was a very good February sighting: I recently watched as a pair of Red-tailed Hawks soared together over Eliza Howell Park. It reminded me that nesting season is getting close.

Red-tailed Hawk pairs usually stay together for years and nest in the same territory, sometimes in the same nest. So this soaring duo is probably the same pair that has nested in the park in the last few years. I haven’t named them (as some New Yorkers have named the hawks of Central Park), but maybe that would be a good idea.

These large hawks (wingspan = about 50 inches) are year-round residents and are most commonly seen soaring.

Photo by Margaret Weber

Red-tailed Hawks nest early; March is the time to look for the nest. While the first sign of a breeding pair in the area is their soaring together, it is the bird’s cry that helps me locate the nest. Red-tails are territorial and patrol their territory looking for intruders. When they see something in their nesting territory, they give their shrill cry, appropriately described, I think, as a scream. When I get screamed at every time I walk through a particular section of the park, I know I am pretty close to the nest.

American movie makers must have decided long ago that the Red-tailed Hawk cry is just what a raptor should sound like because they have almost always used their scream whenever they show any flying eagle or hawk, of whatever species.

Red-tails build their nests in trees, using branches and twigs, usually 40 feet high or higher. This is their EHP nest a few years ago, built in the woods over a vernal pond.

          Photo by Margaret Weber

Red-tailed Hawks soar frequently, but they do most of their hunting from a perch, from which they will fly down to grab prey on the ground. They eat mostly rodents and other small mammals, though they will sometimes eat birds and insects. These are the hawks that are often seen in the winter perched on trees and poles along interstate highways, probably searching for small animals in the ditches along the road.

          Photo by Margaret Weber

When the perched Red-tail is seen from the front, the red tail is not visible. The best identifying marks are the dark splotches across the belly. When seen soaring, another characteristic feature is the dark bar on each wing near the shoulder (see first picture above). The reddish tail is often evident on the flying bird, especially when the top of the tail is visible.

          Photo by Margaret Weber

It is great to see that the/a pair of Red-tailed Hawks is again likely to nest in the park this year. In the next few weeks, I will watch for the soaring pair and will listen for the territorial screaming at me. While I will look for the nest, I will try not to get too close. I don’t want them to see me as a threatening intruder.