Photos by Ashleigh Newnes
Winter is the perfect time to spot red-tailed hawks. With the foliage gone from the trees, you can clearly see them perching on the power lines along roadsides and over open fields.
The hawks perch on trees and power lines to get the high ground over their prey (mostly, but not exclusively, rodents). They’re able to spot their prey from as high up as 100 feet and, when they do they fly above it, swoop down in the grass and snatch it with their talons.
This time of year you can see hawks hunting more frequently as they have many more mouths . . . excuse me, beaks . . . to feed.
March is a time for incubating and hatching eggs for mated hawk pairs. After pairing up at the beginning of the year, the breeding continues through February. Red-tailed hawks usually lay two or three eggs but are known to have up to five in a clutch. The male and female both will incubate the eggs together, but the female will do most of the brooding with the young, while the male supplies her and the babies with food.
The impressive nest is made up of sticks and is usually placed in a large tree in an open area. They will often add onto a nest used in previous years. The average height for the nest is 65 feet from the ground but they will build a nest anywhere from 25 to 100 feet up. Fledglings will leave the nest in mid-spring but will continue to stay with their parents for 10 more weeks.
Thankfully, the red-tailed hawk is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, making it illegal to harm, hunt, shoot, trap, cage or poison a hawk (and many other birds) anywhere in the United States. However, the hawk, like many other creatures now has to live life battling the presence of vehicles. Although it’s fun for us to be able to spot the hawks on the power lines without much effort put forth in the way of bird-watching, for them it poses a problem.
Many hawks each year (particularly in the spring, when the fledglings are leaving the nests) meet their ends at the wheels of a car. It is important at any time of year, but especially in the spring, that we keep our eyes peeled for any hawks nearby that may see a tasty snack on the opposite side of the road and fly into the oncoming traffic. If you find an injured bird, it is important that it gets taken to the correct place and gets the medical attention it needs as soon as possible.
Visit the TWRA website to find guidance on what steps to take and to find the appropriate licensed rehabilitator for the bird you are saving.
