There is an old saying, "You can pick your home, but you can't pick your neighbors". I never thought I would understand that saying more than when we moved into our new home here in Florida, when we found ourselves in the middle of territory controlled by one noisy neighbor.
It wasn't too long after we were settled in our new home, that we noticed our new neighbors, a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks. One morning, I looked out the back door, and I saw a beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk sitting on the top of a pole in our backyard. I was startled, for we have never seen one so close before, and here he was, just sitting there perfectly still.
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Watch A Movie Clip Of A Red-shouldered Hawk
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I quickly grabbed my camera, and ran out the door to hopefully snap off a few frames of him, for I thought I would never have this opportunity again. I got as close as I thought I could before I scared him off his perch. He never even flinched, so I kept moving just a little bit closer. He never cared, and he let me get less than ten-feet away, so close, I was able to get portraits of this gorgeous hawk.
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View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk On A Pole
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Calling To It's Mate
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Screaming
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Looking For Prey
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Close-up
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Little did I realize that we moved right smack-dab in the middle of a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks territory, for we see them just about everyday. If we don't see them, we certainly hear the pair, for they can be heard several times during the day screaming to one another from sun-up to sun-down. We are so used to seeing and hearing them, we have given the pair the nickname "Crazy Hawks", for they are a treat to watch right out our backdoor.
Red-shouldered Hawks are perhaps one of the most vocal of the American hawks and are a medium-sized to large hawk for they are smaller than the common Red-Tailed Hawk. Their size is around 17-24 inches with a wingspan of 37-44 inches. They weigh around 1-2 lbs. They have rusty red coloring on the upper part of their wing, hence the name Red-Shouldered Hawk. They have a long tail with thin white bands and wide black bands. Their legs are yellow and their eyes are black. The males and females look identical but the females can be larger. In Florida, we have a paler form of the Red-Shouldered Hawk.
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View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Sitting In A Tree
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Taking To The Air
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk On The Hunt
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Looking For It's Mate
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk At Sunrise
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Red-Shouldered Hawks live and nest and hunt in forests and woodland areas near water and swamps. They prefer large areas of older mixed deciduous/conifer woodlands. This hawk uses the same territory for years. Succeeding generations may return to the same territory. This shows the importance and the need to preserve the forests and woodlands that provides these beautiful birds and other animals with the taller and older trees such as pines and oaks. They also perch and hunt in open areas and fields.
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Listen To The Sounds Of A Pair Of Red-shouldered Hawks
(MP3 Format - :14 - 176KB)
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We have a mating pair that we have observed who had two little ones of their own in which they taught them how to perch and hunt also in open areas and fields. Red-Shouldered Hawks eat small mammals such as mice and voles, birds, reptiles, amphibians, crayfish and we have even observed them snacking on earth worms, and one day we counted them eating over a dozen in less than ten-minutes, as one day, one of the hawks was picking them off as he sat up on our pole, and was able to see the worms as they came to the surface in the grass. He would swoop down onto the lawn, and snack away on them.
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View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Sitting In Our Backyard
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk On The Ground
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Eating A Worm
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Taking Off
View Photo Of A Red-shouldered Hawk Flying Overhead
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Red-shouldered Hawks nest is what looks like a large bowl of sticks. They may use dried leaves, Spanish moss, fine bark, strips of bark and dried leaves. The female lays 2-5 dull white or bluish eggs that have brown blotches and markings. The eggs are incubated for around 28- 33 days. Both the male and female feed the young. The young stay in the nest for 35-45 days. Juveniles are similar to the adults, except they lack the cinnamon color on their chests. They have white chests with dark spots. They also lack the red/rusty coloring or mark on their upper wings, and these markings that give the Red-Shouldered Hawk it's name, and is one of our favorites.
Article Written By Dawn La Follette