Red-tailed Hawks Nesting on High Power Tower

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) Eyas

I’ve been chronicling this pair of Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and submitting their breeding records to Cornell Lab for the last four years. Last year was not so good as the pair hatched two eyas and lost them after a huge storm in late May.

I never saw them at the nest after that storm and I guess I’ll never know what happened. You can see the last photos and video I took of them with the male bringing a snake back to the nest for mama hawk’s dinner.

This day, the hawks were very vigilant as they were both near the tower where they built the new nest last year.

Here’s mama on the old nest across the tower from the eyas.

And dad above her at the top of the tower.

Just a few weeks ago, there were two eyas in the nest and now there is one. I have no idea what happened to the other chick but it looks like they will have an easier time with the single eyas this year.

As you can see from the video, these photos are digiscoped from quite a distance.

Red-tailed Hawk Eyas at Nest

Red-tailed Hawk Eyas at Nest

Red-tailed Hawk Eyas at Nest

As the female perched on the old nest like a statue, the adult male was quite active and vocal, calling from nearby trees and towers. Here he is wondering what this Bullock’s Oriole is doing in his territory.

Red-tailed Hawk and Bullock's Oriole

Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a Red-tailed Hawk webcam with awesome videos you can see at their channel. I have embedded this one showing two eyas being fed and the third egg being pipped.

For more more up to the minute news on bird conservation issues, check my “Birds in the News” page, brought to you by the American Bird Conservancy. You will also find posts on local birds and birding in California on my blog The Birder’s Report.

Larry Jordan

Larry Jordan is an avid birder and amateur photographer living on the Pacific Flyway near the Central Valley of Northern California. He is a board member of his local Audubon Society and is a bird and wildlife conservationist. Larry contributes to several wildlife conservation organizations and is a BirdLife International "Species Champion." He is also Habitat Manager for the Burrowing Owl Conservation Network, an organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of the Western Burrowing Owl population in the United States. Larry has been blogging about birds since September of 2007 at TheBirdersReport.com

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