Phenology for 11/19/12: Red-Tailed Hawk

Q. What's the difference between a red-tailed hawk and a chicken hawk? (Fair disclosure: I have the advantage of having read Scott Weidensaul's Raptor Almanac.)

A. "Red-tailed hawk" is a recognized species name in English. "Chicken hawk" is not a species name; it's a general description of any individual hawk someone has observed chasing chickens. Most often this is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk, who is smaller than a hen but is still occasionally able to dart in and grab a young chicken. Red-tails and goshawks are the only hawks big enough to try to harm an adult chicken, and they seldom try.

Hawks weren't meant to make other birds the main part of their diet. Those who do tend to gain fat and lose muscle mass, and become unhealthy. Although some states have officially declared the practice illegal, I see nothing wrong with shooting a hawk whom you have caught chasing chickens. Healthy hawks prefer a varied diet of rats and mice, fish and shellfish. There is no need to shoot them and, in fact, there are good reasons to let them fly around a farm, as long as they stay away from the chickens.

It's a funny thing about the whole hawk and eagle family...they'll all eat smaller birds (including one another) if they're hungry, but they have been known to bring a smaller bird to the nest, decide they weren't all that hungry, and keep it around as a pet. Eagles have reared red-tailed hawks this way. Hungry eaglets often shove their younger siblings out of the nest, but well-fed eaglets will accept hawks as more of the family. Red-tails have had less success rearing chickens--but this may be because chickens need more variety in their diet than a mother red-tail would provide.

I don't have a photo of the red-tail who let me get within ten feet of her on Saturday. (You can't always tell whether smaller hawks are female, immature, or members of a different species, but you can always spot the female red-tail; she's much bigger than her mate and young--almost as big as a turkey or osprey. In Texas and Mexico she's called aguililla, the "lesser eagle.")

Red-tails most often swoop in and grab something small enough to carry back to their nest. They seldom try to carry a chicken after its feathers have grown in. Despite their strong wings and fearful talons, they don't fight well on the ground; "chicken hawks" are routinely beaten and chased by bantam hens. (I have seen them hold a grudge and come back to fight these hens.) So you don't often see a red-tail standing on the ground. However, they do like venison, as much as humans do, and you do sometimes see one tearing into a road-killed deer, which is what the one I saw was doing. If undisturbed (I went around and did not disturb her) she probably carried a big chunk of meat back to her nest, but when I saw her she was just eating, for herself, as even busy mother hawks do. She must have been hungry to have let me get as close as I did, and is probably still feeding a family.

Here's another fun fact about red-tails: they don't always have red tails, or reddish-brown coats, although the one I saw did. If red tail feathers do appear, they usually appear after a red-tailed hawk is two years old. Some fully accepted, healthy members of the red-tailed hawk family are drab brown, black, white, or a combination of these colors, with no reddish feathers.

Hawks are usually seen from below, which means you see them in shadow. In that situation, you can tell the mature female red-tail by her size, but you can't always tell other hawks from crows...which is why so many birds duck into hiding when a crow flies overhead.

The National Geographic web site has a photo of a typical red-tail seen from below. Note that it's brown and white:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/red-tailed-hawk/

A site titled "The Art of Manliness: Introduction to Falconry" has a picture of a red-tail who looks almost identical to the one I saw. Scroll down and look for the caption "Red-Tailed Hawk":

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/12/30/an-introduction-to-falconry/

And here's a link for The Raptor Almanac, which contains many pictures of red-tails, pictures of every other species in the hawk and eagle family, and lots of fun facts, and is recommended:

www.amazon.com/dp/1592283586/?tag=prikinszinboo-20

(I've not posted a review here, but yes, it's A Book You Can Buy From Me. E-mail salolianigodagewi@yahoo.com if you want Scott Weidensaul to receive a share of the price.)