Red Tailed Hawk
While watering our new eycalyptus trees, I spotted a hawk sitting in the shade of the willow tree by the pond. It was a tamed bird used in falconry that had escaped. Leather straps were around its feet. It just sat, calm and still, on the ground, eyeing the duck in the pond. For some reason, it would not fly away.
We protected the hawk by locking up our two dogs. We called Tehama Wild Care (530-347-1687) and Karen Scheuermann came out to rescue this large hawk.
“The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a medium-sized bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the “chickenhawk.” It breeds almost throughout North America from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common buteos in North America.
It is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo in North America, weighing from 690 to 2000 grams (1.5 to 4.4 pounds) and measuring 45–65 cm (18 to 26 in) in length, with a wingspan from 110 to 145 cm (43 to 57 in). The Red-tailed Hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, as females are 25% larger than males. Red-tailed Hawk plumage can be variable, depending on the subspecies. These color variations are called morphs, and a Red-tailed Hawk may be light, dark, or rufous.
The Red-tailed Hawk is successful in large part because it tolerates a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, tropical rainforests, agricultural fields and urban areas. It lives throughout the North American continent, except in areas of unbroken forest or the high arctic.It is also legally protected in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
The Red-tailed Hawk is a popular bird in falconry, particularly in North America. Approximately 60% of all raptors under 1 year of age taken from the wild for use in American falconry are Red-tailed Hawks. The Red-tailed Hawk also has significance in Native American culture. Its feathers are considered sacred by some tribes, and are used in religious ceremonies.”
- Red Tailed Hawk - Wikipedia
Raptors of California. By Hans Peeters and Pam Peeters. California Natural History Guides. Berkeley, University of California Press, 2005. ISBN:0520242009.
Birds we have spotted at our home in Red Bluff California.