Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk
This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a very intriguing bird. These photos are as close as they appear, and it paid zero attention or regard to anyone or anything going on around it. The hawk enjoys sitting on wires and poles, occasionally glancing at someone if they are very loud or very close in a more curious than scared way. It seems likely that this goes beyond a case of being “young and dumb” which happens often enough in raptors with juvenile birds being too bold, too trusting, or too confident. This is probably a bird who grew up in an urban environment...
Read MoreRed-tailed Hawk
I recently found this calm, cool and collected Red-tailed Hawk hanging out over a pond and not minding a few gawkers like myself passing by for a look and a photo or two. Some birds are just more habituated to humans than others, and this one was content to sit here peacefully – even the songbirds were not paying it any attention. Occasionally it would look down at the frogs below, perhaps pondering about having them as a snack or looking for a snake. For the most part mammals are the biggest part of the menu for them, and maybe this bird was being inquisitive more than anything else....
Read MoreRainy Red-tailed Hawk
This drenched Red-tailed Hawk was another bird being impacted by the weather and seen yesterday by our friend Gale VerHague, this time at the Dunkirk Airport. It doesn’t feel like rain today in Chautauqua County, does it? That will be the end of that for some time! Let’s see how much snow we can bank up this week.
Read MoreHunting Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
This Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is on the hunt and you can tell this is the case by seeing where its head and eyes are pointed – straight down. It is also holding its wings and tail in positions for a lazy, floating flight. While it is not hovering it is using the wind to slowly comb over the landscape in search of small mammals. Even if you are far from the bird, like I was in this photo, you can often still see the distinctive “belly band” of dark splotches across the white undersides. We are about to hit the peak of their migration in the Northeast so be on the...
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