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Weekly Update on our Four Red-shouldered Hawk Nestlings



Today (Sunday, May 21) marks the 26th day since the first of our family of
four young Red-shouldered Hawks was hatched in a nest in a tall Hickory Tree
in our yard in Chapel Hill.  We are happy to report that all four young are
doing fine - they really look like young hawks now: standing upright on the
edge of the nest in that typical hawk stance, looking every bit like they
are ready to fly.  However Ehrlick, The Birder's Handbook, gives a range of
days for fledging of Red-shouldered Hawks of 39-45 days.  We will be
watching them daily for the next few weeks to see when they actually fly.
Since we only get a chance to watch for about 45 minutes each day, we would
be glad to have a volunteer who has some time to help us keep a record of
the hawk behavior.  As far as we are aware, it would be highly unusual to
fledge four young in one brood.

Up until a few days ago it was difficult to see any difference in stage of
development among the four - they all seem exactly the same size, and all
look perfectly healthy.  For all four, the wing, back, tail and breast
feathers have now developed their distinct colors: brown on the wings and
back, reddish/brown spotting and a rufous tinge to the breast and distinct
white banding on the brown tail (white under tail coverts).  The
furry-looking leggings are still white.  The main difference which became
noticable during the past few days is that one of the young hawks seems
about three days behind the others in developing brown (streaky) feathers on
the top of the head.  The one furthest behind still has a mostly white head,
but with dark spotting where the feathers are now coming in.

The parents continue to bring food, but they seem to be tiring; at first one
came every fifteen minutes or so with some item of food.  They still come
more than once per hour but it has slowed down.  The young hawks also
participate more in pecking at the carcass of a rodent trying to tear the
meat off.  Small snakes are usually swallowed whole by the young hawk who
grabs it first.  We have seen a number of tugs-of-war, but this has never
degenerated into anything that could be considered a fight.  The nest is
crowded, but we have been impressed at how amicably they all get along in
the crowded space.  We are glad to have visitors come see the hawks - please
give us a call (919-929-8679) to arrange a time.  And please bring a
telephoto lens for your camera.

> Alan and Sally Johnston
> Chapel Hill, North Carolina
> agj@rti.org
> 

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