Red-shouldered Hawk: Activities

The red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus, busardo hombrorrojo, Rotschulterbussard, Buse à épaulettes) is a medium-sized bird of prey (raptor) in woodland.

Diet of Red-shouldered Hawk

The diet of red-shouldered hawks varies with regions. The main items includes small mammals (e.g., voles, gophers, chipmunks and mice), amphibians (e.g., frogs and toads), reptiles (e.g. small snakes), arthropod (e.g., crayfish and large insects), and small birds. *

Red-shouldered hawks occasionally catch fish. As shown in the following video, the hawk caught a fish in its feet, as resting on tree before taking flight:

Red-shouldered hawks would also eat earthworms (as they crawling out of the ground after rain). As shown in the following video, the parent brings back a big earthworm in its beak for its chicks:


* Generic description of diet is based on Wikipedia & Audubon.

Chicks/Fledglings of Red-shouldered Hawk

The nest is built with sticks in a major fork of a large tree by the breeding pair. Here is a video showing three chicks of red-shouldered hawk resting in their nest:

Young hawks leave the nest at about five to seven weeks of age after hatching. The following video shows some activities of a juvenile red-shouldered hawk on tree trunk near nest in the last day before fledging (while all of its siblings have left the nest):

The fledglings will be fed by parents until they are 17 to 19 weeks old.

Calls of Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-shouldered hawks make clear clear whistled calls to claim their territory and provide alarms. Here is a video recording the calls of a hawk near its nest:


1 Comment

babygraz.com

September 29, 2019 at 7:55 am

Female remains with young most of time for first 1-3 weeks after they hatch; male brings food, female feeds it to nestlings. Young leave the nest at about 5-7 weeks after hatching, and are fed by parents for another 8-10 weeks.

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