100 More species #66: Red-tailed hawk

[urbpan]

Red-tailed hawk Buteo jamaicensis

This hawk landed in one of the Norway maples in the back yard. It missed an opportunity to size up a pit bull puppy as a potential meal by about 30 seconds. We see red-tails in the neighborhood frequently, not quite daily. More often we hear them call--but more often than that we hear blue jays imitating their call. Our neighbors who keep chickens are on constant hawk watch, because apparently the red-tails land in their yard and look at the cooped-up tastiness therein.

Red-tailed hawks are conspicuous and attractive members of the urban ecosystem, earning them a frequent spot in this blog. It was 365 urban species #45.

Comments

[bosoxmom.livejournal.com]

Do you know if Stellar jays imitate hawks? I thought I heard a hawk in a tree in the front yard, on 2 occasions and the only bird I saw was a Stellar jay....

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't know, but I suspect that they do.

[dragonwrites.livejournal.com]

We just drove through Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri and we saw dozens of them! Some smaller hawks, too. And I'm pretty sure I saw an eagle.