Red-tailed Hawks past revealed

These photos here were taken a couple weeks before the Making a Scene incident. Before I was able to retrieve the full band #. Before I finally found out what happened to this bird that caused it to need rehabilitation.

These photos were also taken in our driveway while Mr. RTH sat on top of the basketball backboard. No sign of being afraid of us that's for sure!

So do you want to know what I found out?

After several attempts at contacting the correct person I was finally put in touch with the place that actually banded and rehabbed this RTH. Amy Titcomb from the York Center for Wildlife knows this Hawk well and was very excited to hear he is still alive:

Hi Sharon,
Thanks so much for contacting us about the red-tail!
We admitted this bird April 8 2008, after he was found on the ground at the Sagamore Golf Club in North Hampton. A full exam revealed that he had been shot with bird shot (they are protected and shooting them is against federal law, but there was no way of knowing who shot him). He had wounds to his shoulder, abdomen, leg, and toe. The toe was fractured and some tendons were exposed on the leg. We splinted the toe and treated the wounds for several weeks. By May 2, his wounds were healed and the toe fracture was relatively stable; the toe was fully healed by May 12 and we moved him to an outdoor enclosure. On May 20, we banded him and released him back to North Hampton.
We are all so excited to hear that he's still alive! Could you tell me more about him? How often do you see him? How were you able to read the band number?
Thanks again for contacting us!
Amy Titcomb
Operations Director
The Center for Wildlife

I have since responded to Amy's email but have yet to hear back from her. At least now I know a bit of his history and how he came to be banded. Hopefully he'll continue to live a long and healthy life free from wreckless gun owners.

Our neighborhood Red-tailed Hawk makes a scene!

On Saturday afternoon I pulled into our neighborhood after picking my daughter up from work. There were several cars pulled over and I couldn't figure out what the fuss was all about until I saw this ....

Oh jeesh, he's at it again!

The RTH that is always hanging around our neighborhood was sitting on top of someone's Volvo with a dead squirrel, holding a captive audience.

Immediately I pulled over and started taking pictures. I also told my daughter she would have to walk home because I wasn't missing this. It's okay though, our house is only next door.

I took a couple hundred pictures so there's isn't any way to show you as many as I would like on my blog. Plus some of them are rather graphic, so if you would like to see more please click on the photo album below.

Red-tailed Hawk

Just a side note. After trying for a year I was finally able to retrieve the full band # from his leg. Talk about exciting! I sent it out right away to a gentleman (Danny) who had been trying to help me ID this RTH recently. This is what he emailed back:

Thanks for getting the number. This is a rehabilitated bird banded in Maine in 2008. Its behavior suggests that it probably imprinted on humans during the rehabilitation process. This is an example of why we are not keen on the banding of rehabilitated birds. Often such birds get themselves into some kind of mischief or other and we end up getting a bad rap because the bird was banded.

What kind of mischief do you think Danny's talking about? He also recommended I report this bird to www.reportband.gov, which I did. They told me he was banded on May 20, 2008 to be exact and will email me a Certificate of Appreciation with additional information about this bird. When I find out more I'll let you know!

Red-tailed Hawk feast

 

I came home a few nights ago to find this handsome Red-tailed Hawk having dinner (a la Red Squirrel) on the next door neighbors front yard. No narrative needed for the rest of the pictures but I will warn you in advance, it gets a little gross.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographing a bird in flight seems to be a real challenge for me. Some people have it and some don’t. So far, I don’t. 

I can’t be sure, and find it hard to believe, but judging by what I can read on the band # along with the markings on this Hawk, I’m actually thinking it’s the same one that frequented our neighborhood last year on a regular basis.

Red Tailed Hawk

Handsome, isn't he? Though Red Tailed Hawks aren't exactly rare where we live, seeing one perched on the lines over our driveway is. And to see him/her there twice in 3 days is somewhat of a thrill. Judging by the reaction of an American Gold Finch, whom you can't see on the wire above, it's anything but! The whole time the Hawk was sitting there the Gold Finch was chattering away, sending out the alarm to all the other birds, who seemed to know exactly what he was saying. Seems to me he was putting himself in harms way, but maybe it's that old adage about keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer.

Last night as I scanned the pictures I had taken yesterday morning, this one was by far my favorite. My husband came over to look it since it was pretty impressive. As I scrolled in, low and behold, he has a band on his leg! Click on the picture to see him up close and personal! Try as I might there is just no way to read the #'s, but I reported him anyway, along with his picture. If you ever find a bird with a band, please report it. Many volunteers spend hours upon hours banding thousands of birds. Unfortunately very few are ever actually recovered.

As we looked at his very impressive talons we realized he was resting on one foot with the other one tucked up into his chest. Somehow I don't think he was much of a threat. Mostly just taking a rest. He didn't seem to even notice me ... though I doubt that was the case.

Because of the way the sun was shining on his front side the red of his tail feathers didn't show up. He was a looker all the same ; ) Needless to say, Winston stayed inside for a while.


For more information on how a Hawk is banded you may check out this wonderful POST on Birdchick's blog. Being a woman who loves birds I found her blog to be quite interesting as well as something I would love to do!