Red-tailed Hawk Without Red Tail...a Growing Up Event

This Red-tailed hawk is named Jesse, a name suited to either gender and given while the bird was much younger and its sex was unknown. Jesse is still not an adult  but has the size and heft of a female. Larger size almost always means female in this raptor world. Side by side, males are obviously a smaller bird. Visit the Cornell Department of Ornithology website on Red-tailed hawks to learn specifics and hear the call: About Red-tailed Hawks



"Jesse, when you get a tail worthy of your name...then we let the school kids see you.  We do have an image to uphold."  Actually, the younger hawk will get the red tail before long. Her eyes are becoming close to the rich color of adult eyes but still have a way to go.  And...since the hawks are taken one at a time to educational programs, the large lady hawk on the right might not know that Jesse has already gone to educational programs and has done very well. They now occupy the same living quarters and seem to do fine together.

About the red tail...the tail will go red and I will try to follow the events with photos. This is how it works: Birds need balance in flight and when feathers drop as part of the natural events in the bird's life, the feathers drop symmetrically. Feathers from the same relative locations will drop from the tail, left and right. Then two new ones grow and are the red color. Then, two more drop and two more grow in.  The whole time, the hawk keeps "balance" in the feathers so flight is not adversely affected. That is a neat bit of knowledge.   

Both of the Red-tailed Hawks are fed freshly thawed mice and prefer eating from a gloved hand.  This means the bird jumps onto the handler's glove and then gets to eat the mice held there. The handler holds snugly to allow a little bite at a time but with a strong tug the hawks sometimes take the whole mouse to gulp down in one bite.  Each bird is fed a specified weight of food and what is and is not eaten is diligently recorded each day.

This ends the posting on the educational birds from the Clinch River Raptor Center. These birds are a wonderful asset to the region in helping people understand relationships between humans and wildlife. As usable habitat becomes smaller, we must learn to share with the animals  living on the land before us and treat them with respect as valuable parts of nature. I hope you enjoyed seeing these beautiful examples of raptors.

Two Categories of Hawks

The photo below is how all the educational birds are meant to be...in the wild, perching or soaring as would the Red-tailed hawks. Red-tailed bodies and wings are meant to ride the air and from there they often hunt. They belong with other soaring hawks to a group called Buteos. Their diet is mainly rodents and similar small animals. 

The Accipters are the hawks who do not soar to hunt but are smaller with rounded shorter wings and are most agile and able to fly among the forest trees and bushes where other hawks cannot follow. Their diet is mostly birds. One day I will post photos of  a  Cooper's Hawk.  Look at the post of April 26, 2011 to see a Sharp Shinned hawk immediately before it flew to freedom after healing. These are much smaller hawks than the Red-tailed and are fine examples of the Accipter group.

The Falcons are known for speed and nabbing their dinner from the sky.  Have you heard of the Peregrine? This is likely the fastest bird in our area when in a dive. There are none of these birds at the center. The smallest Falcon in the United States is the American Kestrel, a bird feature in the post of May 5, 2011. While the Peregrine may diet on pigeons and similar birds, the Kestrel eats quite small mammals and insects such as crickets and bugs.

There are other birds of prey, of course. Eagles and Ospreys are just two of the other types. To find out more, visit the Internet and also find a good introductory book to birds in general.

The Birds Living at Clinch River Raptor Center

Do not shed a tear for the birds living at the center: They have a good home, are healthy, well cared and have adapted well to their situations. They are alive only by the grace of having been rescued and healed, now performing a service of education and always bringing wide eyes, joy and a new perspective to children and adults who first see these wonderful creatures from nature. While many rescued raptors are healed and released back into the wild, the educational birds do their part in helping the wild birds. The better people understand the critters of nature and realize these are valuable parts of creation, the more able we may be to share this planet. At least, that is the plan. The educational birds do much to help in this needed understanding.