Here are some pics I have taken in the past two weeks of a couple of Red-tailed Hawk fledglings in the nest. Before I explain further, I have been in close and constant consultation with a licensed falconer about what I'm doing. If I or the falconer thought that any harm would come as a result of climbing this tree to get the pics, then I would stop immediately.



These pics are of a nest located near my home. It is about 45' up a mature shagbark hickory tree that is now wrapped in a good bunch of poison ivy. Anyways, the two first pics are from three weekends ago, the next four are from last weekend.







It's really interesting to actually see what goes in to making such a nest - looks soft as a pillow from above!! You will also see greenery that has been put into the nest as well. If you look hard in the second pic, you will see a star-nosed mole (front right), a cottontail rabbit backbone (center) and some sort of rat or mouse (left) on the edge of the nest. Also check out the crop on the dominant one! He (she?) doesn't miss a meal!











Look closely below and you'll see a tiny white speck on the beak - remnants of the bird's "egg tooth"







Note the size difference between the two.







If you compare the black spots on their head (their 'earhole'), you'll see the left one has much larger ones - the falconer said it's likely attributed to maggot eggs that often hatch in the ear, then eventually climb out!







FULL SIZE pics at http://www.hunt101.com/showgallery.php?stype=2&si=erict&cat=500&sort=1&ppuser=9320

Thanks for the photos, very nice. BTW one of the best places to see red tails throughout the year in NY is on I 84 in the Middletown area. And of course anyone interested in raptors in this area should make a pilgrimage to Hawk Mountain in the fall.When you can see 1000 or more hawks of one type in one day that's AWESOME !!

Wonderful photos! Redtails are such great birds, the most successful large raptor in NA, probably in the whole world. They'll eat darn near anything from grasshoppers to big rodents, house cats and who knows what else. They're easy to man, hardy and disease-free and very efficient hunters. More falconers should consider them as something better than a "mere" beginner's bird.

Ditto! Terrific shots. I wonder if the little guy is going to make it.

The smaller is probably a male, and if there's enough prey he'll probably be fine.

When I was a teen, I lived on a farm that had a couple of red tail nests and I took and trained several. This was before the regs tightened up obviously. Read all the books I could get my hands on, and that, coupled with the great disposition of the red tails allowed me to have good success. After release, all stayed around until migration (catching their own food) then left.

I'm pretty sure one of them returned because a couple of years later I climbed to a nest and the female stayed with the young until I got within a few feet, not normal behavior of a wild hawk.

Wish I had the time now, but keeping a raptor is something that approaches being enslaved to them with feeding, exercise, etc.

Very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing them.