Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk with Prey
Early this afternoon a hawk swooped suddenly from around the corner of the house to a low branch on an oak not far from one of our windows where we had a scope set up. We’d been watching a bluebird pair come and go from a nest box on the edge of the yard, and just happened to see the hawk as it arrived on the branch, shaded by the big green leaves of the oak but sitting on a dead, bare branch in clear view. We were able to watch it at unusually close range for several minutes.
It was a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk bringing something clutched in its talons. It held the prey with its talons against the branch and after only a very short pause, began to tear up pieces and eat. It was something too small to identify, maybe a small rodent or chipmunk. I watched it eat it completely, leaning down and tearing up each bite. When it was finished, the hawk searched the branch for leftover pieces for a few moments. Then it stayed for a few minutes more, at first facing away from the window where we watched, then turning around and facing toward us, so it was a rare chance to see and study its beautiful dark-brown streaks on the breast, where the patterns look like streams of falling leaves. Its back was brown, flecked with white. Long yellow legs. And a long tail with muted brown and grayish bands.
Because it was a juvenile, it did not yet have the vivid red-orange and deep brown coloring of an adult Red-shouldered Hawk, or the striking black and white tail. But seen closely, its more subdued coloring and patterns have their own, more quiet beauty.
After a while, it raised its tail and squirted out a poop – then leaned forward and flew away, into the trees of the woods and out of sight.