By: Kirsten Bull, Schoolhouse Interpretive Manager
Think of the red-shouldered hawk as the loudmouth of the hawk family. You will definitely know if a red-shouldered hawk moves into your neighborhood. They are commonly found in our backyards and parks, and they call very often and very loudly. To add to your potential auditory frustration, blue jays can often be heard mimicking the call of the red-shouldered hawk. If you happen to have a red-shouldered neighbor, the best thing to do is to embrace the noise! They tend to return to the same territory year after year, often reusing the same nests. One red-shouldered hawk occupied the same territory in California for 16 consecutive years!
Once you’ve noticed a red-shouldered hawk’s distinctive whistle in your backyard, it shouldn’t be too difficult to catch a glimpse of the hawk itself, because its arrival will likely be heralded by a murder of noisy crows! Crows notoriously mob the bigger raptor in the hopes of stealing its lunch. This isn’t always bad news for the hawk—crows have been known to join forces with red-shouldered hawks to chase their common predator—the great-horned owl—away from their respective territories.
Red-shouldered hawks may sometimes live in our backyards, but their preferred habitats are dense forests near wetlands or large bodies of water. They eat a similar variety of food to a barred owl, including rodents, snakes and frogs. Luckily there is little competition between the two species because they have opposing sleep schedules!
Lakota
Lakota came to the Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center as a juvenile in 2009 with injuries consistent with a car collision. She had several old wounds and feather lice. Lakota is blind in her left eye and has permanent feather damage on her right wing, which prevents her from being able to sustain flight. She is named after the Lakota people, because hawks are an important cultural symbol for many groups of Native Americans.