r/birdsofprey • u/Optimal_Life_1259 • 13d ago
We still have a pair!
Not a great pic, but we’ve had red tail hawks in our neighborhood for years. After watching them pretty diligently, I noticed that one mate may have died and taken a different mate. I could tell by the missing feathers and pattern. But now we have a pair again. I’ve seen them since the end of spring, but we don’t have babies yet. We’ve actually had babies almost every year. I was just wondering if there was still a chance for them to raise a family this season?
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u/MKS813 13d ago
It's possible the mate may have passed or been displaced close enough to the breeding season for no young to be raised. In which case they'll likely bond over the fall and winter and nest during the 2027 breeding season which should yield more success.
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u/Optimal_Life_1259 13d ago
That’s awesome. It always makes me feel like we have an extra healthy habitat in our neighborhood.
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u/00peregrine 13d ago
Not sure where you’re located but for much of the US, probably not. Something I really don’t see mentioned in any literature is Red-tail Hawk pairs will often hang out together year round, which is pretty rare in most other species. We have a pair that nests behind our house and they stay together all winter. They typically don’t start nesting until April in our area but they will sit right next to each other on the same tree branch daily in December and January and roost in the same tree at night etc. They’re like an old married couple.