Red Shouldered Hawks

I still remember glancing outside our front window one winter morning to see a very large bird perched on a cottonwood branch. It looked so familiar, and yet so different, it was very striking.  We have a lot of red tailed hawks around here.  Basically every time you drive down the road you will see at least two perched on telephone wires or signboards at various points along the way.  But this was no Red Tailed Hawk.  It was bigger, and the head and face were different.  Amidst yelled guesses at what it could be I grabbed our Birds of America book and started hunting, and thus we were introduced to the Red Shouldered Hawk.

Because the other hawks are so plentiful around here, and we'd never seen this kind before, it felt quite magical that they should grace our area.  That feeling didn't stop when they started using the birdhouse for a hunting perch.  No birds were nesting in it at the time, our chickens were big enough to not need worrying over (from hawks at least, larger predators is another story), and I'm happy for any rodent-hunters around here! Especially such beautiful ones.  

While their black eyes are really striking, I think my favorite thing about them is their tail pattern.  It's so pretty, reminding me of turkey feathers and scalloped edges and rows of lace. 

  We've enjoyed hearing their cry and watching them circle overhead.  In the Spring it became our great wish to discover their nesting spot in the woods, as we could hear their commotion, but alas we never did accomplish that.  But nest and eggs they indeed had, and now we see the next generation, the immature red shouldered hawks flying around.  Bellow one is pictured perching in one of our crabapple trees.  They give us a special feeling every time we see them.