Now here is a picture you don’t see every day. I caught this red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) perching on top of a swing set at our neighborhood playground. Not that seeing this raptor is uncommon, but seeing it sitting so close to birds that it normally doesn’t get along with is unusual. The weather was blustery and cold, and obviously the hawk didn’t feel much like hunting. Strangely, the crows didn’t seem to want to move him along either. Normally, crows will harass a bird-of-prey to drive it away from the area. I guess everyone was concentrating more on staying warm.
Red-tailed hawks are one of the most common raptors you’ll see in Texas. Their range extends to almost all parts of North America, and they inhabit nearly all types of habitats, including deserts, grasslands, mixed forests/fields and even urban areas. Somewhere along the line they inherited the nickname of “chicken-hawk,” though they don’t actually attack chickens that often. Females are also usually a bit bigger than the males, a condition called sexual dimorphism.
Learn more about this fascinating bird at Wikipedia, and at DesertUSA.com.
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