I love it when a common species has surprises to show me.  Five red-tailed
hawks, a family I assume since they were not antagonistic to each other, put
on an incredible show this morning over northeast Cleveland Heights.  Three
young birds (good job, parents, getting 3 out of the nest!!!) and two mature
birds were extremely vocal with each other as they flew low over our
street's towering oaks and practiced many landings, take-offs, soaring up on
thermals (they go so high with so few wing beats, even the young ones!)
swoops, dives, and aerial play.  I felt so fortunate to be able to observe
this behavior for at least 20 minutes.  I learned a lot!  By the end, we
must have had every blue jay and crow from a 3 block radius joining up in
gangs to take a stand against the five hawks.  What a ruckus!

If anyone can answer how densely RTH's can/will live within suburbs, I'd
love to hear what has been observed.  For example, as I ponder where the
nest might be I think about the regular places I see red-tailed hawks around
here and wonder whether I'm seeing the same ones in different places or
whether multiple pairs are around.   I observe RTHs regularly at Euclid
Creek Reservation, one mile east of here.  I also see a huge female at the
Oxford Elementary school grounds, 1/4 mile to the west.  I know that's a
small distance for a bird, but with so many oak trees and therefore a
zillion squirrels, I wonder how many hawks can be fed.

Katrina Heinzen
Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga County

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]