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]