Club hears talk on red-tailed hawk
Betty Robison, a member of the Rices Landing Town and Country Garden Club, presented a program to fellow club members on the the red-tailed hawk, providing a detailed physical description on its size, shape and color pattern to distinguish it from other hawks.
Red-tailed hawks are large, with very broad, rounded wings, a short, wide tail and sharp talons. Color pattern is a rich brown above and pale below, with a streaked belly and, on the wing underside, a darkbar between shoulder and wrist.
The tail is usually pale below and cinnamon red above. Red-tailed hawks have extremely variable plumage, and some of this variation is regional.
It is the most common hawk and one of the largest birds in North America, and occupies every type of open habitat on the continent. This includes deserts, grasslands, roadsides, fields and pastures as it soars above open fields, slowly turning circles on its broad, rounded wings. It is noted for its shrill, raspy scream.
Other facts include: habitat – open woodlands; food – small mammals; nesting – typically in the crowns of tall trees; behavior – aggressive when defending nest or territory; and conservation – population stable and increasing in North America.
The oldest red-tailed hawk was two months short of being 29 years old.
Robison is a 16-year member of the Washington County Master Gardeners and owner of Robison Plant Sanctuary in Scenery Hill.