Our local pair of Red-tailed Hawks copulating atop Tyler’s Giant Sequoia on March 19, 2025. The female has a shiny metal band on her right leg. Notice the difference in head shading between the two birds. (Photo by David Swerdlow)
On March 19th, participants on the weekly bird walk at Tyler were fortunate to witness a timeless rite of spring. A pair of Red-tailed Hawks were copulating — fittingly — high atop Tyler Arboretum’s iconic Giant Sequoia. We know this pair. They are old friends of the weekly birders and the sequoia is one of their favored perches.
We’ve known for several years that one member of the pair sported an aluminum band on what we now know is her right leg. She has beautiful dark brown coloring on her head and back, dark markings on her lower abdomen (aka “belly band”) and a prominent black line across the end of her rich brick-orange tail. Where and when she was banded is unknown.
The other member of the pair, who we can now refer to as him, is overall more lightly shaded and has very sparse belly band markings. We have identified him as the mate of the banded bird for at least the last two years.
The weekly birders have gone back and forth a bit over whether our banded bird was the male or female of the pair. Females tend to be a little larger than males but this can only be discerned when they are seen side by side. Finding them side by side is not easy and differences in posture can make size comparisons challenging. In copulation, however, there is no doubt. Photos of the copulation by our voyeuristic photographers have now revealed that the banded bird is indeed the female of the pair.
We can safely say that this female, with possibly the same mate, has bred annually in the arboretum since at least 2021 and perhaps longer. I have been told that a Red-tailed Hawk with a band was photographed in the arboretum in 2020. The hawks are present in winter so we know they are year-round residents and not migrants returning to their breeding territory from warmer climes. Red-tailed Hawks mate for life and can live 15-20 years.
I first spotted the banded bird in August of 2021. She was perched in a pine with a freshly killed snake. Two months previously, the weekly birders had spotted a recently fledged Red-tailed Hawk baby near the Fort Tyler treehouse. Watching the baby from nearby at that time was an adult which, in retrospect, was very likely our banded bird and the mother of the fledgling. The snake was likely shared with her baby.
Our female Red-tailed Hawk with a freshly killed snake in Tyler’s Pinetum in August 2021. Notice the band on her right leg. (Photo by Dave Eberly)
The following spring, 2022, we located the pair’s nest in a tall White Pine adjacent to Fort Tyler. Photos of the adult on the nest that year show a bird with markings very much like our banded friend. The pair went on to successfully fledge three young hawks and, in the following year, 2023, they raised two young birds in the same nest. Those two screaming juveniles became crowd favorites at Tyler from spring into the early summer.
Two photos of our banded red-tail in 2023: The second photo was taken as Mom stood by her two recently fledged young. The band is visible in both photos.
(1st by Bob Bedell, 2nd by Dave Eberly)
After at least three consecutive years of breeding success by the red-tails, Great Horned Owls commandeered the nest at Fort Tyler in early 2024. This is not unusual. Great Horned Owls are at the top of the food chain and breed wherever they choose. Used Red-tailed Hawk nests are a favorite. I believe I witnessed the takeover of the nest in late January 2024 when I watched and listened to a loud stand-off near the nest between two Red-tailed Hawks and at least one Great Horned Owl. The owl won and last spring the two owlets that subsequently hatched became celebrities at Tyler.
What happened to our Red-tailed Hawk pair after they got kicked out of their nest? Undaunted, they moved on and built a new one. In late February 2024, one month after the battle at Fort Tyler, we saw our pair, easily recognizable, carrying sticks into a stand of tall White Pines along the Scenic Loop in the Pinetum.
Both birds carrying sticks to the new nest in the spring of 2024. The banded female is in the first photo; her mate is in the next. Notice the difference in the belly markings between the two birds. (Photos by Bob Bedell)
We searched in vain for the new nest last year but finally this spring we have it pegged. It’s in the Pinetum right where we had seen them carrying sticks the previous year. Mom is currently sitting on the nest so stay tuned. It looks like we’ll soon have another story to tell!
Our banded female leaving the new nest in early April 2025. Both she and her mate were in hot pursuit of another red-tail that encroached on their territory. Her band is visible on her right leg. (Photo by Dave Charlton)
What about the nest at Fort Tyler? By my count that nest helped to nurture at least six baby Red-tailed Hawks and two baby Great Horned Owls over a span of four years. The owls have appeared to move elsewhere and the nest now sits unused and, unsurprisingly, is looking a bit worn. We birders still visit, just in case, and, importantly, to pay our respects even as we look forward to following the progress of the new nest and our banded lady hawk.
