It was a good view of a bird's eye for me (and the rest of him). This Red Tailed Hawk had an injured wing and could not live in the wild. He is residing in a large cage at the Armand Bayou Nature Center in the Clear Lake Area south of Houston. Red Tailed Hawks are common in Texas. They are a raptor that weighs up to 3.5 lbs. with the females being larger than the males. They prefer live prey in the form of small mammals, birds, reptiles and fish. My grandparents usually referred to them as "chicken hawks".
I have often seen them soaring (grocery shopping) outside my office windows. Although, even then, I am usually viewing them from below, and it makes one wonder about their name. But in the photo above, it is clear that the top of their tail feathers are a nice red color. And those keen eyes designed to look for prey really check you out when you are looking into the cage.
Found an injured Red Tail Hawk while Cowboying on Three Circle Ranch in Bluff Dale, TX one day. The wings seemed to be paralyzed but other than that, the bird was very alert and attempted to run away from me. I was able to catch the bird and was quite amazed at the magnificance of this animal....What a privlidge.
ReplyDeleteI decided to send the bird to a State Certified Raptor Rescue Center in Granbury, TX. for evalustion and care.
I learned that Red Tail Hawks are frequently injured as a result of an accident during mating.
Female Red Tail Hawks put on a show for their mate. While the male observes, the female will fly to a height of at least 300 feet, then dive straight down and pull out of the dive close the ground. Sometimes, their is an error in judgement as to the proximity of the ground and impact occurs. This is what I believe happened to the hawk I found. There was a hawk nest in a large tree near by and a nervous male circling above.
To be continued...