isaacgreen.org / Red-shouldered Hawk

A homeowner found this baby red-shouldered hawk (RSHA) in his driveway one day in late June, 2007. The baby was checked out at the clinic and found to be in good health. The nest was easily seen in a branch overhanging the driveway. It was too far up to easily reach (although I might reconsider that now that I know how to climb trees!). The decision was made to try an artificial nest platform. There was some concern because there was another chick in the nest and sometimes parents have a hard time taking care of chicks in two different locations. The nest box was placed 15-20' up, and about 20-25' below the original nest. Another volunteer, Bill, brought the bird from the clinic and put up the nest box. Also assisting, were the homeowner and Erin, who despite being told otherwise, climbed up the ladder. Once safely back on the ground, she snapped a picture of my placing the bird in the nest platform.

Welcome to your new home

What are you looking at?

After placing the chick, we sat and watched for a while, but did not see the parents come to the nest platform. They were obviously in the area, though, and the chick was vocalizing, so we were fairly confident they'd come back. We like to be sure, though, so my job on the next day was to go back and weigh the bird to make sure he was being fed. I had gone back to do just that, but it became unnecessary because I saw the following --

Yummy! Thanks Mom!
RSHA and parent

A family portrait

Parent in tree
Parent eyes me from a nearby tree

Older RSHA
My, you are growing fast

The picture above was take two weeks after the chick was placed back in the nest platform. Notice he has lost most of his downy chick feathers, and is growing his adult feathers. Below, is three more days older. He's looking like a good young hawk! He is still getting take out thanks to his parents. In this case, I think it was a snake, but I am not entirely sure!

RSHA being fed

Banded RSHA out of the nest
One month after being placed in the nest box, the baby was full sized and left the nest for good.