Part 19

Other Names.—Chicken Hawk; Blue Darter; Pigeon Hawk (erroneous); Hen Hawk.

Description.—Almost precisely like the Sharp-shin in proportions and coloration, but larger, the smaller male bird usually being a few ounces heavier than the largest female Sharp-shin, but not always to be distinguished easily from that species in the field. In the hand the Cooper’s Hawk may always be recognized by the shape of the tip of the tail which is rounded, not square, as it is in the Sharp-shin. Length: Male, 16 inches; female, 19 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common summer resident in wooded sections from March 1 to December 10; occasional in winter.

Nest.—A bulky mass of twigs, lined with flakes of bark, usually placed from 40 to 60 feet from the ground in a beech tree. Eggs: 3 to 6, chalky blue-white.

The Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, both bird-killers, are fairly common and are to be rated as our most objectionable birds of prey. They are not protected in Pennsylvania.

GOSHAWK Astur atricapillus atricapillus (Wilson)

Other Names.—Hen Hawk; Gray Hawk; Partridge Hawk; Squirrel Hawk; Chicken Hawk.

Description.—A large, heavy-bodied Hawk, with comparatively short wings and long tail; female considerably larger than male. Adults: Crown black; area above and back of eye white, marked irregularly with black; rest of head whitish, streaked with black; upperparts blue-gray, the tail marked with three or four broad blackish bands; underparts heavily and finely barred with clear gray throughout, also somewhat streaked, particularly on the breast; eyes red or red-brown; cere and feet yellowish green. Immature birds: Brown, not gray; plumage of upperparts dark brown, margined and edged with buffy and whitish, and on wing-coverts with rusty brown; underparts buffy white, heavily streaked with blackish. Length: Male, 21 inches; female, 24 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Rare as a permanent resident in the northern, more mountainous counties; known to have nested at seven localities. As a winter visitant, irregular, though in some sections, notably among the eastern counties, to be found with some regularity from about October 20 to March 1.

Nest.—A large mass of sticks, with a shallow cup, lined with bark and occasional sprigs of green hemlock, placed from 40 to 60 feet up in a beech or hemlock tree. Eggs: 3 to 5, chalky white, with a faint bluish cast.

The Goshawk is our most savage destroyer of small game. In occasional winter invasions it is abundant, and at such times takes a terrific toll of Ruffed Grouse, Ring-necked Pheasants, poultry, and cotton-tail rabbits.

In the field, it has a very gray appearance, more so than any other species; even its heavily marked underparts, at a distance, are gray. It does not often circle in the sky, preferring to fly at about the level of tree tops, or, indeed, a few feet from the ground, so as to drop upon unsuspecting prey.

The parent birds are formidable warriors when their nest is disturbed. While I was making notes at a nest in Potter County, the heavy female bird struck me on the head, shoulders, and back a dozen times with her large feet. The male was wary, though he joined in the battle occasionally.

Rarely does the Goshawk capture mice or other destructive small mammals, eating virtually nothing but Grouse so long as these birds can be found. It is not protected in Pennsylvania.

RED-TAILED HAWK Buteo borealis borealis (Gmelin)

Other Names.—Chicken Hawk; Hen Hawk.

Description.—Large, with broad wings and comparatively short tail; often seen circling in the sky or perched on a prominent dead stub; female larger than male. Adults: Upperparts dark brown, glossed with violet on back; scapulars and wing-coverts somewhat barred with buffy brown; throat white; breast usually crossed by a brownish band or by a row of streaks; rest of underparts whitish, barred and streaked with blackish, particularly on flanks and sides; tibial feathers buffy; tail bright red-brown with white tip and subterminal band of black; eyes dark brown; feet and cere greenish yellow. Immature birds are similar but the plumage of their upperparts is considerably mottled and edged with buffy, and the tail is gray, crossed with many narrow black bands. The underparts are often more heavily marked than in the adults, and the eyes are grayish yellow, not dark brown. Length: Male, 20 inches; female, 23 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Fairly common permanent resident, save at high altitudes, where it is to be found only irregularly during winter. Some Red-tails migrate into or through Pennsylvania during fall and early winter, but it is now believed that most nesting birds actually remain in one region during the entire year. In many sections of the State it is becoming rarer each year.

Nest.—A bulky affair of twigs and branches, lined with leaves and finer materials, placed usually in a large, high, deciduous tree, at from 50 to 80 feet from the ground. Eggs: 2 or 3, whitish, irregularly blotched and spotted with reddish brown.

The Red-tail may easily be confused with the Red-shoulder, which, while smaller, has the same proportions. The Red-shoulder is more often found in swampy country or in the lowlands; the Red-tail is a bird of the fields and open wood-lots. The Red-shoulder’s scream is clear and loud; that of the Red-tail is wheezy and often whistle-like in quality. The Red-shoulder’s flight is more rapid, at times more owl-like than that of the Red-tail, and, of course, the Red-shoulder’s tail is never red-brown, but is black, crossed with narrow white bands. Immature Red-shoulders are to be distinguished from immature Red-tails with difficulty, partly because the birds do not call much and partly because there is variation in the size of the sexes—a small male Red-tail being not much larger than a female Red-shoulder; in the hand, however, the young Red-shoulder is more conspicuously streaked below than is the young Red-tail, and the feet are always slenderer and more delicate than in the larger species.

The Red-tail’s food habits are, for the most part, innocent; nevertheless, it is not protected in Pennsylvania at the present time.

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK Buteo lineatus lineatus (Gmelin)

Other Name.—Chicken Hawk.

Description.—Smaller than the Red-tail, with broad wings and comparatively short tail. Adults: Head and neck dark brown, streaked with reddish brown; back dark brown, with irregular barring and edging of gray and whitish; wings black, barred and spotted with white, lesser coverts rich reddish brown; tail black, crossed with three distinct but narrow white bands; underparts reddish brown, barred on belly, sides, and flanks with white; throat whitish, streaked, not barred, with dusky; a black spot on malar region; under tail-coverts white; feet and cere greenish yellow; eyes dark brown. Immature birds: Dark brown above, neck and back streaked and spotted with whitish and buffy; lesser wing-coverts reddish brown; primaries edged with buffy brown; tail gray-brown crossed with several light bars; underparts buffy white, streaked with black, principally on breast, sides, and belly; eyes pale grayish, with a yellow cast. Length: Male, 18½ inches; female, 21 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A somewhat local summer resident from March 1 to December 1, often found along river valleys or in swampy country; winters occasionally, chiefly in the southern half of the Commonwealth. Usually not so common as the Red-tail.

Nest.—Of twigs, lined with leaves and other fine materials, and usually with a sprig or two of fresh hemlock, built in a hemlock, beech, or other forest tree, usually from 30 to 60 feet from the ground. Sometimes the Red-shoulder adds materials to the last year’s nest of a Crow and uses this structure as a nest. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale greenish white, irregularly blotched with dark reddish brown.

Even at a distance the bright reddish coloration of the underparts of the adult Red-shoulder should serve to distinguish it. The bird student will do well to remember that the Red-shoulder and Red-tail customarily choose prominent perches from which to watch for prey, whereas the Cooper’s Hawk, Sharp-shin, and Goshawk almost never choose such lookout posts. A large Hawk seen on a dead stub in the open is almost certainly either a Red-shoulder or a Red-tail. The flying Red-shoulder circles more rapidly than does the Red-tail, and with a glass the dark, white-barred tail should be seen easily.

It is fond of snakes, frogs, and mice, which it captures usually in the lowlands. Occasionally it catches a bird or young poultry, but it visits the farms only when food is scarce in its wilder habitat. Young Red-shoulders whose stomachs I examined at Pymatuning Swamp had eaten only grasshoppers, field-mice, snakes, frogs, and beetles.