Upstairs neighbors

Red-shouldered hawk nest in a pine tree

It has been an interesting few weeks in our garden. On April 6th, I noticed activity in a tall pine tree right beside our driveway. A pair of red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus) were building a nest. As we watched, they brought twigs and other material to complete the structure, and then one of the birds settled in.

One of the few pictures I got of the presumed female on the nest. The nest is deeper than it appears, so most of the time she was invisible, with her tail only occasionally poking above the rim to prove that she was inside.

These events were surprising for several reasons. First, it was late in the season for red-shouldered hawks to start nesting. Second, a pair of hawks had been nesting in a tree on our neighbors’ property. These birds are highly territorial, suggesting that the hawks in our driveway were the same pair that had been nesting nearby earlier in the spring. Why had they moved?

The third reason that this situation was surprising became clear when I got pictures of the two birds. The bird that spent most of its time outside the nest, presumably the male, was clearly an adult-red shouldered hawk. He was very vocal, shrieking loudly throughout the day, and frequently brought small objects to the nest. On one occasion, I saw him give what appeared to be a lizard to the bird in the nest.

Adult red-shouldered hawk, presumably a male, distinguished by his rusty red chest and shoulders. He was difficult to photograph under the expanding leafy canopy.

The other bird, presumably the female, had the paler, speckled breast of an immature red-shouldered hawk. Why was she nesting with an adult male?

The presumed female hawk with the paler, speckled breast of a young bird.

When I posted pictures on the Carolinas Wildlife page on Facebook, a bird expert suggested that this might be a late-season “emergency” nest and subadult replacement mate for an adult bird that lost its original mate earlier in the season. Presumably the female was old enough to engage in courtship behavior, even though her plumage was not fully adult.

Over the next ten days or so, there was a lot of activity around the nest. One morning, I watched a gray squirrel harassing the female. It would scramble up the tree trunk and grab at the nest, quickly running away whenever the female rose and spread her wings. Last Saturday, there was major excitement and much noise when a third hawk invaded the territory of the nesting birds. The two residents quickly chased the interloper way and then sat in the trees shrieking. I could hear the third bird also calling in the distance.

One of the resident hawks, I think the female, just after chasing away an interloper.

Earlier this week, I found the completely cleaned spinal column of a snake lying under a tree. I suspect it was the remains of the hawks’ prey, although I can’t rule out an owl or one of the various mammalian predators as the perpetrator.

It has been quiet in the garden for the last few days. The deciduous canopy has filled in, so I’m not sure if the hawks are still around, or if they have moved on. Perhaps the female was too young to successfully lay and incubate eggs after all. Red-shouldered hawks often reuse nests, so if they are gone I hope they will be back next year.

Update 4/29/2024: This weekend, I heard and saw the hawks several times, mostly early in the morning. On one occasion I saw the female leaving the nest, which is now almost completely hidden by the surrounding trees. Perhaps they have eggs or chicks up there.