By Payal Marathe, Special to the Packet
They fill the sky with their distinctive, shrill call.
They stand nearly two feet tall, with a wingspan of up to five feet.
They soar in wide circles searching the ground below for prey.
They link talons and spiral toward the earth in a fantastic display of aerial acrobatics during mating season.
And yet, perhaps the most remarkable feature of red-tailed hawks is their ability to thrive in close proximity to man.
These large, avian predators have been moving into urban areas in the last couple of decades, said David Wilcove, professor of ecology at Princeton University.
According to Princeton animal control officer Mark Johnson, the town is home to about 40 red-tailed hawks.
Mr. Johnson added that this number has been rising, possibly because of high populations of rodents such as mice and squirrels, which serve as the hawk’s primary food source.
Mr. Wilcove also said he has noticed an increase in red-tails on Princeton’s campus while the birds swoop after squirrels in plain sight today, there were no resident red-tailed hawks on campus when he was a student at the university in the 1980s.
”This is a bird that has been very successful in the shadow of mankind, which is rare for most bird communities,” said Pete Bacinski, a naturalist with New Jersey Audubon. “Try any interstate in New Jersey and there’s a very good chance you’ll see a red-tailed hawk somewhere along the highway during your journey.”
In fact, red-tailed hawks are found year-round in New Jersey, and are the most common hawk species in North America.
But Mr. Bacinski said the reason for the beautiful birds’ resilience in urban and suburban environments remains a mystery.
”I wonder how these birds do it, but somehow these red-tails have found their niche so they can live near man as long as there is enough food for them,” he said.
Mr. Wilcove said he predicts the hawks are taking advantage of the fact that they are one of the most adaptable birds of prey. While many bird species are restricted to heavily wooded regions, red-tailed hawks can find “safe” and “hospitable” habitats in urban areas as long as there are large trees and sufficient food, he said.
As long as Princeton protects its trees and limits contamination of the hawk’s food source by pesticides, Mr. Wilcove said he is “optimistic” that the town will continue to support a substantial population of red-tailed hawks.
Len Soucy, an ornithologist with the Raptor Trust in central New Jersey, further emphasized the significance of the red-tailed hawk’s flexibility. The birds have “expanded their ability to catch food,” he said, explaining that the size and strength of red-tails allows them to capture small rodents as well as bigger mammals.
In the wild, these keen hunters prefer open areas with high perching places so they can plunge down at prey. In urban areas, they often rely on telephone poles and open spaces alongside a roadway for their hunt.
Of course, cohabitation with humans comes at some cost to the hawks.
Mr. Soucy said Raptor Trust had to rehabilitate more than 100 injured red-tails last year. The most common cause of injury is impact with a car, roadside wire or window, he added.
Still, these birds are rather magnificent, and their close proximity with humans is understandably exciting for people, Mr. Wilcove said.
The red-tailed hawk is known for its brick-colored rear feathers and streaked belly. The bird’s vocal shriek is also famous it is typically used in movie soundtracks to represent any threatening bird of prey.
Red-tailed hawks are also monogamous, and they usually live in pairs. Mr. Bacinski said the sight of hawks mating, cuddling side-by-side on the branch of a tree, is “truly amazing.”
”I call it ‘red-tails in love,’” he said.
Mr. Bacinski added that a red-tail’s stick nest is “fairly sizeable” and is normally located high above the ground in a tree. Nesting begins around late February or early March in central New Jersey, according to Mr. Wilcove.
As spring wound to a close, so did breeding and nesting season for the red-tailed hawks in the area. Mr. Johnson said fledging of the young likely began in the first couple weeks of June.
