THE REAL
TORONTO RAPTORS

By Karen Bennett

Article and photographs done for a newsletter called In House (for Legislative Assembly of Ontario staff) in 2006.

In 2006 the Legislative Assembly of Ontario had a nest of red-tailed hawks on the southwest corner of the roof. (They were nest-building in subsequent years as well.) On June 7, 2006, having been told that the chicks were ready to fly, I took some photos.

Some info. on this species, shamelessly cribbed from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site All About Birds: The red-tailed hawk is the most common and widespread hawk in North America. Its raspy cry stands in for all eagles and hawks on TV and movie soundtracks. It breeds from Alaska to Labrador and southward to Mexico, the Caribbean and Panama. It winters from southern Canada southward. It has expanded its range in the last 100 years, displacing other hawk species. Its preferred food is small and medium-sized mammals, birds and reptiles. It is a sit-and-wait predator, usually watching from an elevated perch. It also hovers in strong wind.

Other names for the red-tailed hawk are Buse à queue rousse (French) and Aguililla parda (Spanish).

Picture captions: Top: A parent hawk (on the left) with a chick.

Right: The chicks start showing more animation once the adult has left.

Bottom: Just after this photo was taken, the chick sitting on the lip of the eavestrough with its back to the camera (love the carving on that chimney!) started flapping its wings furiously, as if to say, "I want off of here!" Its nestmate, of whom just the head can be seen to the left towards the corner, seemed to be less adventurous.