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Home » Forums » Birdwatchers Forum » Backyard » Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!

Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!

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Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird Posted: Sun, May 20 2007 10:09 AM Reply
I thought my favorite red tail hawk couple Flint & Flora had abandoned their nest & something had eaten the eggs. The other day while hunting for morel mushrooms I stopped to look up at the nest. I counted three yellow heads bobbing around. Then I watched for about half an hour. Fllint flew in with a mouse & dropped it into the nest & flew off. Flora was up in the nest with the chicks. Those chicks were fun to watch they would walk around the edge of the nest & flap their wings. I hope Flint & Flora will be successful feeding them. Two years ago whatever they had in the nest didn't make it. Last year they had one chick & were successful at feeding & raising it. But this year they will really have their wings full & work cut out for them finding enough to feed them.
 
Top 10 Contributor
olmail
 Posts :1,366
Joined: 11-13-2005
mid ohio
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
olmail replied on Sun, May 20 2007 11:00 AM Reply
way cool -best wishes from me for the flint and flora family
Jon
 
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byrdngma
 Posts :3
Joined: 05-20-2007
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
byrdngma replied on Sun, May 20 2007 12:44 PM Reply
Congrats to ma & Pa red-tails! Keep us posted on how they're doing. I just had four baby Eastern Phoebes fledge from a nest just outside my bedroom window. It's great fun!
 
Top 75 Contributor
Vashonguy
 Posts :226
Joined: 01-04-2007
Puget Sound
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
Vashonguy replied on Wed, May 23 2007 3:53 PM Reply
What fun to watch this unfold.
 
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hummingbird
 Posts :516
Joined: 05-29-2006
Washington State
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
hummingbird replied on Wed, May 23 2007 9:37 PM Reply
So glad they have three chicks in the nest! How exciting it must be to get to watch them grow.
 
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byrdngma
 Posts :3
Joined: 05-20-2007
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
byrdngma replied on Wed, May 23 2007 11:54 PM Reply
Three chicks!! That's more than usual for a hawk, isn't it? Three cheers for them!! Hope all goes well.
 
Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Sun, May 27 2007 9:52 PM Reply
Last year they had one baby so they are making up for it. Usually they can raise two successfully but three I don't know for sure. I watched yesterday as Flint & Flora flew in three times within an hour & a half. They are pretty good hunters to find that much fresh kill in that amount of time. I do notice the larger chick rules the nest. They sure do squirt the poops far out of the nest, it is better out of the nest then in the nest. Pooh !!! I was glad to be far away from under their tree.
 
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kico166
 Posts :431
Joined: 05-15-2005
Southwest Minnesota
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
kico166 replied on Tue, May 29 2007 3:30 AM Reply
Congrats on having a nest you can keep an eye on!
Are you able to get any pics?

Your last comment about the Pooh - reminds me of a little didy a school chum told me -
Birdy birdy in the sky - why'd you do that in my eye?
Don't worry I won't cry - I'm just glad cows don't fly!

Boy - hadn't thought of that in years! [B)] [;)]
Linda K Catch a glimpse of my world: http://www.enature.com/backyardwildlife/nwf_bwh_showhabitat.asp?bwhid=%20%0945190
 
Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Thu, Jun 7 2007 4:39 PM Reply
Flint & Flora are still very busy feeding their two chicks. The third chick most of died from lack of food due to sibling rivalry. It is fun to watch the chicks bounce around in the nest. Anyhow that is what it looks like from the ground looking up at the nest. They take about a 15 minute nap get up bounce around the outer edge of the nest & practice flapping their wings. They are kind of ugly looking right now with chicken looking heads with huge beaks & large eyes. The larger chick dominates when food is delivered into the nest. There is lots of communication with the adults & chicks whistling to each other. Pretty soon they will be ready to leave the nest. I watch them in what I call luxury birding. I took an old aluminum beach chair out to the woods & sit back with my binocks under a tree a fair distance from the nesting tree.
 
Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Thu, Jun 14 2007 8:55 PM Reply
Update on the Red Tailed family. The two remaining chicks are really looking fine. They cut the hay yesterday here on the farm & Flora & Flilnt were having a hayday finding rodents for the chicks. One of the chicks was out of the nest in a dead elm tree next to the nesting area. It was flapping its wings & bouncing around on the branches. I was wondering if it was being fed? The other chick is in the nest & was eating some rodent kill. The chick in the elm tree finally flew back up to the nest, that really surprised me. It really had to use its telons to grab onto the nest. It was a very glumsy flight & I was hanging onto the beach chair hoping it would make it back to the nest & even surprised to see it do so. I have watched in past years but have never seen anything like this. I have named the athletic chick Naudia after the Hungarian girl many years ago that did such a fabulous job in Olympics.
 
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Kat67
 Posts :437
Joined: 05-29-2006
Northwest Florida
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
Kat67 replied on Fri, Jun 15 2007 10:04 AM Reply
Sorry to hear one of the baby hawks did not make it. I often pull my lawn chair into the woods and sit and watch too! My son saw some thrushers fledging it's baby a few weeks ago in our trail.


Birdy birdy in the sky - why'd you do that in my eye?
Don't worry I won't cry - I'm just glad cows don't fly!

Love the birdy poem! Gave me a laugh this morning! I had never heard that before.
 
Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Sun, Jun 17 2007 10:53 AM Reply
Yesterday Naudia flew a great distance from her nest. She ended up in a bass wood tree & a nesting grosbeak was not happy with her presence. She just sat on a branch & observed her surroundings while the grosbeak scolded her. This mornings Naudia was back up in the nest with Moose the other chick. Moose is a lot bigger then Naudia & hogs the food. Naudia flew up above the nest & Flint ( the pappa hawk)bought in something yummy & when Moose was done eating & walked away to the other side of the nest Naudia flew down & got what was left. Moose is starting to jump on the branches above the nest but is not as athletic as Naudia. Moose probably is to full of food to even try flying. What a glutten.
 
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snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Wed, Jun 27 2007 1:57 PM Reply
Well, the babies have finally left the nest. Moose flew out of the nest onto another tree on June 25th. They both have been flying around the back woods landing in trees & beinging pestered by blue jays.
 
Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Fri, Jul 6 2007 11:27 AM Reply
Update on Naudia & Moose. They are still in the back of the woods. Sometimes they are in the same tree & other times a separate distance from each other. They screech a lot. I saw Flora sitting in a dead elm tree yesterday & she would dive from the tree down into the grass. She did get something the first time & ate it. Then she sat up in the tree & did a dive & got something again. One of the chicks had moved to what I call a wooded island in the hay field. I didn't actually see Flora feed it & was to far down in a valley. Darn !!! I had never seen her feed on a meal she had caught before. So it was a first & the poor parents get hungry too.
 
Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Wed, Jul 18 2007 12:07 PM Reply
Naudia & Moose are still flying around in the back woods. They have become really accomplished flyers. Today I saw them both perched in an old dead elm tree. I saw Flint today up in a red oak. Flint & Flora like to perch up in that tree. They have a good view of the surrounding area & it is a good place to eye roving critters on the ground. We have cut second crop hay & once that is baled it should open the fields to good rodent hunting for the hawks. I did see Flora last week with a kill & she flew into the back woods to feed one of the chicks. The other chick was down on my end of the woods & as soon as it saw Flora with a kill it flew on down to the other end of the woods where its sibling was perched. One of these times I hope to see what actually goes on when Flora or Flint brings in dinner. There is lots of foliage on the trees so it is hard to see through the woods.
 
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Kat67
 Posts :437
Joined: 05-29-2006
Northwest Florida
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
Kat67 replied on Wed, Jul 18 2007 12:56 PM Reply
Sounds like everything is progressing wonderfully. What a joy it must be to witness.
 
Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Sat, Jul 28 2007 11:18 AM Reply
The chicks are catching on. The other day Naudia was perched up in an old dead elm tree right along the edge of the hayfield. She was hunting on her own. I saw Flora on Thursday perched in one of her more successful hunting trees. It is between the pasture & the cornfield. I have seen her fly down & pounce on rodents. I am beginning to see how these big old growth trees are important to the hawks.
 
Top 50 Contributor
Kat67
 Posts :437
Joined: 05-29-2006
Northwest Florida
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
Kat67 replied on Sat, Jul 28 2007 10:35 PM Reply
Thanks for the update snowbird
 
Top 50 Contributor
snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Thu, Aug 2 2007 11:13 AM Reply
Today was the ultimate & all I would hope to be able to see. One baby hawk was perched in the dead elm tree in the neighbors pasture. I didn't see the other baby at all. I looked West to the oak tree & saw a mature larger hawk. It was either Flint or Flora. All of a sudden the larger hawk flew out of the oak tree down onto a fence post & then flew down onto the ground. I thought it must of saw something in the grass. Well then all of a sudden out of the sky flys a hawk. Then all of a sudden the babies come out & then the big hawk dropped something into the pasture along the fence line. One of the babies landed down onto the prey that was dropped. The other baby flew up into the dead elm along with the parent which was papa Flint. The baby on the ground was Moose eating the prey. It must of been a mouse because he/she ate it down on the ground & then flew up to the wooden fence post. Flint flew back to the oak. Naudia flew down into the valley & on the way home I saw Naudia perched on a wooden post near the freshly cut barley field. I have been wanting so long to witness something like this. I always wondered how the babies were fed in the wild away from the nest. Now I know.
 
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snowbird
 Posts :450
Joined: 11-22-2005
Northeast Iowa
 
 
RE: Three Baby Red Tails in the Nest !!!
snowbird replied on Fri, Aug 10 2007 10:36 AM Reply
Yesterday, I came upon Flora sitting up in a dead elm tree. It is actually what I call the courting tree. She usually sits up in that tree with her mate Flint during the winter months. I walked a ways along the cow path & looked south to see Naudia sitting on a railroad tie post & she was eating a meal. Flora sat patiently keeping an eye on her/him or maybe was resting too. I find it interesting that the parents stick around & watch the kids chow down. It reminds me of when I was growing up & how we had to clean our plates off. :)
 
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