The Red-shouldered Hawk is a medium-sized hawk found in eastern North America. It gets its name from the reddish-orange patches on its wings when in flight. Red-shouldered Hawks are a common sight soaring over fields and forests in search of prey. But how long does it take for one of these raptors to fledge and leave the nest?
Red-shouldered Hawk Nesting
Red-shouldered Hawks breed between March and mid-July across most of their range. Courtship displays like aerial maneuvers and calling begin a few weeks before egg laying starts. The nest is usually built high up in a tall tree by both the male and female working together. It’s constructed of sticks and twigs and lined with bark strips, leaves, moss, and other soft materials. Nest heights average around 60 feet but can be as low as 15 feet or up to 150 feet high.
Clutch size is usually 3-4 eggs but can range from 1-5. The female does most of the incubation over a 28-32 day period before the eggs hatch. The male will help feed her during incubation. Once hatched, both parents share brooding and feeding duties. Young hawks start off covered in white down and grow juvenile plumage within a couple of weeks.
Growth and Development
For the first week after hatching, the Red-shouldered Hawk chicks are brooded almost constantly by the female while the male does all the hunting. By two weeks old, the female starts leaving the nest for longer periods to join the male in provisioning the young. Prey items like rodents, snakes, lizards, frogs, and insects are torn into small pieces to feed the chicks.
By 3-4 weeks of age, the chicks stand more upright in the nest, hold their heads up higher, flap their wings frequently, and start picking apart food brought by the parents. Their flight feathers start growing in around this time. By 5 weeks old, the chicks are very active in the nest and spend a lot of time peering over the edge. They preen constantly to train and strengthen flight muscles.
Around 6 weeks is when the chicks will start attempting their first short flights from limb to limb near the nest. These early flying efforts help build muscle tone and coordination. The parents continue to provide food but start dropping prey items near the nest to encourage the young to fly to them. By 7 weeks old, the juveniles make longer flights away from the nest and should be fully capable of fledging.
Fledging
Fledging is the stage when young hawks make their first sustained flight away from the nest tree. This is a dangerous time as flying skills are still developing and hawklets are vulnerable. Fledging for Red-shouldered Hawks occurs between 6-8 weeks after hatching. 7 weeks is the average, but some individuals may fledge a little earlier or later.
The juveniles will remain near the nest and continue to beg for food from the parents for several weeks after fledging. They’ll improve flight abilities through exercising and play. Young hawks also hone hunting techniques by observing the adults. Dependency on the parents slowly decreases as fledglings learn to capture their own prey. But family groups may stay together until fall migration.
Differences Between Males and Females
There are no noticeable differences between male and female Red-shouldered Hawk chicks in terms of growth rate or how quickly they fledge. However, females tend to be slightly larger than males as adults. Average length is 16-24 inches, with females on the larger end of that range. Wingspans are around 3.5-4 feet. Females weigh 1.1-2.1 lbs compared to males at 0.95-1.5 lbs.
Plumage is also nearly identical in both sexes but adult females tend to have barring on the underside of their tail. The barring may be useful for sex identification in the field along with subtle size differences. Females are responsible for a bigger share of incubation and brooding duties, while males do more hunting early on.
Timing of Nest Departure
When observing Red-shouldered Hawk fledglings in the field, one may notice variable timing of permanent nest departure after that initial fledging flight. While most juveniles take their first fledging flight around 7 weeks old, some individuals hang around the nest for several additional weeks while others take off much earlier.
A few factors influence timing of nest departure:
- Availability of abundant food – Well-fed young may be inclined to stay at the nest longer.
- Intraspecific competition – Lack of competition from siblings may delay departure.
- Predation threats – Fledglings may flee early if predators frequent the area.
- Weather conditions – Harsh weather may force early departure.
- Parental behavior – Adults may lure or drive off juveniles.
- Individual variability – Some fledglings are simply early or late developers.
While the average Red-shouldered Hawk fledgling leaves the nest for good at around 9 weeks old, a range of 7-12 weeks post-hatching is normal. Differing conditions and individual traits lead to variable development rates in young hawks.
Comparison to Other Hawk Species
Here’s how long it takes several other common North American hawk species to fledge their young:
Species | Days to Fledge |
---|---|
Red-tailed Hawk | 45 days |
Cooper’s Hawk | 30 days |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 27-29 days |
Northern Goshawk | 35-49 days |
Broad-winged Hawk | 27-34 days |
Swainson’s Hawk | 38-46 days |
Red-shouldered Hawk | 42-49 days |
As this table shows, Red-shouldered Hawks are on the slower end of development compared to species like Cooper’s Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks which fledge very quickly. The smaller accipiters likely need to get juveniles out of the nest faster due to being more vulnerable to predation. Larger bute os like Red-tails and Red-shouldereds can afford a longer nestling phase.
Conclusion
In summary, Red-shouldered Hawk chicks hatch after a 28-32 day incubation period. They grow flight feathers and build flight muscles over the next 6 weeks. Fledging occurs between 6-8 weeks post-hatching, with 7 weeks being the average. Juveniles continue to hone flying and hunting skills while being fed by the parents for several more weeks. Permanent departure from the nest tree happens anywhere from 7-12 weeks of age depending on conditions and individual development rates.
Red-shouldered Hawks are medium-sized, broad-winged buteos well adapted to hunting in forests. Their relatively slow growth strategy allows for plenty of parental care and training time to successfully fledge their young. With an average time to fledging of about 7 weeks, Red-shouldered Hawks take longer than smaller Accipiter hawks but less time than larger buteos like Red-tails.