Red-shouldered hawks are medium-sized hawks that are found throughout eastern and coastal North America. They get their name from the reddish-brown shoulders on their wings. Red-shouldered hawks are skilled hunters that prey on small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. They are also opportunistic and will eat insects, fish, and carrion.
While red-shouldered hawks generally avoid humans, they can become aggressive during nesting season when defending their nests and offspring. However, attacks on humans are very rare and red-shouldered hawks pose little real threat. Here is a closer look at red-shouldered hawk behavior and the risk they pose to humans.
Red-Shouldered Hawk Behavior
Red-shouldered hawks are semi-social raptors that live in loose pairs or family groups consisting of a breeding pair and offspring from previous years. They are territorial and will defend the area around their nests from intruders.
Red-shouldered hawks build nests in trees, often conifers. They typically reuse and renovate the same nest each year. The female lays between 1-5 eggs which hatch after about a month of incubation. The young fledge at 6-7 weeks old but remain close to the nest and depend on the parents for food for several weeks after fledging.
During nesting season from March to August, red-shouldered hawks are busy defending their territory, building nests, incubating eggs, and raising young. This is when they are most aggressive towards perceived threats.
Red-shouldered hawks will perform distraction displays, vocalizations, and even swooping flights at intruders that get too close to the nest. This is their way of driving danger away from their vulnerable eggs and nestlings.
Red-Shouldered Hawk Vocalizations
Red-shouldered hawks have a wide repertoire of vocalizations they use to communicate different messages:
– Clucking or kakking sounds are alarm or agitation calls
– A short, whistled call indicates excitement or territorial display
– A piercing, descending scream advertises territory and attracts a mate
– High-pitched begging calls are made by young red-shouldered hawks at the nest when seeking food
– Sharp barking or dog-like calls are made during or after a threat to signal danger
These vocal warning calls usually precede an attack and indicate that a hawk feels threatened and is ready to defend its territory or offspring. Paying attention to these signals can help avoid conflict with a nesting red-shouldered hawk.
Red-Shouldered Hawk Distraction Displays
Red-shouldered hawks may perform distraction or intimidation displays when disturbed near their nests. These displays include:
– Spreading wings and exposing bright red shoulders while making loud calls
– Fluffing up feathers to appear larger while snapping bill
– Flying towards intruders with legs dangling
– Performing exaggerated hunting motions like circling above or dropping partially closed wings
– Feigning injury by fluttering or dragging wings on ground
These displays are meant to draw attention of predators away from the nest and signal to intruders that they have been detected and will be aggressively chased away. Heeding these displays by backing away can prevent escalation to physical attacks.
Will Red-Shouldered Hawks Attack Humans?
Healthy wild red-shouldered hawks generally fear humans and avoid close contact. However, conflicts can arise if people disturb them during the breeding season when they are more defensive and aggressive.
Red-shouldered hawk attacks on humans are extremely uncommon. Most aggressive incidents are limited to alarm calls, distraction displays, noise-making, and occasional swooping flights overhead.
Actual physical attacks where they make contact are rare. Hawks lack the size and strength to seriously injure most adults. However, they are capable of inflicting cuts or puncture wounds with their sharp talons and beaks.
There have been a handful of reports of red-shouldered hawks diving at people’s heads and striking them when they came too close to nests. But serious injuries are almost unheard of.
Factors that can prompt red-shouldered hawk aggression and attacks include:
– Getting close to an active nest site
– Lingering near a nest for prolonged time
– Attempting to touch eggs or offspring
– Large disruptive actions like tree cutting near nest
– Dogs or cats roaming near nest unsupervised
So the risk of an unprovoked attack by a red-shouldered hawk on a human is extremely low. But people should use caution and avoid antagonizing them during breeding season to prevent conflicts.
Most At Risk of Attack
Although serious injuries are unlikely, certain people are at higher risk of being struck or cut by a swooping red-shouldered hawk if they get too close to a nest:
– Small children: Seen as potential predators to offspring
– Joggers, cyclists, ATV riders: Fast motion can trigger attack
– Birdwatchers/photographers: Getting too close to nests
– Tree trimmers/utility workers: Causing loud disruptions near nests
– People with pets: Hawks view dogs and cats as threats
So these groups should exercise additional caution to avoid nesting red-shouldered hawks during breeding season. But the overall risk posed to humans remains very low.
Red-Shouldered Hawk Attack Injuries
As mentioned previously, actual physical attacks from red-shouldered hawks are uncommon. When they do occur, most result in minor injuries since the hawks are not capable of seriously harming humans.
Potential injuries include:
– Cuts on head or neck from talons
– Puncture wounds from the beak
– Bruising or scratches on other body parts
– Sparse reports of detached retina or corneal damage from strikes to eyes
– Extremely rare chance of traumatic brain injury if struck in head with enough force
So while the beak and talons can break skin and cause bleeding, attacks rarely cause lasting damage or require medical treatment beyond basic first aid and cleaning of wounds.
However, it is advisable to speak with a doctor about any hawk-inflicted injuries to ensure further health complications don’t arise. Signs of infection developing or vision issues warrant medical evaluation after an attack.
First Aid for Red-Shouldered Hawk Attacks
In the unlikely event of an actual attack that breaks skin, here are some steps to take:
– Wash wounds immediately with soap and clean water
– Control bleeding by applying pressure with clean cloth
– Cover cuts or punctures with sterile bandage
– Apply antibiotic ointment if available
– Watch for signs of infection like redness, swelling, oozing
– Contact doctor if infection develops or vision problems occur
– Get medical care if wounds are severe, bleed heavily, or cause significant pain
While red-shouldered hawk talons and beaks can introduce bacteria, infections from attacks are uncommon as long as wounds are promptly cleaned. Pain medicine and antibiotics may be prescribed for more extensive injuries.
Preventing Red-Shouldered Hawk Attacks
The best way to avoid conflict with red-shouldered hawks is to steer clear of active nests during breeding season. If you know a nest is nearby:
– Do not linger or attempt to approach nests
– Avoid prolonged eye contact, which can be seen as threatening
– Never attempt to feed or touch hawks or offspring
– Keep pets leashed and supervised outside
– Do not try to scare away hawks as this may provoke them
– Report problem nests to wildlife authorities, don’t take matters into your own hands
If diving or strikes occur, some recommendations to minimize risk of injury include:
– Duck or cover head/neck and quickly leave area
– Raise arms overhead to appear more imposing
– Open umbrella to act as shield if you must pass by nest
– Wear hat or helmet for head protection
– Travel in groups if possible, larger numbers can deter attacks
By respecting red-shouldered hawk space during nesting season and taking protective measures if swooping occurs, the chances of conflict and injury can be minimized. But overall, the risk posed by this species to people remains very low.
When to Seek Help for Nests
In some cases, a red-shouldered hawk nest located close to human activity can create recurring issues. It may be necessary to contact wildlife authorities to have problem nests relocated away from high traffic areas.
Signs a nest should be reported include:
– Repeated swooping and striking at people
– Located near entrance to busy building
– Close to school, playground or other high child traffic area
– Causing disruption of essential services like power lines
– Hawks showing little fear of humans
Wildlife officials can safely remove problematic nests before eggs hatch and relocate birds to more suitable areas. This protects both the hawks and people from danger.
However, it’s important not to take matters into your own hands by disturbing or destroying nests. Not only is this illegal, but it can prolong the problem if hawks rebuild nests nearby. Contact professionals to humanely resolve difficult hawk nests.
Comparison of Red-Shouldered Hawk and Other Hawk Species
To provide additional context, here is a comparison of how aggressive red-shouldered hawks are relative to some other hawk species:
Red-Tailed Hawk
– Larger and more powerful than red-shouldered hawks
– Can deliver more serious injuries if they attack
– Tend to be shy around humans like red-shouldereds
– Very rare to attack people unless defending very close to nest
Cooper’s Hawk
– Smaller accentor that adapts well to urban areas
– Will aggressively defend nest sites and hunting areas
– More likely to strike at humans who encroach on territory
– Responsible for most hawk attack injuries to people in North America
Sharp-Shinned Hawk
– One of smallest hawk species in North America
– Might deliver symbolic strikes but very unlikely to cause injury
– Generally avoid contact with humans even when nesting
– More at risk of being preyed on by larger hawk species
So while red-shouldered hawks can become territorial and dive at perceived threats near their nests, they do not exhibit the same level of aggression towards humans exhibited by species like Cooper’s hawks living in close proximity to people. Red-shouldered hawks pose very little danger overall.
Conclusion
In summary, healthy wild red-shouldered hawks are not prone to launching attacks on humans without provocation. They tend to fear people and avoid close contact.
However, they can become defensive and aggressive when guarding nests and offspring during breeding season. Most incidents involve alarm calls and distraction displays to deter intruders, with actual physical attacks being very rare.
If people encroach too closely on a nest, red-shouldered hawks may attempt to drive them off by striking with wings, feet, or beak. But significant injuries are extremely unlikely, with most resulting in minor cuts or scratches.
The overall risk to humans remains quite low as long as proper precautions are taken around known nest sites. Problems with overly aggressive hawks can also be resolved by working with wildlife officials to relocate nests away from high traffic areas.
In summary, red-shouldered hawk attacks are an uncommon occurrence and this species poses minimal danger to people if proper space and respect is given during nesting season.