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What Are Those Hawks Doing? |
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Cold weather doesn’t seem to put much of a damper
 on hawks when its time to mate. Now is a great time tolisten for mating calls and look up to see the amazing aerial displays some raptors make. You can see some hawks like Red-tails circling overhead and flying in tandem in the sky. Some eagles and hawks will even clutch talons and fall through the sky together! It’s an amazing show and often accompanied by lots of loud calls!
But all this is made even more interesting because of what hawks are about. Most hawks will remain with the same mate for life and use the same nest year after year. Hawk and eagle nests are complicated and in some cases, enormous affairs. Eagles especially will build and repair their nests year after year until they often weigh over a ton.
A lot of hard work goes into hunting to feed their chicks, so it makes sense to raise a new brood every year with the same trusted mate. But once they have finished raising the kids, everyone goes off on their own. First the juveniles leave the nest and some take off together. Then the males and females each go their own way for the winter. Most pairs will then return to the same location and meet up in the late winter to start breeding again the next year. If one of the adults doesn’t show up, the remaining adult generally will find another mate and remain monogamous with that mate during their time together.
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