Larch Creek Birds

What the birds (and frogs) are saying at a creek in western Washington
Plate 33
Red-tailed Hawk
Unknown artist, Birds, 1878
Bird

Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis
Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae)
Year-round resident. Expected at the creek in every month.
Field marks
A broad-winged, broad-tailed hawk. Adults have a brick-red tail and most show a dark belly band; western birds come in every shade from pale to nearly black, like a hawk that could not decide.
Male & female
Alike; females are about a quarter heavier.
Voice
A harsh, descending scream, 'keeeeer', the sound every film uses for every raptor, including eagles, which are too dignified to make it.
Diet
Mostly rodents and rabbits, plus snakes and birds; hunts from a perch or a slow circling soar.
Habitat
Open country with scattered trees, forest edges, the big trees beside highways.
Nesting
A big stick nest high in a tall tree or on a cliff, reused for years and renovated every spring; 2–3 eggs.
Size
18–26 in long, wingspan 3½–4½ ft, 1½–3 lb: the wingspan of a yardstick and a bit, the weight of a hardcover dictionary.

A Steller's Jay can imitate this scream almost perfectly, so a 'hawk' calling from inside a dense conifer may be a jay enjoying itself.

Season how expected it is here, week by week

50%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecheard at the creektoday
Fig. 1. BirdNET's range model for this location: the chance this species is present in each week of the year. Orange ticks mark weeks it has actually been heard at the creek; the dashed line is today.

At the creek 1 calls on 1 day, first Oct 29, last Oct 29

0100:00 — 0 calls001:00 — 0 calls02:00 — 0 calls03:00 — 0 calls304:00 — 0 calls05:00 — 0 calls06:00 — 0 calls607:00 — 0 calls08:00 — 0 calls09:00 — 0 calls910:00 — 1 calls11:00 — 0 calls12:00 — 0 calls1213:00 — 0 calls14:00 — 0 calls15:00 — 0 calls1516:00 — 0 calls17:00 — 0 calls18:00 — 0 calls1819:00 — 0 calls20:00 — 0 calls21:00 — 0 calls2122:00 — 0 calls23:00 — 0 callssunrisesunset
Fig. 2. When it calls: all detections by hour of day (today's sunrise and sunset shown).
01Oct 2 — 0 callsOct 3 — 0 callsOct 3Oct 4 — 0 callsOct 5 — 0 callsOct 6 — 0 callsOct 7 — 0 callsOct 8 — 0 callsOct 9 — 0 callsOct 10 — 0 callsOct 10Oct 11 — 0 callsOct 12 — 0 callsOct 13 — 0 callsOct 14 — 0 callsOct 15 — 0 callsOct 16 — 0 callsOct 17 — 0 callsOct 17Oct 18 — 0 callsOct 19 — 0 callsOct 20 — 0 callsOct 21 — 0 callsOct 22 — 0 callsOct 23 — 0 callsOct 24 — 0 callsOct 24Oct 25 — 0 callsOct 26 — 0 callsOct 27 — 0 callsOct 28 — 0 callsOct 29 — 1 callsOct 30 — 0 callsOct 31 — 0 callsOct 31
Fig. 3. Calls per day over the last 30 days.

Recordings

Clearest recording · Oct 29 10:36 am · 96% sure
spectrogram

From the encyclopedia

The red-tailed hawk is a bird of prey and one of the most common hawks in North America. In the United States, it is one of three species colloquially known as the "chickenhawk". The red-tailed hawk breeds throughout most of the continent, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. The red-tailed hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas. It is absent in areas of unbroken forest and in the high arctic. It is legally protected in Canada, Mexico, and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty.
From Wikipedia, "Red-tailed hawk", CC BY-SA 4.0.