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THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol 124. No. 4. December 2012 
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124(4):818-820. 2012 
Unusual Foraging Tactics by a Red-tailed Hawk in an Urban Environment 
Renn Tumlison 1 
ABSTRACT.—Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jatnaicen- 
sis) usually hunt from a perch and swoop down on prey. 
I observed a novel foraging strategy in which the bird 
deliberately, and successfully, attacked and deconstruct¬ 
ed nests of squirrels to flush or capture prey in an urban 
environment. Received 9 March 2012. Accented 5 lime 
2012 . 
five occasions. The corridor was lined by 21 mast- 
Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo januticensis) lend lo 
be sit-and-wait predators, selecting perch sites 
with less cover which may increase vulnerability 
of prey (Leyhe and Ritchison 2004). Distribution 
of the Red-tailed Hawk in central Arkansas 
appears to be a response to availability of perches 
and prey biomass (Preston 1990). Red tailed 
Hawks are opportunistic predators that usually 
prey on rodents including gray squirrels (.Scinnts 
caroUnensis), small birds, and reptiles, but have 
developed strategies to capture large birds, bats, 
and insects by foraging in atypical habitats 
(Murphy 1994. Jehl 2004. Preston and Beane 
2009). I observed an unusual situation in which a 
Red-tailed Hawk became habituated to people, 
thereby altering typical life history traits (Ditchk- 
off et al. 2006) to exploit the locally abundant 
resource of gray squirrels. 
1 observed an adult Eastern Red-tailed Hawk 
foraging on the campus of Henderson State 
University. Arkadelphia, Clark County. Arkansas 
during October 2011 to March 2012. This bird 
allowed close proximity with little apparent 
concern. On two occasions. I was able to 
photograph the bird from a distance of ~5 m. 
Many students were able to watch this bird perch, 
and occasionally pursue gray squirrels into their 
leaf and stick nests. The objective of this paper is to 
report the first observations of an aggressive new 
foraging strategy used by this species of hawk. 
OBSERVATIONS 
I observed hunting behavior of a Red-tailed 
Hawk in a landscaped corridor (120 X 30 m ) on 
'Department of Biology. Henderson State University 
Arkadelphia. AR 71999, USA; e-mail: tumlison@hsu.edu 
producing water oaks (Quercus nigra) and two 
mature loblolly pines (Pinas taeda). Multiple 
upright stems that grew after earlier pruning of the 
oaks created several sites apparently preferred by 
squirrels for construction of leaf and stick nests. 
Twenty-five leal and stick nests were present, and 
some trees also had multiple cavities in which a 
squirrel could find shelter. 
1 witnessed a Red-tailed Hawk chasing gray 
squirrels by running along limbs of a laree pine on 
25 October 2011 at -0900 firs CST. A flushed 
squirrel ran into a cavity in the tree, and the hawk 
perched over the hole and repeatedly (but 
unsuccessfully) used its beak to probe the hole 
in attempts to reach the squirrel. Within about 
5 min, the hawk moved back along the limbs and 
positioned itself on top of a leaf and stick nest. 
Alter surveying the area for activity of squirrels, 
the hawk then used its talons to shake the nest in 
an apparent attempt to force any occupants to flee. 
flic hawk perched in an oak between two nests 
on 28 November 2011 at —1215 hrs in the typical 
upright position for surveying the foraging area. 
Upon witnessing a squirrel move in a nearby oak. 
the hawk assumed the pre-flight horizontal 
posture, waited until the alerted squirrel ran into 
its nest shelter, then flew- to the tree, landing 
0.5-1.0 m above the nest. The hawk walked 
down the upright branches to the top of the nest, 
positioned itself, and used its talons to tear the 
nest apart. Falling leaves and small branches tom 
liom the nest were enough to get the attention of 
unaware students passing underneath the trees, but 
t ie nest was substantial enough that the hawk 
could not tear it completely apart, and the squirrel 
did not exit the nest. 
I observed the hawk again at 0830 hrs on 29 
ovember 2011. ft landed in one oak and began 
wa king down the limb Unvard a nest, flushing a 
squirrel that scampered from the nest and down 
a hmb - Jum Ping to another tree, the squirrel 
s ie teied in a dense cluster of small branches and 
remained there for several minutes with the hawk 
remaining in its position watching the squirrel. 
Jhe squirrel eventually ran up the limb to a leaf 
