Date: 4/9/25 1:14 pm From: Lee Friedman via groups.io <lfried6...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Amorous Red-Tails, One Banded, at Vollmer Peak
My primary reason for posting is in case this will help to identify the banded Red-tailed Hawk at Vollmer Peak. Since it is one of an amorous pair busy now with nest construction (and, well, with being amorous), they are also of course simply interesting to watch. They are also likely to continue in that area for several months, barring any nesting failure. The nest is somewhere just north of the parking lot, and I observed them multiple times yesterday generally near the peak and on its west side. Sometimes they were carrying nesting material. They also engage in elaborate courtship displays while soaring, and I observed them copulating in a tree just below the peak on the southwest side.
One of the hawks has a silver band on its right leg. I could not read the markings with any clarity (three rows, with small numerals top and bottom and larger numerals in the middle). I have reported the sighting to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory (reference ID 477779). In case anyone can get a better read on the band markings than I did, please report it as well.
The link below is to five photos of the pair: carrying nesting materials, two of their courtship display, copulation, and one showing the silver lock-on band on the right leg of one of them.
