Swainsons Hawk Family Hunting
These Swanson’s hawks nest in our neighborhood. Here the two parents and one offspring are sitting on the scoreboard at the Prescott High School baseball field. It looks like the parents are giving the youngster a hunting lesson. Earlier in the season it was common to see one or both of the adults hunting in this field, and now that the fledgling is out of the nest the parents have included junior in the hunt.
Swanson’s hawks eat large insects like grasshoppers and cicadas, and also small mammals. I’ve seen the adults with mice and cicadas in their claws returning to the nest.
This is the second nesting season that we’ve had a pair of Swainson’s hawks in the area. These birds are seasonal to Prescott, Az arriving here in the spring and leaving in early fall. They migrate to South America and back.
Photo by Gary Gromer.
