With habitat disappearing the Red Shouldered hawk is starting to show up in more urban areas.

Often heard before being seen the Red Shouldered Hawk is one beautiful predator that faces many obstacles. With human population growing the need for housing is devouring this birds native habitat like a dark plaque.

Photo Courtesy of Jo Beach Healthful Dog Food.com

The Red shouldered hawk is a lucky survivor of the pesticides that interfered with reproduction in the 1970′s. The most notable pesticide being DDT. I wrote an article on The Bald Eagle and the troubles it faced with DDT. The Red shouldered hawk had the same fight and luckily the pesticide was removed from use before it wiped out entire bird populations.

This Hawk is a great predator and had it been wiped out, the problems would have been huge. The Red shouldered Hawk loves small mammals ( rats) and is a key to controlling the population of these pests. Without the Red shouldered Hawk the rat population would explode and we could have a serious problem.

Now you may be thinking that doesn’t sound like a big deal. So there would be a few more rats. Rats are known to carry disease and they can be very destructive when creating their homes. Let’s have a little history lesson and I am sure you will then understand the importance of natural population control from predators.

The Black plaque or bubonic plaque was a massive and deadly pandemic that had widespread destruction.

Taken from the Wikipedia.

” From 1347 to 1351, the black death, a massive and deadly pandemic, swept through Asia, Europe and Africa. It may have reduced the world’s population from 450 million to between 350 to 375 million. China, where it originated, lost around half of its population (from around 123 million to around 65 million), Europe around 1/3 of its population (from about 75 million to about 50 million) and Africa approximately 1/8th of its population (from around 80 million to 70 million). This makes the Black Death the largest death toll from any known non-viral epidemic. Although accurate statistical data does not exist, it is thought that 4.2 million died in England (1/4 of the population), while an even higher percentage of Italy’s population was likely wiped out. On the other hand, Northeastern Germany, Bohemia, Poland and Hungary are believed to have suffered less, and there are no estimates available for Russia or the Balkans.”

So what do rats and the red shouldered hawk have to do with it?

Taken from the Wikipedia.

” Bubonic plague is mainly a disease in rodents and fleas (Xenopsylla cheopsiss). Infection in a human occurs when a person is bitten by a flea that has been infected by biting a rodent that itself has been infected by the bite of a flea carrying the disease. The bacteria multiply inside the flea, sticking together to form a plug that blocks its stomach and causes it to begin to starve. The flea then voraciously bites a host and continues to feed, even though it cannot quell its hunger, and consequently the flea vomits blood tainted with the bacteria back into the bite wound. The bubonic plague bacterium then infects a new victim, and the flea eventually dies from starvation. Any serious outbreak of plague is usually started by other disease outbreaks in rodents, or a rise in the rodent population.”

Now it all makes sense!

Many of today’s scientists believe that the black plaque was viral and not caused by rats but we will never know. So now lets think about an explosion in the population of rats due to the fact the the Red shouldered Hawk was rendered extinct from pesticides. It sounds like a very very bad thing.

The Red shouldered Hawk’s diet also consists of Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Insects and others. They are very territorial and sometimes offspring will return to the same territory for many years. The longest recorded active territory of the Red shouldered Hawk was 45 years.

Everything in Nature has it’s place and it is important to keep the fragile balance.

Comments are welcomed using the form below.

Would you like to receive an email anytime I post new bird sightings or other bird related information? If you would just enter your email address in the box below.

WE WILL NEVER SHARE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH ANYONE!

Lyonia preserve is a hidden gem in Deltona. If you are an avid birdwatcher or just starting to enjoy birding, this is a place you need to visit. It is home to many species of animals, plants and birds some of which are endangered or threatened due to habitat loss.

Lyonia preserve is tucked behind Deltona Regional library at

2150 Eustace Ave., Deltona, Fl

View Larger Map
It is open during daylight hours.

This hilly desert like preserve has over 4 miles of hiking trails that are full of birds.

Photo Curtesy of Volusia County Florida

Do’s and Don’ts for Lyonia Preserve.

Do’s

• Bring water as it can get hot.
• Wear proper shoes. This area is very hilly and in some spots, has very soft sugar sand. It can be a vigorous hike but the rewards are well worth it.
• There are a lot of large red ants. Watch where you stand.
• I recommend Sunglasses and a hat.
• A camera
• Spotting scope or Binoculars

Dont’s

Do not feed any animals in the preserve. There are endangered and threatened animals that live here and feeding them is against the law.

My first trip to Lyonia ( about 7 years ago ) preserve was a blast and quite a shock to me.
My wife and I hiked well into the middle of the preserve where we found a nice shady spot to take a break.

While getting my water from my pack, I noticed a bird just a few feet in front of me perched on a small branch.

I wasn’t sure how long he had been there but it did startle me because he was so close and I didn’t even see him land. At the time I also had no idea what kind of bird it was. I had never seen anything quite like it.
As I motioned to my wife to look, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Another one of these birds had just landed on the other side of the trail and was staring at me.

Within Minutes there was at least a dozen of these blue colored birds in the trees surrounding us and they were all staring at us.
To be quite honest I found it a bit intimidating because I had never seen birds so brave.
My mind instantly ran to Hitchcock’s The Birds and my wife and I just stood there and looked at each with crazed expressions.

I mentioned in my Do’s and Dont’s to wear a hat. I was wearing a black baseball hat at the time. Most of these hats have a large button on the top where all the seams intersect.

As If all of them staring at us wasn’t enough,

one decides to fly towards me and land on my hat. I looked at my wife and said
” What is he doing? ” Just then he slams his beak into the button on the top of my hat giving me a nice thump to the top of my head.
I couldn’t help it and started to laugh and he flew away.

The Scrub Jay had made quite an introduction to my wife and I and we have been back to visit them countless times. It truly is an amazing experience and doesn’t seem to happen quite like that anymore.

The Scrub Jay is now threatened due to habitat loss and they are only found in certain areas of Florida. They are extremely brave and curious by nature. When they do show themselves, they seem to almost pose for photos.

I find them to be quite amazing and I am sure if you visit Lyonia Preserve you will too.

Would you like to receive an email anytime I post new bird sightings or other bird related information? If you would just enter your email address in the box below.

WE WILL NEVER SHARE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH ANYONE!