So what's with all the trash in the nest?

If you've been watching the live camera stream from the Franklin Institute today, you've probably been wondering why the hawks (mostly the male) brought a brown paper bag early this morning, and then later some black plastic, and then some white paper.

It turns out that this is a significant stage in their nest building, and John Blakeman, our hawk expert from Ohio, sent me the following information:

"Well, to us, it's street trash. Not to the hawks. It's all soft and easily carried to the nest, where it will be re-worked and tucked into the bottom of the nest to help seal the bowl.

Actually, here in Ohio in the more normal rural nests we seldom see these. Out here, the birds are picking up corn leaves and some tree leaves from the ground, serving the same function. These larger, more bulking lining materials are brought to the nest in January and February. In March (generally) more fine-grained lining materials will be brought in. Linings vary from pair to pair and geographically. The birds use whatever is available and works. Strays sheets of The Inquirer, paper bags, and even some wafting plastic bags are likely to turn up at The Institute nest in these months. It will be interesting to see what will be used as the more final, softer lining materials in March. Fist-fulls of grass are often brought in.

Don't be surprised if some of these larger lining materials just disappear. The birds will carry them off or dump them over the edge if they don't seem to work well into the nest bottom.

Now, the birds are getting near the end of big-sticks stage. They have a profound urge to bring things to the nest. Not all that they bring in really works, so a few things are hauled off or allowed to tumble away.

And here's another topic that analysis of The Institute nest could yield: the nest materials used by this pair, and the times they were put into place, should be recorded, to help answer the question of how urban nests differ from rural ones.

Quantitative and structural analysis of red-tail nests throughout their range has never been done. It could start in Philadelphia. How, for example, does this ledge nest differ from those on the rock cliffs in the West?"

--John Blakeman


Last week I asked John how the nest was looking, and about the pine greenery the hawks started bringing to the nest last week:

"The nest, and all of the activities there, are just perfect. The pair will use the nest once again. The evergreen sprigs are commonly brought to red-tail nests, for unknown reasons. But when they appear, it's a sign of profound commitment. We're on for a good year of hawk-watching. Nothing like it in all the world."
--John Blakeman