Red-Shouldered Hawks--Incubation Teamwork

Every time I watch this pair of red-shouldered hawks, I marvel at what I see. Where there's repetition, I get a deeper understanding. When I see something new, well, it's just more fun of a different kind.
Precision team work, dedication, incredible loyalty, that's a few of the things I'm observing. Some might say they're just hawks responding to instincts. But my observations tell me there's a whole lot more going on. They cooperate, they trust each other, they count on each other and they're dependable.

On this particular day, the female was on the nest. And from time to time she could be heard calling with a soft mewing sound, solicitous and very different from the typical bold exchanges they often have.

Very shortly, the male arrived with food. He first landed on the limb you see below, then he flew to the top of the house in the nest yard where the female promptly joined him.

No more than a few seconds lapsed before they each departed, the female carrying the prey to a feeding perch, the male to the nest to incubate. As she fed, the male periodically called to her.

When the female had eaten all she wanted, she flew with the prey and landed on the other side of me, on a deteriorated nest platform. You can see below that her lovely landing was obscured by two trees. On this collection of sticks, she deposited the remains of the prey and flew to a different limb to clean her bill and preen.

Below, while she rested above me, I got a view of her tummy feathers or lack thereof. You can see the disarray of the downy feathers from incubation. But if you look more closely, you can also see her brood patch, where she has plucked her feathers to expose an area of skin with supplemental blood vessels that is especially suited for keeping the eggs warm.

And what you're seeing below is anyone's guess. She's either cleaning her bill or trying to pluck a twig. I think the former. She didn't leave with a twig.

There is a pine tree a short distance from the nest that the female favors. She visits it before returning to relieve the male, bringing a fresh twig full of needles to add to the nest. As soon as she arrives, the male departs. And this time he flew right to the cache platform, lifted the prey and moved it to a new perch to feed.

Special, huh? Teamwork worthy of admiration.

First image, sketch in progress of the male. This is the 10th post in a series about this nesting pair of red-shouldered hawks. To see the entire series, click here.