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Nesting of the Harris Hawk in Southeastern California

Leo Wiley

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In the first half of March, 1917, a pair of Harris Hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi) were noticed almost every day, but during the last half of the month they were not around so much or not in sight so often. I had looked in all the tall trees in this vicinity but had not found a nest that looked like a hawk's nest, so thought they were nesting some place else.

On April 4 Dr. Loye H. Miller was here to visit the valley and on the 5th we two were going down the lagoon near a garden I have about a quarter of a mile from the store, when I thought of a large nest I had found in the winter in a bunch of mistletoe. This proved to belong to the Harris Hawks. On climbing up to it we found three eggs. Two of the eggs were unmarked and of a grayish color or more of a soiled white, while the other had a few pale brown splotches on the larger end. They looked like they were about to hatch when we found them.

The nest is in a thicket of mesquite with arrowweed underbrush, near a slough that has water in it most of the time. Near the nest is a large thicket of tall willows, and the slough is full of dead trees, cat-tails and tules. One of the tallest of the willows is used more or less as a look-out for the old birds. Although the nest is very close to the houses I have never seen the birds on this side of the lagoon. They do not make very much noise after the nest is established unless something is near the nest.

I visited the nest every two or three days to find out when the eggs hatched. Ou the morning of the 27th of April one of the birds was out and by night the other two had left their shells. They are of a light buff color.

Palo Verde, California, May 2, 1917

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