Red-tailed hawks making comeback in Illinois

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- If you're driving through Southern Illinois and it seems as if there is a red-tailed hawk sitting in every tree and on nearly every fence post, you aren't imagining things.

Red-tailed hawks are thriving.

"Between 1966 and 2003, there has been an average 1 1/2 percent per year increase in the number of red-tailed hawks counted in the breeding survey," said Glenn Kruse of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' Division of Habitat Resources. "There is a real increase going on."

Kruse said the hawks are probably most noticeable in the area in wintertime, partly because they are more conspicuous then, and partly because they move into Southern Illinois as part of their normal winter range.

There are some concrete reasons why the red-tails are thriving.

"When you go back that length of time [to 1966], you're probably seeing some change in the pesticide regulations," Kruse said. "A lot of hawks, eagles and raptors of all kinds were being adversely affected by pesticides. Guys at the top of the food chain take it the worst."

"And I can only believe there is less direct persecution," Kruse added. "When I was a kid, every hawk was a chicken hawk and you shot it out of the air if you had the chance."

In addition, the red-tailed hawk is adaptable.

Red-tailed hawks prefer open spaces, as opposed to the red-shouldered hawks, which are more of a forest bird.

Red-tailed hawks are frequently spotted at the tops of trees, utility poles or fence posts, searching intently for food scurrying around beneath them. They feed primarily on small mammals.

"Rabbit is about the biggest thing they're going to take on," Kruse said. "They're not going to take down a coyote. They'll probably take down a skunk. Some of these predators know how to do that without getting in trouble.

"Red-tails even take porcupines where they occur. They'll eat almost anything. Sometimes they'll catch a fish at the edge of the water."

The red-tailed hawk's cry is quite familiar -- most Americans have heard it in the movies.

"The red-tail is the bird that does that long, screaming call," Kruse said. "They use it almost any time you see a raptor in a movie or a television commercial."

Meanwhile, kestrels, also known as sparrow hawks, have also been increasing in numbers throughout Illinois.

Kestrels are only about half the size of red-tailed hawks, and are actually members of the falcon family.

Kestrels have the ability to hover above their prey before striking.

Kruse said the abundance of such predators normally indicates a healthy environment.