I’ve been checking in on the Franklin Institute live red-tailed hawk cam which is fun now that the babies are about and the adults are doing more than just incubation. I watched some cool behavior that I’ve read about but not actually observed. I took some screen captures:
Here an adult is feeding the tiny fierce puffballs.
Then the hawk flew off for a moment and returned with a leafy branch. Some speculate that the leaves of certain plants have natural insect repellent properties and help keep nest parasites to a minimum.
I have no idea what type of plant the red-tailed hawk brought in–looks like it either has some green berries or some green buds on it. Just some of the cool things one can observe in this day and age of online birdwatching.
WOW! Too cool! Thanks for sharing. When I clicked on your link I was interested to learn about this species new to me – A Red-Tailed Franklin hawk…
That sure looks like Mistletoe to me. I am not at all familiar with the plants in that area. But I do have some knowledge of plants, work in a garden center.