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Thanks, HLC. I just put up another question in the observations thread, asking how long the newly-fledged hawks hang around after fledging. I'll try to find it myself, but I'd be curious to see what you come up with.

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"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" –– A. J. Liebling

I have a question....i am originally from The United Kingdom, over there some of the hawks have "rings" on their legs to keep track of them, do you do that over here?? i was just wondering because it would be nice to keep a track on our "Thunder" and see what she/he is doing in life.

Pooky, they do that here, too, except we call it "banding." It's common where there's a wildlife organization nearby. For instance if you go to the San Jose Peregrine Falcon Cam page, they recently banded three little ones. The guy had to rappel down from above, onto the building ledge, and dodge the adult swooping at him as he banded the youngsters.

The eagles at the Channel Islands are tagged on their wings, evidently to make easier to ID them from a distance.

The big problem here is that Thunder is now a little too old, I think, and it would be difficult, if not dangerous, to capture her. However, it would be interesting to hear from some wildlife folks in the Tulsa area about this.

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"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" –– A. J. Liebling

Here's what I've found so far, from the Alabama Wildlife Center:

Branchers leave the nest 6 to 7 weeks after hatching, but are unable to fly well for several more weeks.  It was a juvenile in this stage of development that is described in Case 1.  At this stage, the adult birds had no difficulty supplying the juvenile that remained in the original nest as well as the juvenile that was on the nest platform nearby.  The fledglings remain dependent on the adults for 5 to 10 weeks after fledging, as they gradually develop their hunting skills.

And this from the Raptor Foundation:

They are fully fledged around 45 days from hatching, with the males fledging quicker than females. The parents will look after the young for up to 4 weeks after fledging & the young may stay in close proximity to the parents until autumn.

As well as this from the U.S. Forest Service.

Fledging - Nestlings fledge in 42 to 46 days [16,20,22,38].  Males
fledge earlier than females [38].  Fledglings continue to be fed by
parents and remain within the nesting territory for 30 days or more
after fledging [20].

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"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" –– A. J. Liebling

Bobdmac quoted:

Nestlings fledge in 42 to 46 days.  Males
fledge earlier than females. 

Well, normally, but Thunder is now 53 days old, and I don't think what happened last night was a fledge.

Pooky - I am no expert but I think that redtails are rarely banded.  If one is captured for whatever reason, it may be banded before it's released.  Last year Palemale, Jr., and Charlotte's hawklet fledged off of a high ledge on a building in New York City.  It landed in the street and was picked up and sent to a wildlife rehabilitator.  When he was released in Central Park a week or so later he had been banded--and fortunately his parents found him and began feeding him.

Peregrine falcons were an endangered species.  Many were raised in captivity and then released in areas where it was hoped they could establish-or re-establish--a population.  Those falcons are always banded before they are released, their nests are watched, and new chicks are banded whenever possible.  In the Chicago area, we now have a host of peregrine nests.  One is on the Metropolitan Correctional Center (federal prison) downtown.  For some reason, the officials won't let people up there to band the chicks.  Peregrines have adapted to the cities very well and were taken off the endangered species list.

I think it is a similar situation on the Channel Islands off California with eagles.  They had died off there and are being re-established so I would guess that's why they are tagged.  Here's a wonderful video of an eaglet being returned to the nest.  Note the helmets on the two people--for good reason:

http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u77/eaglegal_2007/?action=view&current=FosteringWEChick08.flv

Sorry, I can't figure out how to creat an actual link.

You're absolutely right, HLC. Thunder is evidently a statistical outlier, but with good reason, I think, given the nest she occupies.

Also, good point about the distinction between the red-tail hawks, which are in pretty good shape as a species, and the falcons and eagles.

The actual reason for my post was to try to get an idea of how long Thunder might hang around after she finally fledges.

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"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" –– A. J. Liebling