Hicksville resident Jim McCrann recently noticed two feathered friends hanging out in Hicksville, though the pair stood out more than Hicksville’s standard pigeons.
“For the past several months, there have been a pair of red-tailed hawks perching along the upper edges of Macy’s here in the Broadway Mall in Hicksville,” said McCrann, who normally spots the hawks on his daily morning walk.
“I don’t know whether they are mates although one does seem a bit larger than the other. Sometimes there is only one there, other times both are present,” McCrann explained.
McCrann’s observations are spot-on, according to National Geographic, as females are typically larger than males and the monogamous birds normally mate for life. The red-tailed hawk’s lifespan in the wild is approximately 21 years and can have a wingspan of almost four feet.
According to National Geographic, the red-tailed hawk is North America’s most common hawk, normally found in open areas such as fields and deserts. The birds have tremendous vision and are excellent hunters and recently have begun adapting to suburban life, perching atop telephone poles to spot prey (mice, squirrels, rabbits and reptiles) down below, which could explain their current whereabouts.
McCrann photographed the pair just after Valentine’s Day, proving that love was – literally – in the air.
