Red-tailed Hawks are known to prey on snakes and they don’t necessarily exclude the venomous species as menu choices.
However I’ve only seen the behavior three times so I have to wonder just how common it is. Once all I saw was a Red-tail carrying a snake in flight high over my head in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains but both of the other times I was able to photograph the hawk on a power pole with the snake.
1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 320, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
In this instance, documented in Montana’s Centennial Valley on 6/24/16, the snake was already headless and “dead” before I found the hawk. I put “dead” in quotes for good reason and if you didn’t see that hilarious post (it’s funny to me at least) when I published it you can follow this link to see the unpleasant surprise that awaited the hawk (and me). I have to wonder if this bird ever tackled a snake again…
In order of significance Cornell’s Birds of North America Online lists snakes as Red-tailed Hawk prey immediately after rodents, rabbits and birds which seems to imply that it’s fairly common for Red-tails to take them. And BNA lists bullsnakes (gopher snakes) and rattlesnakes in particular as preferred snake prey.
However, studies suggest that Red-tails take venomous snakes in a smaller proportion compared to nonvenemous snakes than are available to them in their environment. The following quote from BNA suggests the likely reason for that little discrepancy:
- (Bent) “reported an incident where a Red-tail was bitten and killed by a “rattlesnake”, and a Red-tail was found dead with a coral snake”
Good reason to avoid attempting to make venomous snakes part of your diet, seems to me…
Ron
PS – Here’s a couple of related links that readers may be interested in:
- A fascinating clip of a Red-tailed Hawk taking on a large and aggressive gopher snake. There are some slightly annoying sounds in the background but I think it’s worth the visit.
- A few years ago I photographed a male American Kestrel with snake prey. Those images can be seen here.
I could be remembering wrong, but I think one of the Hawkwatch kestrel banding crews last season pulled a baby from a box that still had a small snake in its mouth. There was another with a lizard tail half-swallowed, too. 😀 My only one this past season was the other way around… we had a box with 8 starling eggs on the previous check, and when we checked it again there was nothing in the box except a medium-sized but probably well-fed gopher snake…
The one and only time I saw a Red Tail drop into tall brush and then fly off with a large and very much still alive gopher snake I wondered how common that prey might be among Red Tails in particular and hawks in general. Thanks for this post and the link. Your post makes clear that snakes are much more common prey for this hawk, at least, than I’d thought.
This day’s meal looks to be a Yellow-bellied Racer. I enjoy your posts!
Poor bird lol. Live and learn as they say. Happy Easter Ron!
Thank you, Jean. Same to you.
Ron, I am fearful of any snake big or small and venomous or non-venomous. I remember the garter snakes getting into the chicken coop back on the farm and their goal was to eat the eggs. My Father didn’t like them much either.
The links you attached are extremely interesting. I guess I need to get out more often so I can see this kind of behavior!!
Great photos, thanks Ron.
You have a fear that many share, Alice. Thank you.
Personally, I prefer my snakes non-venomous, thankyouverymuch. 😉 As much as I love snakes, I think the “headless snake boogie” might put me off at least for a little while.
It would make me jump, no question about that.
I respect them, and (from a distance) acknowledge their beauty, but I don’t do snakes well. And having dinner rear up at me would probably kill me faster than any venom.
I really like snakes. That slithering thing is to be respected! However, beyond slithering, I don’t know much about them, so I choose not to annoy them or introduce myself to them out in the wild. 🙂
We have some spectacularly venomous snakes. The most common snake in my local area is rated the second most venomous in the world. In one of our homes a red-bellied black (one of our less venomous snakes) lived under the front steps. For about nine months of the year I only used the back door. I have found myself swimming with a snake too (and it swum much better than I did). So I held my breath, sank to the bottom and watched it glide overhead.
Yeah, I GET that EC! If I lived in your land, I’d stay as far away from snakes as possible!! You don’t have many friendly snakes!!
Yeah, I’d stay away from anything that looks like a snake in OZ — ropes, garden hoses… 😉
Whoops — meant to add politicians to that snake-like list. 😉
goodness!! you swam with one? That’s amazing! Good idea to sink to bottom and let it swim past! I’m not sure that everyone would be of as sound a mind!
I admire the dickens out of snakes! Their evolution and resulting special adaptations, their ability to strike so quickly, their uncompromising behaviors – the list goes on. I kept them in my classroom and at home for many years. Must admit though, I’ve had a scary experience or two with the venomous ones.
If I lived where you do EC I might have a slightly different outlook on them generally.
Snakes are fascinating HOWEVER I do have a “healthy respect” for “buzztails” and, if they are in the yard, they are disposed of. Would NOT want to live where EC does as far as venomous snakes go……………..
Once again, a terrific series, Ron! I just love your behavioral series…and redtails, of course. 😉
Mariah (female redtail) used to catch snakes (generally bull snakes) until the day one tried to kill her back, wrapping around her neck with its back half (2/3rds). Luckily (for her), she had a nearby falconer (me) who rescued her (albeit not rapidly), unwrapping the snake who really did NOT want to cooperate with the unwrapping. If I hadn’t been there, I think the snake would have won that battle. After that, she never messed with snakes again. She even refused to eat the leftovers later that summer and she NEVER refused food!
Ezra, the male redtail at the Cornell hawk nest, located a snake honey hole, and as soon as the weather warmed to where the snakes recovered their mobility, he’d bring snakes to the nest to Big Red to feed to the little fuzzball bobbleheads. The snake diet continued only for a couple of days, but during that window of opportunity, he brought all the snakes he could catch home.
Redtails just ROCK! And so do you, Ron! 🙂
I’ll bet it was fun to watch Ezra deliver all those snakes! Thank you, Laura.
Yeah, we all miss Ezra–what a guy!! But Arthur, Big Red’s new young man, is proving to be the same kind of provider, catching squirrels, pigeons and all sorts of little things to feed to the three little fuzzball bobbleheads when they arrive in roughly 25-ish days, give or take 😉 I’ve just loved watching Big Red and Ezra parent, and I’m sure Arthur will follow in Ezra’s talonprints, paired with Big Red. I can watch redtails (and other raptors/birds/critters) all day long (without disturbing them, of course).
Good morning Ron. I’ve seen Red-tailed Hawks with snakes twice. Once, more than fifty years ago while cutting wheat near Virgelle Montana, I topped a hill
in a grain truck and a Red-tail lifted off with a very large snake in its talons. Four years ago I photographed a Red-tail flying with a small garter snake. A few weeks ago I photographed a female American Kestrel as it caught a small garter snake about 20 feet in front of me and then carried it to a nearby power line to eat it. It sucked it down like spaghetti. I’ve also photographed Great Blue Herons eating snakes. One caught and ate three snakes in the space of 15 minutes.
Ahh, I remember those days of driving grain trucks in MT fields, John – mostly with fond memories.
That is obviously a Chicken Hawk…not a Red-tail…hence the image of one eating a snake. Everyone knows snakes taste like chicken….haven’t tasted one myself, but have heard plenty of reports npny those who have…
I’ve heard those reports too, Patty. Think I’ll take their word for it…
Not sure why my other reply posted here too — I meant to add down here that they do sort of taste like chicken, at least rattlesnake does. Sort of stringy and with some “reptilian” overtones.
Yeah, I think I’ll pass for the moment Marty. Put that on the list below grits where I’d eat it if I HAD to but not by choice. Grits, liver and okra will never pass my lips again…LOL!!! 🙂
GOTCHA! Of COURSE that is a Red-tailed Hawk! And this is April First!!! (The devil made me do that…SORRY).
Yes, it’s a Red-tailed hawk and yes, it’s April First…GOTCHA( the devil made me do it!)….
Personally, I prefer my snakes non-venomous, thankyouverymuch. 😉 As much as I love snakes, I think the “headless snake boogie” might put me off at least for a little while.
I’ve pulled snakes out of red-tailed hawk crops on more than one occasion (we sometimes have to remove food when it’s not being processed, due to emaciation, or otherwise it rots and the bacterial proliferation can kill the bird … usually it smells just awesome, too!) and I’ve seen an adult flying with a snake, pursued by juveniles… often wondered how they handled the mid-air transfer of that prey item!
What an unpleasant task it must be to remove a snake in that condition, Louise! I can imagine…
Ron, good morning and Happy Easter. My 80th BD. Spectacular picture – you really do have the knack of being in the right place at the right time. I saw an eagle here once grab a snake right off the road and fly off with it. A woman here once told me she saw a Red-tailed Hawk swoop down to grab a Western Diamondback at Willow Lake, but missed and then became prey for the rattler. She said it was not a pretty sight. Thanks again for another of these remarkable photos.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
The 80th is a major milestone, Everett. Congrats!
Happy birthday Everett!! Cheers!
Happy 80th, Everett! May you have many more! 🙂
Happy Birthday!!!
Great shot Ron. I remember your previous post well. I think when someone is investigating predators and what they eat you go where the possible food items for that species is plentiful, than observe what they eat.
Here in the Northeast when I’m out and about I don’t see many snakes, but we have many squirrels, rabbits and other rodents. I have to admit when I was out West I looked for rattlers ( I guess I looked in the wrong spots) didn’t see any. Great video of the Red-tail and Gopher snake, glad they stayed their distance.
Sometimes I anthropomorphize and feel there are dumb genes in the avian predator world as well as the human world and the mistakes made can cost a life!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Dick. I wonder if it’s really “dumb genes” as much as it is inexperience…? And they have to survive their early encounters to become experienced.
Good point. However, with humans there is either a presence of mind and thought or there isn’t at the time the decision is made. I’ve always wondered whether there is a presence within instinct before experience that makes, hinders or qualifies the process before the action is taken. Just sayer!
Dick, I hear you talking about the bell curve in intelligence. In raptors (as well as humans and other critters), there are always the dull norms who, in the redtail realm, are more than happy to survive on little rodents and might not ever try something larger. And in their defense, there’s a good survival case to be made there. Then, there are the folks on the other end of the bell curve who will chase anything that moves fearlessly and continue to expand their menu accordingly, assuming they overcome the danger aspects. It’s a highly individual thing, just as it is with humans (and other critters), that’s also affected by their success rate.
Thanks Laura. “assuming they overcome the danger aspects” how big an assumption is that? Is there any way of monitoring that characteristic?
To answer that question, you’d have to follow a bunch of redtails closely for at least a year I would think. Then measure how many snakes are caught versus how many lived through the encounter. Don’t forget, here in the U.S. we have many easy-to-eat snakes as well as the venomous ones. There’s a NatGeo video out there about a redtail doing a matador dance with a rattler, offering its wing feathers to the snake, and as soon as the snake strikes, so does the redtail. A strike in the primaries is nothing. Let me pull that out. Here you go: Redtail v. Rattlesnake (NatGeo video): http://youtu.be/hjmJla-q880
Laura, that’s one of the clips I considered posting a link to when I was trying to decide which one to include in this post.
I chose not to use it because at least part of that encounter was faked (NG up to their old tricks again). Watch very carefully at about 1:20 when “the hawk jumps the rattler and digs in its talons”. Notice that the coiled snake doesn’t react or move and it doesn’t even change its shape when the hawk pulls it up into the air a bit. I’m sure the snake was either freeze dried (commonly done with prepared specimens) in that position or stuffed or possibly drastically cooled, almost frozen, for that small section of the clip.
NG has done some very good stuff over the years but they’ve sure faked their share too. And some of their tactics in the field are far from ethical.
Ahhh man! Color me gullible! I HATE it when a scene is staged. I hate it a LOT! Thanks for the heads up. I won’t share that link again. DARGH!!!! GRUMBLE!!!! SPIT!!!! HISS!!!! Darn humans anyway!
Ethics are at the top of my list of important human qualities side by side with basic honesty (which of course goes hand in hand). If I catch someone in a lie (or unethical behavior), I can never trust that person/entity again. The obvious question becomes what else is a lie?
Exactly!
Laura, many thanks for the reply. At 81.9 I’ve become quite suspicious of NG over the years. One of the reasons I love Ron’s posts is that I believe his honesty, appreciate his ethics and think he is a fantastic photographer.
I appreciate your post, but know through bringing up two boys and a girl that there are inherent differences within a family that go along with their experiences and how they react to those experiences. I won’t go into detail other then to say I love them very much, but they are also very different and learn in different ways. If they were brought up in the wild I believe I’d only have two today. It is hard for me to believe that similar characteristics are not also found in other species gene pool. Just sayen!
Dick, I absolutely agree. Individuality happens in the wild, too, but that gets us into a nature v. nurture discussion, which brings us back to the whole idea of individuality again. In short, there are no absolute answers beyond that into each life ca-ca happens. 🙂
I appreciate the vote of confidence, Dick.
Hello Ron, happy Easter! I’d venture an opinion that most snakes, venomous or not, are consumed as found road kills, as Red Tailed Hawks are scavengers at the opportunity table. Don
Whether or not “most” is really the case or not I just don’t know, Donald. I do know they actually kill snakes and the two snakes I saw Red-tailed Hawks with up close sure didn’t look like road kill. However, I’m sure they also take road killed snakes.
Happy Easter, Ron….:) Quite the “tongue” on that bird! 😉 Yes, they do take rattlers. We’ve seen them in flight only and they’ve dropped them now and then sometimes from quite a height – sometimes retrieving them, sometimes not. Dangerous snack for sure! Original post and video link are great. Seems like “somewhere” I’ve heard/read that they can take a hit on their lower leg/foot and get away with it?
I’ve heard that too about a leg strike, Judy. Have no idea if it’s really true.