Birds of Mount Shasta Hawks and Eagles

Entry 25. Buteo borealis calurus. Western Red-tail. [Buteo jamaicensis Red-tailed Hawk]

Rather common. Seen from time to time at Wagon Camp in July and early August, frequently at Squaw Creek Camp in August and September, and several times above timberline. One was seen flying over the summit of Shasta July 31 by W. H. Osgood and R. T. Fisher. Common during fall migration in Shasta Valley, where Osgood saw many September 17-20, and I saw several September 29--chiefly about the narrow meadows bordering Shasta River. At Sisson Miss Florence A. Merriam saw them September 3.

Scream of a Red-tailed Hawk © 1999 Doug Von Gausig.

Red-tailed Hawk (specimen from College of the Siskiyous)
Photographed by Debbie Harton

Entry 26. Buteo swainsoni. Swainson Hawk. [Swainson's Hawk]

Rare. July 28 I saw a nearly black Swainson hawk near an abandoned sawmill (alt. 4,800 feet) on the road from Wagon Camps to McCloud Mill. In July, 1899, Walter K. Fisher saw one in Shasta Valley.

A pair of Swainson's Hawks © 1999 Jim Morgan and Doug Von Gausig.

Entry 27. Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle.

Rather rare, but seen from time to time flying over the mountain, usually at high altitudes. C.H. Townsend shot one near Sheep Rock, at the north base of Shasta, August 21, 1883.

Golden Eagle (specimen from College of the Siskiyous)
Photographed by Debbie Harton

Entry 31. Falco sparverius. Sparrow Hawk. [American Kestrel]

Common at timberline throughout the summer. Usually seen in the heather patches and among the white-bark pines, where they were feeding on grasshoppers. Several were killed near timberline, east of Mud Creek Canyon, the latter part of July and early August, and one was recorded as high as 13,000 feet by Walter K. Fisher. On the west side of Mud Creek Canyon two were killed August 11 at an altitude of 10,000 feet by Vernon Bailey. Their stomachs were distended with grasshoppers. At the north base of the mountain one was seen by me on the narrow meadows bordering Shasta River in Shasta Valley September 29, and several were observed farther north in the valley September 17-20 by W. H. Osgood and R. T. Fisher. At Sisson they were seen July 15 by Miss Florence A. Merriam.