Arizona Wildlife Parenting 101

by Nathan Thrash

Liberty Wildlife Staff

There are a lot of different parenting techniques out there. Luckily for us humans, we can peruse the internet, get a book at Barnes and Noble, or rely on the wisdom of our own parents for tips on how to raise our kids. Unfortunately, if you’re not a human (how are you reading this?), you must rely on your instincts to raise your young. Let’s take a look at some of the techniques our feathered and furred friends have to raise their young.

Red-tailed hawks are the most common hawks seen in Arizona, and they are some of the most common hawks across the United States. So how do they raise their young? A typical Red-tailed hawk nest has two eggs that the female sits on (incubates) for around a month. Once the eggs hatch, both parents share hunting duties to feed their babies. After about 42-48 days, the hatchlings become fledglings and leave the nest for the first time. After about 4 months of learning how to hunt from their parents, the juveniles leave the nest, never to return.

The story of how Red-tailed hawks raise their young is fairly standard among hawks. Once they’ve been raised and leave the nest to find their own territory, and they never see their parents again. Harris’s hawks, however, are a different story.

Sometimes referred to as ‘the wolves of the sky’, Harris’s hawks are extremely social cooperative hunters. Their family groups typically include between 2-7 birds, led by an alpha female. The alpha female usually lays 2-3 eggs, and she does most of the incubation. The alpha male and the rest of the family group do the hunting and feed the female, with members of the family group

occasionally relieving her of her incubation duties. Once the eggs hatch, the young birds typically spend 45-47 days in the nest before leaving for the first time. After that, some of the young leave after 2-4 months, and some stay to be a part of the family group. The young who stay will remain with their parents for up to 3 years to help raise subsequent broods.

Speaking of animals that travel in family groups, lets explore how Coatimundis raise their young. Coatimundi (Coati) are racoon-sized crepuscular mammals that live in the American Southwest, including Arizona. Male Coati are usually solitary, but females and their young travel in family bands of between 4-40 members. During mating season, a male will temporarily join a family band to mate. Once he’s mated with a female, all the rest of the females in the band will force him to leave (those males can be pretty obnoxious). When the female is ready to give birth, she leaves the band and gives birth to her litter in a nest made in the crevice of a tree. The young leave the tree when they’re about 4 weeks old. After 1 -2 weeks of leaving the tree for the first time, the group rejoins the family band. The young stay with the band until the mother leaves again to give birth to her next litter.

Finally, let’s take a look at a charismatic bird typically associated with the Southwest – the Greater Roadrunner. Both of the roadrunner parents incubate the egg, with the male taking the night shift and the female taking the day shift. Once the eggs hatch, the male will continue to brood them over night. Once the nestlings are about 4 days old, they will often be left alone while the parents hunt. Since they are often left alone, clutch replacement due to nest predation is fairly common. Roadrunners also sometimes practice nest parasitism, where they will leave their eggs in a Raven or Mockingbird nest, and let another bird raise their young. Hatchlings leave the nest at around 14-25 days old, and will hunt with their parents for another month or two. Once the young have outstayed their welcome, the parents will attack and chase those no-good kids out of their territory. If you think that’s bad parenting, consider this: during severe food shortages, Greater Roadrunners have been known to eat their own young. Glad I wasn’t raised by a Greater Roadrunner!