I lived in northern Utah for near 20 years before moving to WA in 1992.
In Logan, UT, Redtails often nested in tall trees, especially Ponderosa
pines and other conifers, in backyards! The reason the Redtail hawk is
my most favorite bird is that one late summer a juvenile was sitting
on a branch about head height over a trail that ran along behind the yard
where the hawk and its sibs had fledged. I must have spent an hour, one
of birding's finest hours, "talking" to this young Redtail hawk. I would
speak and it would "noise" back, dance around a bit on the branch, almost
as if it were playing a game. It was easily within touch, but I didn't
dare; that would have been a betrayal and probably dangerous to me.
Before I left, I told it to beware humans and thanked it for such a
priceless interaction! I hoped it understood.

Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu Univ of WA and Des Moines, WA
*************************************************************************
On Sat, 12 Apr 1997 jbroadus at seanet.com wrote:

> cottonwoods just west of the trail. A fresh looking and active redtail nest
> is being sat upon in quite plain view in one of the taller trees. I was a bit
> surprised, as this is a really populated trail and a very viewable nest spot
> for a redtail (binoculars not really necessary). I suppose it will get more
> hidden as the trees leaf out better. I wonder if redtails are, by necessity,
> getting more and more complacent about nesting around traffic. I seem to
> recall a spot on CNN a year or so ago about a redtail nest on a downtown fire
> escape just off of Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. I guess the survivors
> become urban birds.
> -------------------------------------
> Name: Jerry Broadus
> jbroadus at seanet.com
> 901-16th. St S.W.
> Puyallup, Wa. 98371
> 206-845-3156
> 04/12/97
> 17:15:47
>
>