when do red tailed hawks lay their eggs
Red-tailed hawk In most of the interior contiguous United States the first egg is laid between mid-March and early April, ranging from 3 to 5 weeks after the nest is constructed, with the clutch completed 2 to 5 days after the initial egg is laid.[9][302] The average date of the laying the first egg can be variable: peaking mid-January in Puerto Rico, averaging March 9th in Arizona, March 26 in the Front Range Urban Corridor and May 1st in Alberta.[9][52][141][241] The mean initiation of clutches may bump weeks later if 10 cm (3.9 in) or more of snow is still on the ground in Wisconsin during March.[101] A clutch of one to three eggs is laid in March or April, depending upon latitude, with four eggs being uncommon and five and perhaps even six increasingly rare.[77] Clutch size depends almost exclusively on the availability of prey for the adults. At the species level, body size also determines clutch size. For example, while the total clutch weighs up to 18% of the females weight and the clutch size averages 2 to 3, a larger raptor like the golden eagle lays a smaller clutch, usually not more than two, that weighs less than 10% in total of the female’s body mass, whereas a smaller raptor like the kestrel lays a larger clutch averaging five that weighs 50% of the females weight.[4] Average clutch size vary from 1.96 in Alaska when prey populations were low up to 2.96 in Washington.[94][303] Eggs are laid approximately every other day. Average egg sizes in height and width (each with a sample size of 20) are in the following subspecies- B. j. borealis: 59.53 mm × 47.49 mm (2.344 in × 1.870 in); B. j. calurus: 60.04 mm × 47.1 mm (2.364 in × 1.854 in); B. j. fuertesi: 59.42 mm × 46.99 mm (2.339 in × 1.850 in).[304] The eggs of red-tailed hawks are mostly white, sometimes with a faint buffy wash; at times the eggs manifest a sparsely or heavily marked with blotches of buff, pale reddish-brown, dark brown, or purple. The markings often appear indistinctly and may combine to form a fine speckling.[305] They are incubated primarily by female, with the male substituting when the female leaves to hunt or merely stretch her wings. Rarely do the males incubate more than four hours of daylight. The male brings most food to the female while she incubates.[9][77][257][284]
Barn swallow There are normally two broods, with the original nest being reused for the second brood and being repaired and reused in subsequent years. The female lays two to seven, but typically four or five, reddish-spotted white eggs.[2] The clutch size is influenced by latitude, with clutch sizes of northern populations being higher on average than southern populations.[55] The eggs are 20 mm × 14 mm (0.79 in × 0.55 in) in size, and weigh 1.9 g (0.067 oz), of which 5% is shell. In Europe, the female does almost all the incubation, but in North America the male may incubate up to 25% of the time. The incubation period is normally 14–19 days, with another 18–23 days before the altricial chicks fledge. The fledged young stay with, and are fed by, the parents for about a week after leaving the nest. Occasionally, first-year birds from the first brood will assist in feeding the second brood.[2] Compared to those from early broods, juvenile barn swallows from late broods have been found to migrate at a younger age, fuel less efficiently during migration and have lower return rates the following year.[56]