This seems to be the season for red-tailed hawk sightings for me. It started over Thanksgiving, with a trip down to New Jersey. There I had the pleasure to witness the airborne prowess of this large raptor.

The first notable occurrence took place during the arrival of a cold front, when I observed two of the hawks hanging motionless in the sky, with only the wind sustaining them. They never seemed to move one feather of their outstretched wings. Then, as if following a prearranged plan, both drew in their wings slightly and glided swiftly from view.

The second occurrence took place immediately after, as I observed two more hawks in the sky, one a dozen or more feet above the other. These birds also seemed to be hanging there motionless, until the one higher up pointed its feet straight down toward the lower bird. Then – again, seemingly without any movement – it descended almost vertically in the air column, dropping toward the bird beneath it, which also began descending. In seconds they were hidden from view by the surrounding trees.

Curious about this behavior, I consulted my “Birds of North America” species account. Red-tails have fabulous aerial courtship displays; these involve circling each other at high altitudes, as well as steep dives and ascents. The birds may dangle their legs during these maneuvers, as I had witnessed in the pair above. They are for the most part monogamous, and may remain together throughout the year; such displays as the one I had witnessed may take place at any time, and are a means of maintaining the bond between the pair. Of course, I had no way of knowing if this was the case with the birds I had seen, but it offered an intriguing explanation.

Additional sightings of red-tailed hawks – this time in Maine – offered a somewhat more humbling view of the raptor.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit one of my favorite places in the southern part of the state – Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth. My first sighting was along Interstate 95, as we were nearing Falmouth. Actually, I would never have seen the hawk perched among the utmost branches of a white pine, had it not been for the crow that was harassing it. The persistent crow swooped repeatedly at the hawk, pulling up just short of a collision with it. Of course, the crow posed no danger to the hawk; it was engaging in “mobbing” behavior, designed to draw attention to the predator in the neighborhood and thereby removing the element of surprise the raptor was counting on.

Once at Gilsland Farm, I heard the outraged voices of crows from within the farm’s nature center. The long, drawn-out caws were hoarse and angry sounding – I knew there had to be another raptor about. Sure enough, as I exited the building I witnessed another red-tailed hawk as it flew out of the trees surrounding the building, trailed briefly by a cotillion of crows. It only flew as far as the border of the Sanctuary’s “North Meadow,” where it alighted atop a bare deciduous tree. Curiously enough, even though the hawk had only flown a short distance – in fact, it was still just visible from the nature center – the crows seemed to be satisfied; they retreated, leaving the raptor in peace.

I now had excellent views of the hawk as it hunted from its perch in the tree. Red-tails are known as “sit and wait” predators; they favor open country interspersed with woodland or other higher structures from which they can spot their prey, which consists of voles, mice, rabbits, or other birds such as ring-necked pheasants.

The hawk scanned the meadow intently. It faced away from me, giving me great views of its beautiful russet tail and warm brown plumage. The inch of freshly fallen snow glistened in the bright afternoon sunshine in a pale-blue sky; it was a perfect winter scene.

Thanks again to those who’ve written in. Please be patient as it may take me a while to respond. Please also include your e-mail address in the body of your e-mail, as this often gets lost as it is forwarded to me. In fact, if you haven’t heard back from me it’s likely I didn’t get your return address, so feel free to write again.

NEWS bird columnist Chris Corio can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net