page_title: Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk
section_title: Nesting
hierarchical_section_title: Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk / Nesting
caption_attribution_description: Accipiter striatus venator English: A juvenile Puerto Rican Sharp-shinned Hawk
context_page_description: The Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk, falcón de sierra or gavilán pecho rufo in Spanish, is an endemic subspecies of the North American sharp-shinned hawk, occurring only in Puerto Rico. Discovered in 1912 and described as a distinct sub-species, it has been placed on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species because of its rapidly dwindling population in Puerto Rico. It can be found in the Toro Negro State Forest.
context_section_description: Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawks select plantation and natural forest nest sites with similar vegetative structure and mountainous topography. Closed canopies and dense vegetation are sought by the hawks in the selection of nesting sites. They place their platform nests below the canopy on horizontal branches usually against the trunk or in crotches away from the trunk. Construction of nesting platforms usually begin in January after a breeding pair remain at their nesting sites permanently. Both males and females become more active in the nest building process one month before eggs are laid. Egg laying usually occurs during March and April and a second clutch may be laid rarely from May to July. Second clutches are only laid in the event the first brood of eggs is lost. Typical incubation periods last for one month. Nesting period ends once the juveniles fly short distances from the nest and roost in trees 10 to 15 meters (32 to 48 ft) from the nest. More than half of fledging failures are caused by warble fly larvae.
caption: Juvenile
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