Red-Tailed Hawk Competition and Consumption of Human Carrion During Winter Storm Uri in Central Texas

Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) occasionally scavenge, yet the circumstances that can prompt carrion consumption are still unclear. The first record of a Red-tailed Hawk consuming human carrion was captured during Winter Storm Uri by camera trap imagery collected by the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University in central Texas, USA. The Red-tailed Hawk was observed scavenging on human remains on 16 February 2021 during a period of record low temperature (as low as −16.7°C) and high snow cover (up to ∼18 cm) for Texas, which suggests that facultative scavenging may be influenced by temperature and snow cover. Additionally, as the Red-tailed Hawk arrived at the cadaver site (n = 13 times on one day), it frequently displaced the larger Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) and Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) that were feeding, although in one case an arriving Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) displaced the Red-tailed Hawk (and other scavengers). When the Red-tailed Hawk departed from the site (n = 13 times on one day), more scavengers of other species returned. The study yielded novel observations and can encourage future researchers to evaluate the dynamics that influence facultative scavenging by Red-tailed Hawks, as well as the factors that influence scavenger dominance hierarchies.