The breeding season for birds is in full swing in north central Florida. Birds are getting their breeding plumage and we’re seeing all sorts of breeding related behaviors. Just this morning I watched both a Carolina wren and a tufted titmouse collecting material for their nests. I’ve also caught Poppa bringing seeds to Momma while she waits up in the trees. Yesterday I accidentally flushed a red shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) out of the woods in my yard. He flew up into one of the nearby pine trees, and when I focused the camera on him, I realized that he had something clutched in his talons. While I continued watching, a second bird flew in and perched on a branch above him. The two of them were vocalizing the whole time. Then she took off again. A minute later, he transferred the food to his beak and I could see that it was a large insect, I suspect a katydid. Once it was secure in his beak, he took off to follow her and present the treat to her as a token of his affection (if you enlarge the image, you and see the insect’s wing sticking out beyond the right shoulder). I guess February is really the month where love is in the air. At least if you’re a bird in central Florida.