Thursday, June 14, 2012

Fledgling Red Tail Hawk

Is she not beautiful?

No history tie-in here. Just a fledgling hawkette who hasn't quite figured out takeoffs yet.

No one saw her land, but she rooted herself in one spot and spread her wings to look even bigger and scarier whenever anyone got near.

The lovely people from South Bay Wildlife Rehab will reunite her with her parents by putting her in a tree near the nest (we know where that is). The baby stands over a foot tall, but weighs only two pounds--which I'm told is a very healthy weight.

I'm also told that downed hawks is pretty common this time of year. All the babies are getting ready to take that first flight, which can be tricky.

Hawks look big enough when circling overhead or perched in a tree a hundred feet high, but I'm always stunned when I see one close up. They are just so powerful-looking. This fledgling will not get bigger, probably--I did not know that they didn't learn to fly until they were this size.

The Torrance Main Library on Torrance Blvd. has a display of some stuffed local wildlife, including an adult red-tailed hawk. Happened across it a couple of weeks ago when attending a free talk on likker in early America by food historian Richard Foss--a very entertaining hour. He even brought a rum cake for the audience!

1 comment:

Will Campbell said...

SO awesome. On our morning walk my wife and I watched in awe as a momma Cooper's hawk supervised her two fledglings as they made short flights among the trees and light poles.