Where the Bluebird Sings

A Wildlife Journal for North Carolina

Monday, November 03, 2008

Teachable moments

The red-tailed hawk spread its wings and turned on its perch, showing off the brownish-red tail feather’s that give it its name. The crowd oohed and awed. Cell phone cameras snapped photos. Kids, most who had never seen a hawk let alone up close, watched with a mixture of fear and awe.
The display Saturday at the Wild Birds Unlimited Store in High Point was part of an education program by Wildlife Rehab Inc. of Winston-Salem, a network of wildlife rehabilitators. The animals – the hawk, a peregrine falcon, an American kestrel, and a barred owl– have all been injured in ways that make it impossible for them to live in the wild. The hawk had been hit by a car, damaging its eye so severely that it had to be removed.
It’s a common story with raptors. People throw bags from fast food restaurants along the highway. The food attracts rats and mice. The rats and mice attract hawks and owls, which swoop low over the pavement in search of their prey, putting them right in the path of vehicles.
On Saturday, it was the red-tailed hawk that commanded most of the attention in front of the store. Red-tailed hawks are big: between 18 and 26 inches. They have a wing span between 45 and 52 inches. As the autumn sunlight brushed its feathers, the hawk turned its head, hiding the empty eye socket. For just an instant it looked as it must have in the wild.