Nesting Red-Tailed Hawks Cherished in Texas
Hey, there’s good news in the Dallas Morning News:
Hospital won’t evict family of hawks
Mesquite: Baylor’s got a new maternity wing
06:20 AM CDT on Thursday, April 27, 2006
By GRETEL C. KOVACH / The Dallas Morning News
Baylor Health Care System has gone to new heights to care for expectant mothers – specifically the ones with wings and sharp curved beaks.
[Click image for a larger version] NATHAN HUNSINGER/DMN
NATHAN HUNSINGER/DMN
A nest of red-tailed hawks is perched atop a billboard off Interstate 30 in Mesquite.Forty feet above the traffic on Interstate 30 in Mesquite, a family of red-tailed hawks is roosting on a billboard, sheltered from the wind by a sign advertising a long-gone Baylor event.
Early this month, Impact Outdoor Advertising employees discovered an imposing mother hawk and her mate nestled on several eggs in a nest of leafy branches.
They needed to change the outdated sign but were given strict instructions not to disturb the outdoor maternity ward, said Christie Hansen, a Baylor marketing production coordinator who also works as an animal-rescue volunteer.
Contrast that with the awful disregard for raptor life shown by the USDA in Florida, where nesting red-shouldered hawks were shotgunned to provide full access to a country club for golfers.
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April 30th, 2006 at 11:52 am
Good story– nice to know that there’s still a little sanity and compassion in this world. Does the male help provide for the chicks?
April 30th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Yes, both the red-tailed male and female hunt to provide food for the chicks.
January 13th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Stories like this reminds us that there are still things more important than money and marketing. In today’s mega-markets, like DFW, is’s sometimes hard to see. Yeah for Baylor! You’ve earned my respect for standing up for something innocent that had no voice, even though it cost you $$$ to do so. Many businesses wouldn’t have. I think you’re great!
February 26th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Im so happy to hear they are being left alone to do what comes nattural. We have a hawk that roosts in the tree in our back yard every once in a while, its a beautiful site to behold. No matter how many times I see them I still get the same wonderful feeling with the same in awe reaction.