Red-tailed hawks who live in the city are habituated to people. They go about their business hunting squirrels and eating pigeons — even on the ground — while we walk by or stand and gawk.
This spring a pair of red-tailed hawks is building a nest on Pitt’s campus. They experimented with a tree on the Cathedral of Learning lawn but by Tuesday it was clear they’d chosen the top of a large London plane tree next to the Student Union.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
Will the hawks ultimately use this nest? Will Pitt’s peregrines forbid them from gaining altitude so close to the Cathedral of Learning? (I’ve already seen Terzo hammer one of the hawks.) Will people notice the nest at all?
If the nest was close to the ground, the red-tails would become nervous about us walking below it and might threaten us to chase us away. This rarely happens but it’s memorable, as in this incident at Fenway Park eight years ago –> Red-tails Close to Home.
The red-tail nest on Pitt’s campus is way too high up for that. The hawks and the peregrines will have to work out their boundaries but we ground-based humans are of little interest to them.
And that’s as it should be.
(photo by Bill Barron)
I live in Churchill and we have had red-tail hawks for many years. In fact, I have a couple wonderful photos of them. One was sitting on a telephone pole at the end of my walk. I went out, not knowing he was there, and I felt eyes on me. When I finally looked up, he looked down at me like I was lunch. I slowly moved away and went to get my camera. The photo is very cool and shows a fierce bird. Another time a red-tail killed a squirrel and had a pole-top meal which I was able to see clearly. In our neighborhood the hawks seem to nest away from the houses, but hunt here sometimes. I guess we are a fly-way. There seems to be enough forested acreage adjacent to our residential area that they don’t have to nest so close to humans. We also have the large green spaces at the old Westinghouse facility and the former Churchill Valley Country Club that make excellent wildlife spaces due to their varied habitats.
A couple years ago there were 2 incidents of people attacked by red-tails who were nesting nearby. The one in Forest Hills was in June 2014. http://tinyurl.com/hwxj5yj The nest and chicks were relocated shortly after the attack, which apparently was the culmination of a series of incidents where the residents ended up not being able to go outside their homes due to the aggressive hawks. http://tinyurl.com/pgulf43
The Churchill attack was in 2013: http://tinyurl.com/z8oe6xn
We are seeing a rd tail hawk hunting in our yard and close by. We are worried beacause of our chihuahuas. They are never out alone.
We have a healthy red tailed hawk population in North Huntingdon! They are awesome to watch and do not bother us humans. They will however, watch your pets!! We have a very large dog and she’d definitely put up a fight, but I still will not leave her out there too long. Living in Munhall for some time, I recall white-bellied hawks (not sure of their proper name) that circled around our hillside. the tore up a few squirrels and bunnies in our backyard. they would perch and watch my dog when she was a puppy!!!
I was walking by the Student Union today but I’m not very tree-savvy; is the hawks’ nest the one at the top of a tree right along Bigelow (facing the Cathedral)? It looked surprisingly small to me for a pair of hawks, but then again I’m not sure how big their nests usually are!
Stacyj, yes that’s it
Kate,
I’ve been photographing that pair by the Student Union for about a year, been calling them Sameen and Harold. On Sunday I saw them mating on a tree in the Cathedral lawn. Here’s hoping that they manage to have a brood, and that they get along with the peregrines.
I’ve been watching the hawks at the WPU as I walk around the campus. I know that there are turf issues but I hope that the Peregrines and Hawks can co exist on our campus. It makes for an interesting tour for prospective students and families!