Hawk Update
At 6:59:09 am CDT Wednesday 30 May 2012, the first hawk chick to take wing left the nest. This image was captured on the UW-Madison Hawk Cam.
YouTube video of the first flight: http://youtu.be/hgcieTs3MPs The chick didn't end up traveling very far. The picture below was taken at about 10:00 am on 30 May. It is sitting next to the web cam on the roof of Weeks Hall watching the nest.
As of 3 pm on 30 May 2012 the chick was still sitting undisturbed by the web cam on the roof of Weeks Hall.
The chick tried out its wings and explored the roof of Weeks Hall all day.
The chick dropped back into the nest at 6:45 pm on 30 May 2012.
It spent a grand total of 11 hours 46 minutes 58 seconds on the roof.
Hawk chicks typically take their first flight from the nest about 45 days after hatching (two of these chicks hatched on 19 April and the third on 22 April).
Sunday, 03 June 2012 was busy. Two of the three were practicing taking off and landing, and the third was thinking about taking off. Also one of the parents was preening/grooming one of the young and appearing to teach one of the other young to do the same.
Preening/teaching video:
Two chicks taking off and one practicing, then aborting their flight
http://t.co/VFeuX4ZO
Takeoffs and abort video:
As of Tuesday, 05 June 2012, all three chicks were in the nest, taking it easy.
The fledglings will stay near the nest and their parents for another 6 to 7 weeks as they learn to fly and to hunt for themselves. In 10 weeks they will be completely independent. The tell-tale red tail will appear in their second year and they typically begin breeding in their third year. Red tailed hawks live between 10 and 20 years. Keep your eyes on our Hawk Cam to watch the next two chicks take wing. A previous news story concerning the hawk family.
