A red-tailed hawk swooped across the Quad twice Wednesday, April 28, scaring and delighting students.
"I was so frightened," said sophomore Ashley Futrell, of the School of Public Affairs. "I was simply enjoying the weather and eating cake and punch. I looked up and there it was, perched in a tree. Our eyes met and I knew what he wanted - he wanted me to fear him. So he opened his wide wings and dove towards my head, causing me to drop my cake and punch."
Two hawk species were recently spotted on campus: Cooper's hawk and the red-tailed hawk, according to biology professor Chris Tudge.
"The Cooper's hawk is primarily a bird predator and is routinely after the pigeons that frequent campus," Tudge said. "The red-tailed hawk, like the red-shouldered hawk, is primarily interested in our resident squirrel population."
Tudge said these birds are often seen eating the squirrels around campus. Red-tailed and Cooper's hawks are the most common hawks on east coast campuses due to the large squirrel populations and the open spaces to catch them.
The red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, can be identified by its 48-inch wingspan and short, dark, hooked beak. They have a brown head with a white throat, breast and belly. Red-tailed hawks range throughout North America.
Cooper's hawk, Accipiter Cooperii has a 27-36 inch wingspan. Males of the species are crow-size while females are larger. Like the red-tailed hawks, they possess a hooked beak and a white breast and belly, but have a blue gray back.
Cooper's hawks' habitat includes the southern Canada, the United States, Central America, and Mexico.
