SEA-TAC AIRPORT, WASH. - Red-tailed hawk chicks hatched just five
weeks ago, but they're already big enough it takes two hands to hold
them. In another two weeks, they would start to fly, and for the people
who run Sea-Tac airport, that's a problem.
"They're very naive at that age," said Bud Anderson, with the Falcon Research Group.
For more than a decade he's overseen the removal of young hawks from
nests sitting high in cottonwood trees surrounding the airport. When the
birds start to fly they are very vulnerable to aircraft.
"They don't know what planes are," said Anderson.
Birds are a hazard around airports. So-called "bird strikes" happen
when planes hit birds. Most often it's the bird that loses, but large
birds have broken through cockpit windows injuring pilots, clogged
engines and caused other damage. The most well-known case happened when
a US Airways A320 lost power in both engines after flying through a
flock of geese on takeoff in New York. The crew safely belly landed the
plane on the Hudson river with no loss of life.
Adult hawks are not a problem, says Anderson. There are at least two
nesting pairs. Anderson says one is a 12-year-old male who's remained
clear of air traffic. Sea-Tac likes the adult hawks because they can
help drive out other bird species, but the young are a different story.
The chicks are taken to a farm in Skagit county, where they learn to
fly and hunt. Anderson says none of thee chicks has ever returned to
Sea-Tac.
A total of five chicks were removed from two nests on Tuesday.
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