Every spring, birders both here in Central New York and across the globe watch webcams aimed at red-tailed hawks who faithfully return atop several Syracuse University campus buildings. There’s great anticipation for two chicks to hatch this month.
“And then they’ll be fully grown hawks, bigger than their parents at about 44 days, and they leave the nest,” said SU alum Anne Marie Higgins who donated the cameras.
The young hawks will stick around campus as they learn to hunt and fly, “And then they leave at the end of the summer because this is their parents’ territory, so they have to leave,” Higgins explained.
She and her late husband, the Honorable Thomas W. Higgins, enjoyed watching Hawks. In 2016, friends of Higgins told her about a nest of red-tailed hawks on the Syracuse University campus.
Higgins said she donated the cameras to carry on the tradition she shared with her late husband. It also offers her an opportunity to educate the community.
“It’s a labor of love for me in so many ways and it’s wonderful because it brings joy to other people," said Higgins. "A lot of people learn about red tails through these cameras, and I have kids’ classes who watch the cams and I do Zoom classes for them.”
Higgins says the hawks are all named after people connected to the university. The hawks are expected to hatch by May 1st, if not before.
