It is with the most profound sadness and anger that I write to tell you that Big Red and Arthur’s cute third hatch, P3, has died.
P3 died from a window strike on the Cornell University campus home to the Cornell Bird Lab.
The little Red-tailed Hawk was adored, and many of us have lobbied over the years to have all the windows on the Cornell campus fitted with window-strike prevention. One year, a woman donated funds ($20,000) to have one building fitted. The article below talks about initiatives, but it came too late for P3.
More Bird World news tomorrow. Chicks being ringed at Loch Arkaig as I write this.
Thank you to ‘PB’ for alerting me, to Suzanne Arnold Horning for heading up the FB group and chasing after the hawklets after fledge and informing us of all things Big Red and Arthur, and to Cornell for their streaming cam. Please, please fix all the windows!
I went to the UK as a Commonwealth Scholar in 1990 and received my PhD from the University of Leicester in 1993. After three decades of university teaching, I retired to devote my time to the study of raptor behaviour. I am particularly interested in Ospreys and am working on a long term project on third hatch survival and siblicide in these raptors. My blog is a result of a fascination with my local wildlife and the desire to encourage others to love and care for birds! I live on the Canadian Prairies and prior to the pandemic travelled a lot. I am questioning the use of aviation fuel at the moment as we all strive to help our planet. My early research was in politics and art including British public statues exported to Southeast Asia and Vietnam Resistors that contributed much to Canadian ceramics. Books and articles were published on those subjects over a period of 3 decades. Now I am working on books for children so they can learn about the challenges our raptors face.
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This is very sad Mary Ann to hear. I had worried about P3 when it wasn’t seen with the other 2 . May little P3 fly high in Heaven. This little hawk will surely be loved and remembered. I had always thought the windows were fixed there to avoid collisions. I didn’t know.
See you soon again here and take care.
Linda
It is unthinkable that in 2026 a hawklet fledged at Cornell should die of bird strike on the campus. Years ago, Karel and Cindy Sedak used their own funds to put decals on every glass bus stop to prevent bird strikes. Another woman donated $20,000 to put up bird-strike curtains on a building where one had died. Cornell is a wealthy, respected university and, in particular, for its Bird Lab. You would think that they could fix every window that could impact the hawklets. Give every student a box of window strike decals and ask them to put them up on campus to protect birds. Could it be that simple? Many of us stopped donating and subscripting to Living Bird because of the fiasco years ago.
This is very sad Mary Ann to hear. I had worried about P3 when it wasn’t seen with the other 2 . May little P3 fly high in Heaven. This little hawk will surely be loved and remembered. I had always thought the windows were fixed there to avoid collisions. I didn’t know.
See you soon again here and take care.
Linda
I wish Cornell would finish their bird-strike initiatives!!!!!!!!!!
So very heartbreaking. Tears again…
I feel gutted.
How tragic 😔.
It is unthinkable that in 2026 a hawklet fledged at Cornell should die of bird strike on the campus. Years ago, Karel and Cindy Sedak used their own funds to put decals on every glass bus stop to prevent bird strikes. Another woman donated $20,000 to put up bird-strike curtains on a building where one had died. Cornell is a wealthy, respected university and, in particular, for its Bird Lab. You would think that they could fix every window that could impact the hawklets. Give every student a box of window strike decals and ask them to put them up on campus to protect birds. Could it be that simple? Many of us stopped donating and subscripting to Living Bird because of the fiasco years ago.
Just incredible how that can happen.
They should be ashamed and get all those windows fixed. But I suspect that isn’t the case.
Unfortunately, when money talks, bs walks.
The world seems full of BS right now ———it is so thick I wonder if we will ever be able to get rid of it. I try not to watch the news. That helps.
Definitely so. We are truly in deep s…..