Red-tailed Hawk Cam Timeline

The second Red-tailed Hawk chick has fledged. After a minute of back-and-forth and positioning just out-of-view of the camera, N1 took its first flight out across Tower Road, giving us a short glimpse as it flew away. Congratulations to N1 and the whole Cornell Hawks viewing community!

After a morning of restless wing-stretching, flapping, and considering the edge, N2 looked out across Tower Road and made a confident leap, fledging out of sight, likely into the trees across the street.

The window for when the Red-tailed Hawk eggs were expected to hatch has come and gone, and two of the eggs have failed to hatch in 2024. The reason for the eggs’ inviability is unknown without further diagnosis of the eggs’ contents. Given that Big Red has successfully hatched all the eggs she’s laid in past seasons, we’re not sure what the hawks will do with the unhatched eggs this season. For now, they remain in the nest.

April 27 marked the first sighting of the second chick to hatch at the 2024 Cornell Hawks nest. After an eventful morning of drying out and fluffing up, Big Red took the opportunity to serve up a snack before the weather turned colder and wetter in the afternoon. Arthur also stopped by with more prey for later, and N2 got a front seat for his arrival. Welcome to the world N2!

Welcome “N1″—the first hatchling of the 2024 Cornell Hawks Cam season! After its egg began pipping on April 24, the eldest hatchling was revealed in full during its first feeding with Big Red on April 25 after 39 days of incubation. Watch Big Red shuttle small bits of chipmunk to her clumsy chick before tucking it back in under her warm feathers.

For a second time on record, Big Red has laid a fourth egg at the Fernow Nest site on Cornell University’s campus. The first view of the eggs was around 3 A.M. on March 26, but we got a nice view of all four in the daylight as the hawks switched incubation duties a short while after daybreak.

A winter weather advisory was no match for the methodical breeding approach of Big Red and Arthur! A third egg was laid by Big Red under cover of darkness on March 23, and we got a great daylight look at the clutch as Arthur stood to shake off a coating of snow, rolling the eggs gently before settling back in with a patience that is enviable.

And then there were two! Big Red revealed the first look at her second egg of the 2024 breeding season at 10:17 A.M. on March 20, three days after her first egg arrived on March 17. After a quick preview, she hunkered back down over her clutch on a cool, windy morning in Ithaca, New York.

The Cornell Hawks are back for the 2024 breeding season with their first egg! Get the first peek at the egg after Big Red takes an incubation break on March 17. Big Red typically lays one egg every three days until her clutch is complete. She’s laid three eggs in all but one breeding attempt (2022 saw a record four eggs) since the Cornell Hawks Cam went live in 2012.

As dusk approached on June 29, the final nestling in the 2023 Cornell Red-tailed Hawk nest decided to take off in style from the railing above the nest platform, landing on the roof of Rice Hall. A short hop and a flight found M3 back among its siblings as night approached.

After a bit of fancy rail walking by M2, a quick hop and a jump and the second fledge of the 2023 season is underway! Soon after, M2 was seen with M1, and both appeared to be doing well as night fell.

M1 took the next step (or hop!) into adulthood on June 22 at 6:00 A.M., at 47 days after hatching, making a spectacular and purposeful first flight out across Tower Avenue and out of view.

It took almost two days for the third and final Red-tailed Hawk chick to finish the hatching process, but persistence pays off. Big Red unveiled the first look at M3 at around 12:30 P.M. on May 10. Now that all three eggs have hatched, the incubation period is officially over for Big Red and Arthur. Now, the adults can spend all of their time focused on keeping their trio of nestlings safe, warm, and well fed.

M2 joined the nest after hatching in the early morning hours of May 8. Watch the two eldest Red-tailed Hawk nestlings eat a rabbit breakfast, as M2 gets some of its first bites from Big Red.

The first Red-tailed Hawk chick has arrived! Watch the moment when new life begins on the Cornell Hawks cam. Here, the hatchling (named “M1”) works its way out of the shell on May 6. Assuming all three eggs hatch this season, the chicks will be named M1, M2, and M3. This alphanumeric naming convention follows a long tradition in the hawk cam community. Back when the cam launched in 2012, the chicks were named C1, C2, and C3 (“C” stood for Cornell and the number designated the chicks’ hatch order). We’ve been moving down the alphabet with each successful breeding year, and 2023 will usher in the “M” group.

That makes three for the Cornell Hawks! Watch Big Red hover over the nest in the early morning hours of April 3 before revealing her third egg of the 2023 breeding season. Big Red rarely shares a good view when she lays her eggs, so this was a welcome perspective of one of the breeding season’s most exciting moments.

The Red-tailed Hawks have added another egg to the nest! Big Red hunkered down and laid the second egg of the breeding season on the morning of April 2. Watch her roll the eggs and work on the lining of the nest bowl the following morning.

Let’s all give a cheer to the Red-tailed Hawks! Big Red has officially kicked off her 20th year with an egg. Watch the matriarch of the Cornell Hawks Cam lift up to reveal her first egg of the 2023 on March 30. Based on her behavior this afternoon, the egg was likely laid around 1:22 P.M. Eastern Time. This marks the hawks’ latest start ever to the nesting season since the cam launched in 2012, surpassing the 2015 season when the first egg arrived on March 28.

Just like that, after 52 days of growth as the fourth nestling hatched in the Cornell Hawks nest, the young hawk nicknamed “L4” took off for the first time.

Nestling “L3” became the third young hawk to fledge from the nest site high above Cornell’s central campus, with a confident first flight from the railing off across Tower Road. Watch as L3 hops up to the railing, takes in the view, then watches as a sibling dive bombs out of the nest just moments before L3 makes the jump as well.

Red-tailed Hawk chick “L1” had been itching to fledge for some time, and it showed. After spending part of the morning perched on one of the light boxes near the nest, the 49-day-old nestling slid down to the platform and took off confidently with a strong first flight into the trees across the road.

The first Red-tailed Hawk chick fledged from the nest and is exploring Cornell University’s campus. At 45 days old, L2 made a quick decision to fly from the platform at 5:22 AM while its siblings watched and learned. The young hawk made a strong flight across the street to the top of Rice Hall, where it spent a good chunk of the morning.

L4 is here! After taking its time working out of the egg, the fourth and final Red-tailed Hawk chick hatched just before midnight on April 28. This marks the first time that there have been four chicks at the nest in the Cornell Hawks cam’s 10-year history. Watch the bobble-headed siblings jostle for their next bite of squirrel from Big Red during breakfast.

Welcome to the world “L3.” The Cornell Hawks’ third chick hatched around 2:22 A.M in the early morning hours of April 25. Later that morning, Big Red takes a break from the nest to reveal three chicks, one egg, and L3’s empty eggshell on the edge of the nesting bowl. Watch L1 and L2 engage in a bit of sibling rivalry while hours-old L3 works on getting its bearings.

Two down, two to go! The Red-tailed Hawk family welcomed their second chick “L2” early this morning after 38 days in the egg. The chick was first spotted out of the shell just after midnight at 12:13 A.M on April 24. Watch the chicks rise and shine with a chipmunk breakfast courtesy of Big Red on the morning after hatch.

The first Cornell Hawks cam chick “L1” has hatched after a spending the past day and a half working its way out of the egg. The hatchling was first seen around 9:46 P.M on April 21, and the cam zoomed in for an adorable daytime look at the hours-old nestling the following morning when Big Red left the nest for a short break.

Surprise! For the first time in Cornell Hawks cam’s history, Big Red has laid a fourth egg during the breeding season. While it’s not unusual for Red-tailed Hawks to raise a 4-egg clutch, this marks the only time in the past 10 breeding seasons (and since the cam started streaming in 2012) that the cam’s matriarch has laid anything but 3 eggs during the season. One thing is for sure, Big Red and Arthur will have their work cut out for them this breeding season. Watch the pair tag-team incubation duties over the next month until the first egg is expected to hatch in mid to late April.

The Red-tailed Hawks have their third egg of the 2022 breeding season. Watch Big Red lay the egg at 9:27 A.M. on March 20, before revealing it a couple of minutes later. Arthur arrives shortly to inspect the clutch and give the eggs a roll. All seems to be in order at the Cornell Hawks nest.

Big Red laid her second egg of the 2022 breeding season on March 17 at 11:05 AM. Watch the moment that she reveals her second white egg that’s blotched with purplish brown. Keep an eye out for egg #3 in around 72 hours!

The Cornell Hawks are back in action! Watch Big Red hunker down over the nest bowl and lay a shiny white egg with brown speckles. This marks the first egg of the 2022 breeding season for Cornell University’s resident Red-tailed Hawks, Big Red and Arthur. March 14 is the second earliest lay date that we’ve recorded for Big Red since the Cornell Hawks cam went live in 2012. The earliest lay date was on March 13, in 2016. Given how much we’ve seen the hawks invest in nest building over the past month, it’s not surprising that the 2022 nesting period is starting early.

The youngest Red-tailed Hawk chick K3 has fledged, and the Cornell Hawks nest is empty. Watch the young hawk make one last prance across the nesting platform before taking off over Cornell University’s campus. The chick is likely aiming to land in the trees across the street, but it overshoots them and flutters down to the ground after making contact with Bradfield Hall. Young hawks can be clumsy fliers out of the gate, and birders on the ground report that K3 made a quick recovery after its miscalculated flight.

We have sad news to share about K2, the injured nestling from the Cornell Hawks nest that was transported to the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital on June 22. There, K2 received emergency care and advanced diagnostics to assess the nature and extent of injuries and determine treatment. Unfortunately, X-rays and other testing revealed severe and irrecoverable injuries that would have prevented K2’s survival in the wild or quality of life in captivity. Because of this, and the chronic pain associated with this condition, the wildlife veterinarians made the difficult but compassionate decision to euthanize K2. Read this article for more information on K2.

At 51 days post-hatch, Red-tailed Hawk nestling K1 is the first chick to fledge in 2021. Watch the young hawk find its preferred take-off point before embarking on a straight-line flight across Tower Road and into the trees next to Cornell campus’s Rice Hall. Great job K1!

Big Red and Arthur’s clutch is complete! K3 was first seen working its way out of the shell on the evening of May 5 at 6:58 P.M. after 34 days of incubation. The next morning, K3 joined its nest mates during feeding time and finally got its first morsel from Big Red.

The Cornell Hawks’ second hatchling, named “K2,” was first spotted out of the egg for the first time at 11:47 on May 3. Here’s K2’s reveal on the morning after hatch. One egg remains.

Watch the reveal of Big Red’s third egg at 10:53 AM on April 1 when she takes an incubation break. The Red-tailed Hawks’ clutch is now likely complete given that Big Red has laid 3 eggs in each of her breeding attempts since the cam went live in 2012. Up next is the arduous task of incubation. During this period, Big Red will spend most of her time keeping the eggs warm at the nest. Her mate Arthur will be tasked with finding food for both adults, as well as taking over incubation duties when Big Red needs a break. The first chick is expected to hatch around May 2.

Watch Big Red lay her second egg of the 2021 breeding season at 10:09 AM on Monday, March 29. This egg comes three days after the first egg was laid on March 26. Big Red typically lays three eggs per clutch, and we expect to see the third egg arrive sometime in the next 48–72 hours.

After spending some time on the nest in the morning, Big Red returned midday to hunker down and lay her first egg of the 2021 breeding season at 12:51 PM ET. She chose a windy day to do it, with wind speeds reaching over 40 mph in the Ithaca, New York. Watch highlights of Big Red as she lays the egg, protects it from the wind, and rolls the egg in the nest bowl. March 26 marks the second latest date (behind March 28 in 2015) that Big Red has laid her first egg since the Cornell Hawks cam was installed in 2012. Red-tailed Hawks tend to lay eggs every other day, but Big Red typically lays an egg every three days until the clutch is complete.

Just a few hours after its sibling fledged, the last Red-tailed Hawk nestling “J1” took flight at 10:34 AM on June 14, 2020. All three hawk nestlings have fledged the nest, and while they may return and visit the nest over the coming days, they soon will head farther afield. The parents will continue to watch over them and feed them for the next month or two as they become more independent.

Watch the second Red-tailed Hawk nestling take its first flight. While the first-fledged nestling (“J2”) sits and preens in front of the camera, J3 hops in the background and takes its first flight across Tower Road on Cornell’s campus at 8:46 AM.

The first Red-tailed Hawk nestling has taken flight. Watch 48-day-old J2 perch atop one of the stadium light fixtures attached to the nestling platform. Everything is going swell until the chick loses its balance and slides down the light and transitions into its first flight! Birders on the ground report that the chick safely made it to the trees across the street from the nest.

After spending a couple of days working its way out of the shell, the third and final Red-tailed Hawk chick “J3” has finally hatched after 36 days in the egg. The first signs of hatching were observed on April 29 at 3:24 A.M., when half of the chick’s empty eggshell was spotted in the nest cup. This marks the end of the incubation period for the Red-tailed Hawks.

“J1” and “J2” have hatched at the Cornell Hawks nest. The second Red-tailed Hawk chick hatched in the late night hours of April 25, following the hatch of its sibling that morning. Take a look at the chicks in the nest on the morning after hatch.

Egg #3 is here. Big Red hunkered down over her nest bowl at 1:23 PM on March 24 and laid the hawk’s third egg of the 2020 breeding season. Based on the hawks nesting history, it is likely that the egg-laying period is now over for the hawks. Big Red has laid 3 eggs each breeding season since 2012, when the cam first launched. Good luck to Big Red and Arthur as they settle in for another 4–5 weeks of incubation.

Big Red (the female Red-tailed Hawk at the Cornell Hawks nest) keeps to her egg-laying schedule, laying a second egg at nearly the same interval after the first egg as she has kept to for all of her seasons on cam. If past seasons continue to be our guide, we can expect a potential third egg about 2.5-3 days from now.

Get the first good look at Big Red and Arthur’s first egg on the morning after it was laid. Red-tailed Hawk eggs are a beautiful white color, sometimes with a faint buffy wash. Eggs may be sparsely or heavily marked with blotches and speckles of buff, pale reddish-brown, dark brown, or purple.