Snowy Surprise: Hawk Eggs Hatch as Thousands Watch

Ithaca, New York–On Earth Day this past Sunday, two Red-tailed Hawk eggs began to hatch in a nest 70 feet above the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. Thousands of viewers from around the world watched a live camera feed from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology online, waiting for the first glimpse of the chicks.
Then darkness fell, and snow began to fall.
“By morning, snow was piled high

in the nest around Big Red, the female hawk,” said Charles Eldermire, who leads the Cornell Lab’s BirdCams project. “For hours we waited, as viewers kept asking questions in the live chat about whether the young would survive.”
At 1:53 p.m. on Monday, after most of the snow in the nest had melted, Big Red stood up. The live chat went wild with cheers as she revealed a fuzzy white chick and two eggs, one of them in the process of hatching.
Since March 19, nearly half a million people have watched 24/7 as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s live cam has streamed high-definition footage of Big Red and her mate, Ezra.
Eldermire said the two remaining eggs are due to hatch any day now. To watch the live cam, visit www.allaboutbirds.org/cornellhawks.