Red-tailed Hawk Fledglings Reunited with Parents in Downtown Portland

In early June, the Bird Alliance of Oregon’s Wildlife Care Center took in two young Red-tailed Hawks that had fledged prematurely from their nest on the Wells Fargo Tower in downtown Portland. We released them back to their parents on the ecoroof of the Portland Building on June 5, but one of the fledglings subsequently crashed – most likely into a window – and was returned to the care center for a checkup. We then retrieved a third fledgling that had also hopped out of the Wells Fargo nest and found its way to a downtown sidewalk.

Last week, we made a return trip to the Portland Building to reunite the repeat patient and the third fledgling with their parents. After releasing the birds, Bird Alliance of Oregon conservation director Bob Sallinger took a remarkable series of photos of one of the youngsters catching air at the edge of the Portland Building – a full 16 floors above the street. Scroll through the photos at the bottom of this post to get a sense of the bird dancing on air.

The Bird Alliance of Oregon has a long-running relationship with the young hawks’ family – the fledglings’ parents were featured on the KGW-Bird Alliance of Oregon Raptor Cam from 2007-2011. In 2012, the pair moved from a downtown fire escape to the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, and then moved to the Wells Fargo Tower for this year’s nesting season.

Every year the Wildlife Care Center treats 3,000 injured or orphaned native animals. If you would like to make a donation to support our wildlife rehabilitation work at the Wildlife Care Center, click here.