Cassidy
Swainson’s Hawk Ambassador
Female
2020 / Juvenile
Fractured left wing
About Cassidy
Cassidy was brought to Liberty Wildlife as an immature, first year with a badly fractured left wing. Following a week in ICU, Cassidy began having severe sloughing of the tissue, an indication that her injury resulted from electric shock. Eventually, the left-wing tip was amputated, limiting her full flight capabilities. She was classified as non-releasable and assigned to the education team.
Description
The Swainson’s hawk spends most of the year in the western United States extending into southwest Canada and south to west Texas.
Life Span
While many live less than two years, those that survive the first few years in the wild can live 8 to 10 years. The oldest known wild Swainson’s hawk lived to at least 24 years old.
Prey / Food
The Swainson’s hawk is somewhat of a generalist and eats whatever it can find. During the breeding season, as much as 90% of Swainson’s hawks diet will consist of small mammals. It will also hunt insects especially grasshoppers, crickets and locusts and birds, and occasionally reptiles and amphibians.
Babies / Nests
They build their nests in trees, shrubs, on the ground, or on top of utility poles. Clutch size ranges from one to four eggs but averages two to three. Incubation lasts for about 30 days. The young hatch and stay in the nest for another 30 days.
Native American Folklore
Native peoples throughout north America, consider Hawk as an important symbol of wisdom, courage, strength and freedom. Hawk appears in Native stories, dances, and ceremonies as a messenger from the spirit world, moving between the Creator and humankind, conveying wisdom and warnings from above. Like Hawk soaring overhead, the Creator watches over the world below and communicates through winged messengers.
Hawk’s most celebrated attribute among Native people is his mastery of flight. Seeing Hawk slowly circling overhead signals a time for reflection, to acknowledge the Creator’s presence and seek higher guidance. The hunting Hawk teaches that patience is the pathway to enlightenment.
Hawk’s incredibly sharp eyesight symbolizes the wisdom that allows Hawk the ability to foresee events and opportunities that others cannot. Hawk uses his powerful eyesight to gain perceptive knowledge.
Stories depicting Hawk’s sharp eyesight are common in Native folklore. In one Cherokee story, Hawk warns villagers of impending danger approaching from afar that no one else could see. Hawk’s vigilance and vision saved the tribe, emphasizing the values of foresight and preparedness.
Natives use Hawk in their religious rituals as he possesses the power and strength to carry prayers to the Creator. Elders smoke ceremonial pipes toward the sky to send tobacco smoke up to messengers like Hawk.
Hawk is a symbol of physical power and authority equivalent to chiefs and warriors. Hawk’s sharp talons and beak evolved for hunting. Braves wear hawk talons and feathers to invoke the bird’s swiftness and predatory capabilities. In ledger drawings, braves are often depicted with hawk talons and feathers to show their status as mighty warriors.
Navajo people believe that Hawk is the companion of the sun, and his flight patterns across the sky represent sunshine spreading across the earth.
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