Rio
Zone-Tailed Hawk Ambassador
Male
2007 / Nestling
Left leg fracture / Injured cere
About Rio
Rio arrived from Payson as an older nestling. He was found at the foot of a tree after having fallen from a nest and broken his left leg and injured his cere, the fleshy area where the nares are located. The person who cared for him fed him a diet consisting solely of egg yolks and vitamins which lacked the calcium needed for proper growth. As a result, his injuries were complicated by the development of folding fractures in his wings. Once at Liberty, Rio was administered an appropriate diet, but the damage to his wings could not be corrected. To straighten his injured leg, the medical staff had to rebreak it in order to have it heal properly. For several weeks, he had an external fixature attached to the leg which resulted in it healing well. The large gash in his cere could not be corrected. As a result, he has difficulty breathing and often breaths through his mouth.
Description
The zone-tailed hawk is a dark tropical hawk that ranges from the southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas) through Mexico, Central America to central South America.
Life Span
Because the zone-tailed Hawk is so uncommon in the U.S., little research is available in general. No information is available on the lifespan.
Prey / Food
Its most common prey consists of birds up to the size of quail (47%), large lizards and other lower vertebrates (33%), and small rodents such as ground squirrels and chipmunks.
Babies / Nests
Stick nests are usually built in tall trees along main rivers and canyons. The female will lay 1 to 3 eggs with the typical clutch consisting of 2 eggs. Incubation is usually for 35 days, and the young fledge in 42-49 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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