My Sparrow Hawk Story. Just wanted to share this.


While working in an airplane hanger, my son saved a very young 'sparrow hawk'. It was unable to fly and he brought it home. His name was Talon.

He described the hawk to animal regulation and found out it is an endangered specie. It is against the law to keep but my son promised he would take care of it and let it go when it came time.

He asked about how to nurture it. They said it needed to have a parent to help it learn how to hunt as it grew older. He got all the information and took on the responsibility of being a dad.

He built a large cage and kept it in his room. Food needed to change as the hawk got stronger and older. The hawk needed real mice and some raw meat. Dad held his hand up high teaching Talon to fly by tying a small rope/cord around his ankle to keep him from wandering through the house. Talon would be perched on his finger and the mouse in the cage. It was like watching a baby take his first steps. It was really a miracle of nature.

After about 1 year, sadly it came time to let Talon go. The whole family witnessed this special moment of freedom. We went to the highest park-like place in our area. In an open field.

My son removed the cord while Talon was just sitting on his finger. Raising his finger and hand up to the sky in a quick upward lifting action, while saying.... fly ... fly.... you are free. The hawk would not leave his finger. Throwing his arm up and continuing to say, you can go ……... After about 8 minutes, Talon left his finger, flew above our heads in circles. Then he landed on top of a nearby tree. Flew above the tree in large circles, while we chanted ………….you’re free …. you can go. When he finally took off, We all had tears in our eyes.

About 3-4 months later, we heard a strange bird sound outside. We know that Talon returned to our area and was in a nearby tree on our street. My son saw him in the binoculars. We talked to him. Talon stayed a short time and then flew away.