Hawk is a general term used to describe the entire group of diurnal (active by day) predatory birds belonging to the family Accipitridae.
Globally, there are approximately 270 species of carnivorous birds that belong to the order of hawks, and are classified as birds of prey, or raptors. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others.
Although all hawks have certain basic similarities such as keen eyesight, hooked beaks and taloned feet, a wide diversity of forms and sizes exists among them.
Hawks are efficient predators as such they catch, kill, and eat a wide variety of other animals in order to survive. By this they help to maintain nature’s balance.
Hawks are also strong and powerful as their feet are equipped with sharp, curved talons for capturing prey. Their strong beaks are also hooked for biting and tearing flesh.
As swift fliers, some hawks can attain speeds of over 150mph when diving. They hunt by dashing suddenly from a concealed perch.
Hawks are also migratory birds as some species undertake long migrational journeys, traveling thousands of miles each year, an evidence of their strength and stamina.
Their sense of hearing is excellent, and their eyesight is said to be the best in the entire animal world.
According to researchers, not only do hawks see greater distances than humans, their visual acuity (the ability to see clearly) is eight times that of humans.
The life span of a hawk is determined by the environment they find themselves. While the average lifespan of a hawk is less than 12 years, those living in captivity can live for much longer. This is because the wild are more susceptible to natural and man-made threats.
This is even more for young hawks. Born blind, the young hawk is normally completely reliant on their parents for nutrition. So it may die of starvation due to lack of effective hunting skills.
However, young hawks may choose to eat roadkill if their hunting skills are not fully developed yet.
Once a hawk reaches adulthood, their chances of survival exponentially increases because they now have gained more experience on possible dangers and have become skilled hunters. Adulthood is the longest stage of their lives.
Hawks are very protective of their territory and do not veer away much. Reports say hawks are known to re-use their nest year after year, unless it suffers too much damage.
It is also said that hawks can mate for life, as such chances are high that you see the same male and female hawk in the same nesting area every mating season.
During reproduction, adult female hawks lay between 1 to 5 eggs per mating season. How long it takes for the eggs to hatch depends on the specific species and environmental factors. This can be between 28 to 48 days.
Hawks provide important benefits and environmental services. As raptors they hunt and kill large numbers of rodents, thus reducing crop damage.
The most popular prey for a hawk is the chick, as such poultry farmers mostly target and kill them. But according to traditional folktale, the hawk which is called “égbé”, in Igbo, “òkìtì”, in Yoruba and “Saho” in Hausa, has a cogent reason why the chick became its prey.
It is a love story between a hawk and a pretty hen that ended prematurely because of a cockerel who was desperately in love.
It is said that long ago, there was a beautiful hen who stayed with her parents in the bush.
One day a hawk was hovering around the area and spotted the hen picking on corn. The beauty of the hen was striking, and he couldn’t resist approaching her. He greeted her enticingly and offered to marry her.
The hen agreed, and the hawk spoke to her parents, paid the bride price, and they left to the land of the hawk.
It was gathered that a while later, a young cock who lived near the hen’s parents home and had been in love with her found out about the marriage.
Heartbroken, the cock purposed to find where she lived and swore to bring her back home. When he found out about her new home, he went at dawn and crowed in his best voice, flapping his wings. Unable to resist the sweet voice of the cock, the hen went to him and off they walked together back to her parents.
The hawk, who had been watching all these happenings from a distance, was angry and felt betrayed.
He demanded a return of the dowry as per the custom, but neither the hen’s parents nor the cock could pay him back.
The hawk and his parents went to the king of animals, to report the matter and the king then declared that the hawk could kill and eat the cock’s children whenever he found them as payment for his dowry, and if the cock complained, he should not listen to him.
Since then whenever a hawk spots chicks, he swoops down and carries it.
