Hawk Mother: The Story of a Red-Tailed Hawk Who Hatched Chickens

An injured red-tailed hawk can no longer fly free, but her instinct to become a mother is so strong that she hatches and raises two chickens in this true and heartwarming story of interspecies friendship.

What happens when two baby chickens find themselves in a nest with a hawk? Don’t hawks usually eat chickens? Sunshine, a red-tailed hawk, can no longer fly free, but her instinct to be a mother is so strong that she builds a nest in her aviary every spring and lays two infertile eggs. One year, Kara, her caretaker, decides to try something different. She gives Sunshine two fertile chicken eggs. Sunshine patiently incubates the eggs, and then they hatch. Will the chickens recognize Sunshine as their mother? Will Sunshine accept the chicks as her own? Join zoologist Kara Hagedorn and Sunshine to find out what happens in this heartwarming story of nurture over nature.

Free, downloadable activities designed to accompany the book are available on the publisher’s website. Research, anatomy, nature, art, vocabulary, and literature activities address Common Core State Standards: ELA/Literacy and Next Generation Science Standards.
--Kara Hagedorn

Kara Hagedorn loves animals. In college she studied zoology. She has worked as a wildlife biologist for Cornell University, Morro Bay National Estuary Program, Topaz Solar Farm and New York State Parks, where she was also a naturalist and environmental educator for 12 years. Kara lives in Santa Margarita, California, with her husband, two horses, and Sunshine the hawk. To learn more about Kara and her school presentations, visit www.hawkmother.com.