Harlan was injured by flying into a power line near the Hanging Rocks Migration Observatory in Monroe County in November of 1999. The injury caused permanent nerve damage to his right elbow and we had to amputate most of his wing. Harlan is a very unusual color for a West Virginia red tailed hawk: a very dark chocolate color all over except for his brick-red tail. He weighs about 2 pounds and likes to eat rodents, snakes, squirrels, and rabbits. Red tails are monogamous and mate for life. They raise 2 chicks on average each year in a nest that they use again and again over the years and can be found in a wide variety of habitats: open areas, cities, towns, woodlands, you name it! They are very intelligent: they decorate their nests in very individualistic ways and have been documented using tools.
