An adult Ridgway's Hawk feeds a foster nestling placed in its nest by our team after it was rescued from its original nest as an egg.

Chiara Perozo

Ridgway’s Hawk Hatched in Incubator For First Time

2025 is proving to be a year packed with conservation successes for our field programs! This next one comes from our Ridgway’s Hawk Program in the Dominican Republic.

Our Ridgway’s Hawk team spends the spring and summer months closely monitoring and managing nests. In early June, they noticed a nest with two eggs had suddenly lost its mother to an unknown cause of death. The father was still diligently incubating the eggs, but our team was worried that it would be too much for him to incubate and raise the young on his own, or that he might abandon them entirely. So our team decided to collect the eggs and bring them back to our facilities to be hatched and hand-raised.

Three images. Top left shows a hatching Ridgway's Hawk egg in an incubator. Top right shows the hatchling moments after emerging from the shell. Bottom shows the nestling at several days old being fed by our team with tweezers.
Marta Curti


Captive rearing of young hawks is not a regular part of the Ridgway’s Hawk Program, but thanks to the vast array of raptor conservation work done by our various programs, assistance was just an island (and a phone call) away. Our Puerto Rico team has extensive experience hatching and raising Puerto Rican Sharp-shinned Hawks, and Puerto Rico Program Director Hana Weaver was able to provide valuable guidance and advice on how to manage the two Ridgway’s Hawk eggs.

The eggs were placed in an incubator and candled to determine if they were still alive. One egg appeared to have signs of life, but our team wasn’t sure about the other’s viability, so they continued incubating and rotating both. About two weeks later, the viable egg started to hatch. After six hours of grueling work chipping through the eggshell, the young hatchling emerged as the very first Ridgway’s Hawk to be successfully hatched in an incubator!

Three photos. Top left and right show one of our team members using a lift to place the nestling into a foster nest in a palm tree. Bottom shows three Ridgway's Hawk nestlings, including the fostered nestling, together in their nest.
Franklin Rodríguez (top left & top right) | Chiara Perozo (bottom)


“This is an incredible step for the conservation of this species and a major accomplishment for our team,” says Hispaniola Program Director Marta Curti. “We are thrilled that this bird developed from a viable embryo to a healthy chick, against some big odds. We can’t wait to continue to monitor his movements from fledging to dispersing from his adopted parents’ territory, and hopefully far into the future.”

Three photos. Top left shows on of the "foster parent" hawks perched on a branch outside the nest with food in its mouth as a nestling in the nest looks on. Right shows the fostered nestling being held by one of our crew members during banding. Bottom shows the fostered hawk after fledging perched in the fronds of a palm tree.
Chiara Perozo (top left & bottom) | Franklin Rodríguez (top right)


Our team moved the newly hatched hawk to a brooder (similar to an incubator) where it was hand-raised for around five days. However, placing young hawks with parents and siblings of their own species is important for proper development. Luckily, our team knew of a nest nearby with two eggs that were about to hatch. After the first egg hatched, our team placed the five-day-old hand-reared nestling in with the wild-hatched nestling and the unhatched egg. The two parents were immediately attentive to the new addition. The third egg finally hatched, and this trio of brothers (our team later found out they were all male) was banded on July 10 by our team. (The fostered fledgling is seen above in the top right photo receiving his band.)

A few weeks later, all three Ridgway’s Hawks have fledged from the nest! They are now spending time around the nest learning to hunt with their parents’ guidance. (The fostered hawk is seen above after fledging in the bottom photo.) It is because of the diligent monitoring, quick response, and hard work of our Dominican Republic team that this young Ridgway’s Hawk is thriving, another step in the recovery of this unique species.