HAWKS

It's such a joy to see a growing presence of hawks. Their numbers were on a decline due to clearing of forested areas for urban expansion, but also due to the use of insecticides.

Insecticides are sprayed on insects and then those insects are consumed by small birds. These insecticides are retained in the birds so when hawks consume them, the chemicals are passed on to the hawk.

These residues accumulate in higher levels in each succeeding link, causing toxic levels in hawks that can interfere with reproduction. Thankfully, most of the pesticides responsible for this such as DDT have been banned in Canada.

I was so lucky to have lunch with this cute little red tail hawk this afternoon.

Dr. Cristina Allen ND