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Red-Tailed Hawks Are Unlikely Residents at Michigan Central Station

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red-tailed hawks at Michigan Central Station
BIRDS OF WAR!
Photo: Ford Motor Company

Ford is well underway with the second phase of its renovation of Michigan Central Station and on pace to open the new headquarters of its Corktown campus by 2022. As the process of restoring the massive depot to its former glory goes on, unique obstacles and challenges arise — like the discovery that a family of red-tailed hawks call a 12th floor ledge their home.

When construction crews working on the station discovered a pair of adults red-tailed hawks and two five-week-old chicks nesting on the exterior of the station, Michigan Department of Natural Resources raptor expert David Hogan was called in to advise. His suggestion: let them stay.


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red-tailed hawks at Michigan Central Station
“Don’t talk to me or my son ever again”

And so Ford did. Not only that, but the teams put up a screen on the 12th floor that would ensure nobody could bother the birds’ nest. While the hawks will not likely be fixtures of Michigan Central Station by the time the restoration project wraps up in 2021, they’re being given free reign over that ledge until their babies learn how to fly. Given the mother’s propensity for screeching and pecking at glass whenever a person comes into view, that’s probably the best option for all parties involved.

Should the hawks remain, Hogan would likely take them in, rehabilitate them, and release them back into the wild.

“I’ve always been interested in hawks,” he said. “This rehab thing is something I like to do to give back to these birds that I have so much fun working with. It’s nice we have stuff like this happening so that the average person becomes aware that this kind of thing goes on in their environment.”


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