Quito

Quito

Species: Broad-winged Hawk

Nicknames: Q

Sex: Presumed female

Hatched: 2017

Arrived: 2017

Condition: Wing injury, possible human imprint

Quito’s Story:

Quito was found in an unusual place for a Broad-winged Hawk: a driveway in a residential neighbourhood in Toronto. It seemed that she might have hit a window, so she was taken to the Toronto Wildlife Centre. Quito had a wing injury and possibly a head injury, but something else was amiss: she was extremely comfortable with people.

Her unusual behaviour may be due to her head trauma, or it may be that Quito had seen humans before. She may have been taken illegally from the wild as a chick, then later released in the city. This would explain the odd, urban location she was found in, and would certainly have put her at increased risk of an accident.

Whatever the cause, Quito’s affinity for people and lingering wing injury make her unfit to survive in the wild. She joined the Wild Ontario education team in 2017 and has been a fantastic ambassador for her species and the forests they live in.

Broad-winged Hawks are common in Ontario, but they are not often seen in the southern parts of our province. These small, secretive hawks live in the forests of central and northern Ontario where many people cottage or camp. Keep your ears peeled for them in cottage country, as you may hear their high-pitched whistle piercing through the trees.