St. Joe's coupling hawks get a book of their own

They nested in a towering pine at St. Joseph's University and so endeared themselves to the campus that they were named "Crimson and Gray," after the school colors.

The red-tailed hawks that made St. Joe's their home last spring and drew 13,000 viewers to a university webcam trained on their nest gain fame anew in a just-released 55-page book.

Profits from the book, full of photos of Crimson and Gray and their babies, Iggy and Swoop, will be used to improve the habitat for birds on campus, said Michael McCann, a biology professor and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

"The story was such an engaging one," said McCann, who edited the book. "There was so much interest on and off campus."

Red-tailed hawks frequently fly over campus, hence its mascot - a hawk - and nickname, Hawk Hill. But it's rare for them to nest on campus. Most hawks nest in the wild.

The story of Crimson and Gray grew wings last March when librarian Chris Dixon, who happened to be photographing hawks on campus, traced the pair to their nest on the lawn of McShain Hall, a freshman residence next to the pedestrian bridge that arches over City Avenue.

By early April, the university had set up the "Hawkcam." The babies, known as eyas, were born in mid-May.

Crimson and Gray remain on campus.

"They stayed here all winter," McCann said. "We've seen them together. We're hoping they are going to nest here again."

Iggy flew the coop in October or November.

"I like to think of her down in Miami," McCann said.

But a badly injured carcass of a young redtail was found on campus a short time later. So it's possible urban life proved fatal to Iggy.

"I'd really like to think it wasn't," McCann said. "In my head, it was not her."

As for Swoop? She dislocated a toe. Then flew into a window. And, last August, workers discovered her sitting in the convent driveway, hurt. She likely was hit by a car, McCann said.

Staff rushed the young hawk to a wildlife clinic, but it was too late.

Her short life, however, lives on in the new book, selling for $25. It is available through www.sjupress.com.