Dive-bombing hawks invade NMSU campus

Professors lead effort to promote awareness of the birds, provide umbrellas for protection

Life is a bit different in southern New Mexico. Just ask the folks at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, some of whom wield umbrellas to deter dive-bombing hawks that have made their home on campus.

As reported by the Las Cruces Sun-News, Swainson’s hawks have been nesting on campus for months. The hawks have attacked at least 17 people, professor David Boje says.

“In one case, there were stitches,” Boje said. “The rest of them were scared out of their mind.”

Boje is one of the professors leading an effort to protect people on campus, as well as the pair of hawks and their two fledglings that have made the school grounds their home for the past three years.

He secured a grant from the university to buy umbrellas that provide protection from hawks’ talons. He also used some of the money to buy T-shirts and signs with the goal of promoting awareness of the hawks.

The Swainson’s hawks

hunt rodents and generally make their home in the Great Plains or the West, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They are likely to migrate within a month to South America for the winter season — and just as likely to be back by the spring semester.

They are also persistent, Boje said.

Earlier this year, staff cut down their nest seven or eight times, but the hawks rebuilt it quickly. A nest cut down on Friday, Boje said, would be 75 percent done by the following Monday.

Boje said the plan is to install cameras that can live-stream the hawks’ activity. For more information about the hawks, visit Boje’s website. davidboje.com/hawk.

COURTESY OF DAVID BOJE A hawk feeds a fledging above its nest on the campus of New Mexico State University.

COURTESY OF DAVID BOJE Hawks have made New Mexico State University’s campus their home. They have also dive-bombed passers-by.