WCAX Red-Tailed Hawk Interview 10/8/12

By Cat Viglienzoni — October 8, 2012

At last, the second part of my hawk series — where we introduce you to Isis, the beautiful red-tailed hawk who I had the pleasure of meeting when we shot the two pieces. She was actually very well-behaved overall (although she didn’t like being pointed at once!).

It aired twice on the morning show on October 8 — at the end of the 5 a.m. hour and again at the end of the 6 a.m. hour for our weekly Everything Animals segment.

I liked this one a bit better than the first piece (which was also good). Probably because this one had the actual hawk in it.

I have to admit that holding the hawk was harder than I’d thought — Isis wasn’t heavy, but the angle I had to hold my arm out at to keep the bird happy was tricky. If I put my arm down, it’s instinct would have been to climb up to the highest part (my shoulder), and that was a bit closer to my face than I was comfortable with that beak being. Not to mention I wouldn’t have any protection from the talons.

Craig was nice enough to take some photos of the experience — I have to share them here because they turned out so well.

My favorite photo — gorgeous colors and pose!

Another angle, also a good shot.

Isis is about to try to take off. Call this the behind-the-scenes moment of our photoshoot… but look at those incredible wings!

Anyway, I had so much fun doing these pieces — what an experience. And I learned a few things I didn’t know about hawks in the process!

For more on my previous experiences with hawks, check out the first of these two pieces and my up-close encounter with a red-tailed hawk in Boston my sophomore year of college.

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