Coda & Malin (Harris’s Hawks)

Coda is a female Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus). She hatched in 2014, and we purchased her for falconry from Paul Kupchok at Green Chimney’s in New York.She is a wonderful hunting hawk and is also very good with people. Her weight ranges from 960 to 1000 g (2 lbs. 2 oz. to 2 lbs. 4 oz.) which is larger than a male would be, which is typical for birds of prey.

Social animals typically have a dominance hierarchy, which is the case with Harris’s Hawks. Adult birds typically dominate juveniles, and females tend to dominate males. This social order is important for division of labor when hunting and rearing young.

Malin, a female Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), hatched here at our facility in Montana on May 30, 2022. She is Coda’s first offspring, who she raised with Odin, her mate who has since passed away. The pair did produce two young, but unfortunately the younger male did not survive an infection. Malin is slightly smaller than her mother, weighing between 900 and 1000 g (2 lbs. – 2 lbs. 2 oz.), however she has a very big personality!

Harris’s Hawks are unique in the world of birds of prey as they commonly hunt in family groups which may allow them greater hunting success. Because they are social birds that hunt in groups, we hunt Coda and Malin together.

Odin and Coda hunting amongst cholla cactus in Tuscon, AZ.
Photograph by Anne Schnell

Photograph by Eric Gofreed