Photos: Bloomington’s fledgling hawks not yet ready to graduate from nest, but they’re getting closer

At this past week’s Monroe County Community School Corporation board meeting, superintendent Jeff Hauswald gave a preview of the numbers for today’s (May 27) graduation exercises.

The district is awarding high school diplomas to about 850 students this year—that includes the two high schools, as well as adult education programs.

As an homage to the tired cliché that compares the milestone of graduation to birds leaving the nest, here’s an update from the red-tailed hawk family that has taken up residence on Indiana University’s grounds. The nest was built in the big Sycamore tree that towers over Bryan Hall, on the western edge of campus.

The nest is visible from Indiana Avenue at the intersection with Fourth Street. There are at least two fledglings, and they’re getting pretty big. Their heads are still white, but the darker feathers are starting to appear on their wings and breasts. They look to be at least three-quarters the size of the adults.

The first in this series of photos shows one of the adults flying low, away from the nest, leaving the fledglings to fend for themselves for a while.

Congratulations to today’s graduates, and to their teachers, family and friends, who supported them, like a big, sturdy Sycamore.

There are more photos below.

Photos: Bryan Hall hawk’s nest (May 27, 2023)