Cornell Hawks Kick Off 2026 Nesting Season With An Egg!

The Red-tailed Hawks are back for their 13th breeding season on the Cornell Hawks Cam! Big Red laid her first egg at 8:04 p.m. on March 23, marking the start of a new nesting cycle above Cornell University’s main campus. She and her mate, Arthur, are now beginning the months-long process of raising another family of fluffy chicks into fledgling raptors.

Based on past seasons, Big Red will likely lay additional eggs in the coming days. She has laid three or four eggs per clutch in each of her previous 13 breeding attempts on camera. If another egg is on the way, we expect it to arrive within the next 48–72 hours.

The hawks will spend the next 5–6 weeks incubating their clutch before the eggs begin to hatch. During this period, females do most of the incubating while males handle the majority of the hunting. Males may also take short turns on the nest, and Arthur has already proven that he’s up to the task. We’ll also see the hawks continue to spruce up their nest site with additions of greenery, sticks, and bark.

Follow the Cornell Hawks Cam on Mastodon and Twitter/X for daily updates throughout the breeding season.