Warrior, a red-tailed hawk blind in one eye and wearing training leather anklets and straps, escaped from American Bald Eagle Foundation staff on Friday afternoon. (Courtesy/American Bald Eagle Foundation)

Warrior, a red-tailed hawk blind in one eye and wearing training leather anklets and straps, escaped from American Bald Eagle Foundation staff on Friday afternoon. They have searched for him since he flew away during a training session. 

A center media release described the hawk as an elderly ambassador bird, “left his handler during a scheduled exercise. Both the handler and Warrior were participating in the exercise under the supervision of two experienced, senior [curators],” the release said. 

Staff tracked him through Friday evening but lost track of him Saturday. They are attempting to recall him using voice commands and food rewards. 

Resident crows and ravens are providing some unexpected help as their mobbing behavior has repeatedly indicated Warrior’s location and helped search teams follow his movements, according to the release. However, those crows are also chasing Warrior from area to area and make it difficult for him to settle long enough for staff to recover him. 

Foundation staff ask for anyone who sees a red-tailed hawk wearing leather straps or acting calm near people to contact the foundation at 907-766-3094. 

He is not a danger to the public and is not likely to approach a stranger, but staff ask people not try to capture or approach him and instead document his exact location and watch him from a safe distance. 

Rashah McChesney is a multimedia journalist and editor who has reported and edited newsrooms from the Deep South to the Midwest to Alaska. For the past decade, she has worked in collaborative news as the...