Pacific Northwest Heat Wave Made Baby Hawks Hurl Themselves Out Of Nests

Dozens of birds too young to fly jumped out of nests anyway in desperate attempts to beat the heat.

The extreme heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in late June that left hundreds of people dead and cooked up to 1 billion sea creatures alive also caused dozens of baby hawks to hurl themselves out of their nests. “They had no choice,” Oregon wildlife rehabber Lynn Tompkins told the East Oregonian. “It was just too bloody hot to survive.” Tompkins’ wildlife rehabilitation center, Blue Mountain Wildlife, took in around 50 nestling hawks too young to fly that had launched themselves earthward in a desperate bid to escape the heat. The scorching temperatures were just one example of climate-change-related extreme weather in recent weeks.