HawkWatch International searching for escaped Harris’s hawk near Sugar House

Harris’s Hawk, Stax, escaped. Photo: HawkWatch International.

SALT LAKE CITY — HawkWatch International is asking Utah supporters and Salt Lake City residents to help locate Stax, a Harris’s hawk that escaped Monday near the organization’s offices in the Sugar House neighborhood.

Stax was last seen on June 29, near the intersection of 900 East and Simpson Avenue. HawkWatch staff are actively searching for the bird and are asking community members to keep their eyes on the sky.

Searchers may hear Stax before they see him. Harris’s hawks have a distinctive call, and HawkWatch said Stax has already been heard calling at dogs in the surrounding neighborhood.

Community members should also watch for “mobbing” behavior from smaller birds. When a raptor is nearby, smaller birds will often gather agitated at the top of a tree and may divebomb into the branches. Spotting that kind of commotion could be a sign that Stax is in the area.

The hawk can be identified by the leather anklets and brown jesses he is wearing, as well as a small band on his right leg. Harris’s hawks are medium-to-large raptors native to the American Southwest and are known for their distinctive reddish-brown wing patches and long tails with white-tipped feathers.

Anyone who spots Stax is asked to call or text HawkWatch at (801) 648-9286 or email education@hawkwatch.org. Staff are monitoring both channels regularly for reported sightings.

HawkWatch International, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting raptors and the environment through science, education and conservation. The organization uses birds like Stax as education ambassadors to connect the public with birds of prey.