A Rare Bird

In my small ravine-defined corner of Toronto, there have been unusual wildlife sightings in recent months. Early morning street visits from rabbits and hares can, of course, be explained by residual lockdown quiet and the constrained din of the nearby Don Valley Parkway, yet curiosity does seem to play a role. One day over coffee, I watched a hare take up curbside sentry duty, lingering as if assessing its options before bolting down the street toward the park. Similarly, several daylight appearances of coyotes and foxes in cemeteries and golf courses across the city strike me as oddly out of the norm.

In Toronto and elsewhere, we humans have taken to walking, jogging, and cycling pretty much year-round and in greater numbers than before the pandemic. And because we’re outside so much, wildlife has become more evident than ever — especially, it seems, the hawks.

Among the most widely scattered raptor species in North America, red-tailed hawks have become...