Twenty-three doesn't seem old to most of us, but it's ancient for a Red-Tailed hawk. In fact, Elise at the Black Hills Raptor Center, would be considered a senior in the wild.
"The few that survive the first year have got a good chance of living 12-15 years in the wild. In captivity, where you get regular food, good health checkups with a veterinarian, good vitamins and extra care; they can live quite a bit longer," said John Halverson, co-founder of the Black Hills Raptor Center.
Even though she is pushing the limits, Halverson said she's healthy and strong; which is why he grew concerned by her behavior last week. "She was acting sick. She was not eating. She was staring into space and was acting out of sorts."
To Halverson's shock, it was simply her maternal instincts.
"She gives me this look of knowingness and I looked down and here she is rolling an egg around between her feet," Halverson said.
Elise had laid a clutch of three eggs, something she hasn't done since 2008.
"Her body told her this is what you do in the spring," Halverson said.
While her eggs will never be fertilized by a male Red-Tailed hawk, they will be put to good use. "What we're planning on doing is like you do with Easter eggs, blow the egg out. And, we're thinking about filling them with plaster or something so we can use these as educational artifacts."
Until then, Elise will incubate the speckled eggs as any mother would in the wild.
