Redondo Beach Hawks Are a Symbol of Resilience
By Dina Radtke
On almost any given day on the Esplanade Bluff, a red-tailed hawk can be seen perched on the fence or surveying from the sky.
“It used to be rare to see hawks on the Esplanade. Now it’s quite common,” said Dan Fort, a South Bay Parkland Conservancy (SBPC) volunteer and resident of Redondo Beach for over 14 years.
You’re most likely to catch one of these majestic raptors south of Avenue C — in the areas where SBPC and other local groups have removed ice plant, an invasive species that has out-competed native plants. The South African and South American native plant, which creates a thick labyrinth of fleshy green vine over the bluff, is so prolific that for a long time almost all of the plants native to the Esplanade Bluff — like poppies, lupines, seacliff buckwheat, and beach evening primrose — were kicked out, creating a monoculture of ice plant. It still reigns supreme in much of the area.
With SBPC’s efforts to bring native plants back to the bluff (and thanks to a USFWS grant), the whole system has benefitted, including red-tailed hawks. By replacing the ice plant carpet with native species, SBPC is supporting a wide range of insects that provide a vital food source for local wildlife, such as the common side-blotched lizard. Local native lizard species are known to prey on any arthropod — such as insects and spiders — that ventures into their radius. This includes the endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly, whose larvae feed exclusively on native coastal seacliff buckwheat plants.
“You’ll see El Segundo blues with bites taken from their wings from an encounter with a lizard”, Fort said.
As native plants lure in insects using a variety of tactics, lizards feast on their prey, and the red-tailed hawks who have learned that the bluffs offer a reliable buffet of lizard meals, swoop in to hunt. They wait patiently on the fence or among the SBPC-planted flora for their moment to seize a lizard in their talons. By doing this, the hawks are playing a vital role in the circle of life, maintaining a predator/prey balance. Lizards reproduce wildly; without hawks and other predators keeping lizard numbers in check, the already-endangered El Segundo Blue and other important insects could be threatened even further by overpredation.
Red-tailed hawks are the most common raptor in North America. They’re incredibly adapted to urban settings, but they tend to keep their distance from humans. Redondo Beach’s red-tailed hawks are somewhat different. The pair, assumed to be mates given that hawks are typically territorial, will perch among SBPC’s work area during a Saturday volunteer session, undeterred by the groups of humans enjoying a day of gardening by the beach. While the community comes together to restore the ecosystem, the hawks circle overhead, watching vigilantly with some of the best eyesight of any animal on earth.
In a culture where humans tend to be disconnected from wildlife, the red-tailed hawks act as a connection between the post-modern world and the natural world. In this context, Redondo Beach’s hawks are not just awe-inspiring spectacles; they’re also symbols of the renewal of an ecosystem.
Interested in seeing the hawks or helping maintain CA native plants? Sign up on southbayparks.org.
Sources:
Interview with SBPC volunteer and certified naturalist Daniel Fort , June 27, 2025.
Interview with biologist Ann Dalkey, July 3, 2025.