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Hawk invades the Library of Congress

Laura Donovan Contributor
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A hawk has made himself at home in the Library of Congress, the Washington Post reported Friday.

What appears to be a Cooper’s Hawk was first seen in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress on Wednesday, library officials said.

“One of the people doing research in our Main Reading Room, which of course is topped by a big and beautiful dome, happened to look up into the skylights that are at the top of that dome and saw a large bird flying around in there,” library representative Jennifer Gavin told WTOP.

It’s likely that the bird entered the building through a broken window at the top of the Main Reading Room’s dome.

“There are windows and some spaces up in the dome that small birds and pigeons sometimes squeeze through,” library spokesman Matt Raymond told WXIA-TV.

The hawk has staked out its territory at 150-160 feet up, the library’s tallest point. Meanwhile, librarians have turned to the library’s collection of bird books to identify the bird and figure out how to coax it down. So far, they haven’t had much luck.