23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Wildlife
Urban Hawk

A lone hawk surveys the neighborhood from a weathered rooftop—nature’s sentinel adjusting to a world that keeps changing around it. As urbanization carves deeper into their habitats, these raptors are forced to reinvent their hunting grounds, trading open fields for cul-de-sacs and canyon ridges for roof tiles. Yet here they stand, resilient and unbroken. They remind us that even in the heart of the city, the wild still finds a way.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 11.2025
Date Uploaded: 11.2025
Photo Location: San Diego, Ca, United States of America
Camera: Canon EOS R6m2
Copyright: © Arnel Garcia