On Tuesday, Ohio baseball coach Joe Carbone said the thing that he dislikes most about Miami is their mascot.
“It’s a RedHawk, but there’s no such thing as a red hawk,” Carbone said. “There is a red-tailed hawk, but there’s no such thing as a red hawk. So basically, their mascot is named after a species that doesn’t exist.”
According to multiple zoologists at Ohio University, Carbone is correct.
"Although many species of hawks may have the color red as part of their plumage, there are no species that are entirely red," said Scott Moody, Associate Professor of Evolutionary and Organismic Biology at Ohio University.
"The only hawk in the USA, that includes red as part of the name is the Red-tailed Hawk, which in mature adults the tail feathers are a burnt-orange or ochre colored red but the rest of the hawk is drab cryptic brown coloring above and white with black streaks below."
Janet Duerr, Associate Professor in Ohio's Department of Biological Sciences, also confirmed the coaches claim.
"There is no hawk called a "Red Hawk" and there is no hawk found in the USA that is just red," Duerr said. "So I would say calling a team the "Red Hawks" is a bit of poetic license."
Yet another reason to dislike Miami.
