An Egg? On Central Park South?

By D. Bruce YoltonSouthern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Red-tailed Hawks lay their eggs one at a time, 36-48 hours apart. When the first egg is laid, you see lots of behavioral changes. The female stops standing upright on the nest, and begins to lay flat. She also does a “shimmy”, where she wiggles to get the best contact between her brood patch on her chest and the eggs, when she lays down. The pair also does exchanges, where the male takes over egg warming duties and gives the female a break.

Today, I saw all of these behaviors. So there is a good chance an egg was laid. If so, this would mean we might have hatchlings on the last week of April or the first week of May. Fingers crossed!

Just a tail is visible.
The view from “The Dairy”.
Again, just a tail is visible.
The male arrives. He’s on the left.
The female jumps up on the shield.
She leaves briefly.
He leaves, but then both return, and he brings prey.
She takes it and after about a minute will leave.
She goes two buildings west on Central Park South, picks at the prey but goes elsewhere to eat it.
He’s on the nest for about 45 minutes, and leaves before she returns.
After about five minutes without anyone on the nest, the female returns to a nearby perch.
The female returns to the nest.
The male makes makes a trip to the top of 40 Central Park West.
The female all settled down.