NYC hawk watchers will be looking at nests for signs of hatching over the next few weeks.  Calculating hatches can be complicated.  While egg take 28-25 days to incubate

• females may begin to sit on nests a few days before they lay their eggs
• egg are laid 36-48 hours apart and incubation may not fully begin until the last egg is laid
• an egg takes about a day to hatch as the chick pips out of the egg and feeding usually doesn’t begin right after hatching

Since we can rarely look into a nest, we’ll be looking for signs of a hatch such as a hawk slice from an eyass (pooping chick), a victory flight lap by the parents or lots of food being brought to the nest by the male and a first feeding.  It takes a few extra days from when we see a feeding until we can see fuzzy heads too.

We might see a hatch by next weekend and certainly within two weeks.  It’s a great time watch a nest and a sure sign that spring has arrived.