Red-tailed Hawk Nest Updates

2021 Manhattan Red-tailed Hawk Nest Update 1

After being able to travel only by foot for most of last year, I look forward to this year’s Red-tailed Hawk nesting season in Manhattan. I’ve seen activity first hand or have gotten reports from fellow hawks watchers. Reports are always appreciated.

Some of the recent news is:

  • There is a new nest on the Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center. Hawks have tried this location before only to have the nest blow off the ledge. This one seems well-built and has a brooding pair, that most likely started sitting on the nest in early March. If they are successful, this may be the first nest to hatch in Manhattan. The nest is on a ledge near the top of the southwestern end of the side of the building facing Fifth Avenue.
  • The pair in Fort Washington was seen getting ready for nesting in late February.
  • St. John the Divine has also seen lots of activity, as has 927 Fifth Avenue (Pale Male/Octavia), Washington Square Park, Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin wrote a nice piece about the TSP nest history), and Governors Island.
  • 350 Central Park West is still active. Although the air conditioner was removed and a new one was placed in the window to the right of the nest, the building left the shell of the old AC unit in place and left the nest undisturbed. Kudos to the building managers 350 CPW!
  • In 2019, with only a week to go before the eyasses would have fledged, the building had the hawks removed from the 1802 Third Avenue nest. I don’t know what happened in 2020, but the adults are still in the neighborhood.
Tompkins Square Red-tailed Hawks, Washington Sq. Red-tailed Hawks

Washington and Tompkins Square Parks

I ventured downtown to see what was up with the Washington Square and Tompkins Square Parks on Friday.

Washington Square Park was calm with one of the hawks on the Spanish Roof of the building on the Southwest corner of the park. Other than that the park was quiet. Reports are that the couple has been seen copulating for the last month. A male hawk was found dead over the last year a block or two south of the nest. This year’s male might not be Juno/Orion.

Tompkins Square Park was much more of what I would have expected. The male had just caught a pigeon when I arrived and called and called for his mate to come share it. However, she wasn’t that interested. After visiting a number of perches, he finally got her to share some of the bird. As I was leaving the park, the couple copulated. All looked good for brooding to start soon.

Christo
Christo
Christo
Christo
Christo
Amellia
Amellia
Owls

Barred Owl

I only had time to watch the fly out tonight and couldn’t stay to follow it. It was a fairly average fly out, with the owl flying to a tree in the woods between the roost and the Balancing Rock.

The owl perched for about ten minutes before hearing some squirrels “argue” before going to bed. She went after them, and as she normally does she missed them. It was then off to toward to the west.

Just as a matter of etiquette, it’s a good idea to stay on the paths and out of the woods around the roost. Avoid jumping the fences, even the short ones. The owl often keeps track of the rodents around the roost, and if people stay out of the woods, she often will give everyone at the fly out a great show after she flies out. However, if people jump the fences, go into the woods, and rustle the leaves, she often leaves the area quickly.

927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Octavia and Pale Male

I’ve been so wrapped up with owls this winter that I haven’t been doing much hawk watching. Today, I was in the right place at the right time and saw Octavia on the 927 Fifth Avenue nest and Pale Male in the Ramble.

Unlike last year, I should be able to get around the city to check on nests this year. We have some mysteries to solve, such as if the male at Washington Square Park is the 2nd or 3rd hawk of the nest and get to know the new female. There is also the Fort Tryon nest I never got to see.

Hopefully, 2021 will be a good year for hawks in Manhattan.

Owls

Barred Owl

I watched the Barred Owl fly out for the first time in about a month. The Snowy Owl, certainly upstaged the Barred Owl for the time it was here!

The owl flew out just after Pale Male flew by to go to roost. The owl when to familiar spots, bathing for a minute and then going off to a favorite spot to hunt. It didn’t catch anything, and few off in the direction of another location it hunts from.

It was nice to see the owl was in the same routine it’s had for months. This is the longest we’ve a Barred Owl stay in my memory. I’m going to keep enjoying it, while it’s still here.

Other Birds

American Woodcock

American Woodcocks are moving though the area. A sure sign spring is arriving soon. This one was in the wet patch south of the Tupelo Tree in the Ramble’s Tupelo Meadow.

They remind me of my mother’s Singer Sewing machine. This one was doing a good job of hunting for worms and got at least two while I watched.