Urban Hawks

After weeks of watching the Barred Owl in Central Park, I’m finally seeing patterns of behavior.

Before fly out, the owl takes a few steps west on its roost perch, so it has room to stretch. It does at least two cycles of one wing down, both wings back, and the other wing down. It might cough up a pellet before fly out too, as it did tonight. It then takes one more step, defecates and then flies out.

The post fly outs seem to fall into three categories, patrolling for intruders (Cooper’s Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks or other Barred Owls), hunting near the roost site based on what it observed during the day, and long treks near the water.

Tonight it was a long trek, with a short stop near the roost site, and then a stop about 100 yards west, with an interaction with a noisy Cooper’s Hawk. The exchange only lasted a few minutes and the owl then relaxed before working the shoreline of a waterway in the park for about 400 yards, perching only a few feet off the ground in about four stops, except for a high branch in an attempt to get a squirrel.

The Central Park Owl that has a mark on its beak and that had been seen for a few month in Riverside Park, was in a Hemlock Tree today. (The owl that as been in the park longer, was also in a Hemlock Tree today.)

The owl that came from Riverside Park, was in a very visible location with lots of onlookers today.

As we’ve seen on other evenings, this owl can be in no rush to leave the roost area. It stayed near the roost and went to the ground to hunt. It didn’t like it caught anything but it was a solid attempt. The owl went back to a perch it had flown out to, and then went to a far tree before flying out of sight.

While the Barred Owl that came from Riverside Park, was found late in the day near where it had been roosting, I decided to visit the owl I have been following more often tonight.

It flew out and quickly made its way west stopping by some running water and then going far west and high in a tree, which I suspect might have a view of the other Barred Owl. It called a few times before going east towards one of the roost spots of the Riverside Barred Owl, before we lost track of it.

The Central Park Barred Owls that had been in Riverside Park, was back in the tree it was on Wednesday today. It flew out normally and then kept it’s eye on a squirrel for the about twenty minutes after fly out. The squirrel ended up being safe and the owl then flew out further for the night.

It was a fun night, as we got to watch the owl for an extended period of time.

The owl that has come from Riverside Park, was in a Spruce Tree today, giving great looks. Late in the afternoon, it kept its attention on two Cooper’s Hawks. Luckily, the Cooper’s Hawks left the owl in peace.

Before, fly out a Holly Tree (more of a bush) near the owl’s roost was full of singing sparrows going to roost. I said to a fellow bird watcher, “If I was an owl, all that singing would make me hungry.”

At fly out the owl went to a limb and spent about 30 minutes on a branch over a road. It was intently looking into the brush and the Holly Tree. There were two owl watchers close to where I thought the owl was looking to hunt and I asked them politely to step back a bit. They were very nice about it and moved backwards.

After about five minutes the owl went after something on the ground, missed and then few up to a limb about ten feet off the ground. Soon thereafter the owl charged into the Holly Bush, just like you might see an Cooper’s Hawk hunt. Like sparks flying off a 4th of July sparkler, waves of sparrows came streaming out of the bush. It must have been at least thirty birds. Eventually, the owl flew came out and went to a tree just under a street light.

The owl stayed put for a few minutes before flying south. It landed in a tree and then looked to go down to the ground hunting, but I couldn’t relocate it and left the park.

All told, I think we kept track of the owl for 45 minutes after fly out, which was later than normal at 5:15 pm.

In addition to the “regularly” seen Barred Owl in Central Park, today there was a second owl. It has the same black mark on its beak, that the owl that has been in Riverside Park and I was studying in early December. So, this second owl is most likely the one that had been in Riverside Park.

This owl started the day in a White Pine, was harassed by Blue Jays, and then ended up after a few stops in a Holly Tree a few blocks north.

At fly out, the owl after a small hop to another branch of the Holly Tree, flew about 50 feet, did a little preening for about ten minutes and then flew out of sight.

I went back home via the Ramble, hoping to find the “regularly” seen owl, without any luck, but did find a Red-tailed Hawk perched presumably where it would be roosting for the evening.