Urban Hawks

December 8, 2019December 28, 2020Other Birds

Red-headed Woodpecker

For about a week a Red-headed Woodpecker has been reported in Central Park. I finally got a chance to see it on Saturday. Like most of the Red-headed Woodpeckers we get in Manhattan, it is an immature bird, without a red head. It has selected a stand of oak trees west of ball field number 2 in the North Meadow and east of light W9802. (If you don’t know the “secret code” of the park street lights, this decodes as W=West Drive, 98=98th Street, 02=the second street light in the block.)

Red-headed Woodpeckers excavate cavities and then store nuts in them. If this one behaves like ones we’ve had in previous years, it should be fun to watch this activity through the winter.

December 7, 2019December 22, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Pale Male

I caught up with Pale Male on Wednesday on one of his favorite window railings at 73rd Street and Fifth Avenue. The days have gotten short and soon he and Octavia will be working on the nest for next season. Last year, there were no reports of anyone seeing Pale Male and Octavia copulate and the eggs didn’t hatch. Let’s hope for a more productive 2020.

November 18, 2019December 21, 2020Owls

Great Horned Owl

A Great Horned Owl was found in Central Park today. I came late in the day so I could see the fly out. By the time I arrived the owl, which had been harassed by Blujays, was now high in a tree and tough to photograph. But the owl moved now and then, and I got some good looks. I was able to see the owl preen, do some pre-flight stretches, and then fly out.

November 17, 2019December 28, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Young Cooper’s Hawk

It’s been cold enough that owls will soon be migrating through Central Park, so I always look at a set of pines in the Arthur Ross Pinetum this time of year. I heard a squirrel cry, and instead of an owl I found this young Cooper’s Hawk, who quickly went after a bird and made a meal of it.

November 16, 2019December 22, 2020Other Birds

Eastern Bluebird

An Eastern Bluebird was seen in the West 80s of Central Park of Central Park on Friday (and again on Saturday). It’s the state bird of New York. This once-prolific bird had a sharp decline of population due to nesting cavity competition from European Starlings and House Sparrows. Nest box programs started in the 1960s and 1970s have helped the species population numbers to improve but it remains an infrequent visitor to Central Park.

November 16, 2019December 22, 2020Other Birds

Green-winged Teal

Fall brings a variety of ducks to Central Park. Every year one or two Green-winged Teals are spotted. One was the Meer for a few days this week. It’s about 2/3 the size of a Mallard, so they’re easy to pick out in a raft of ducks.