Urban Hawks

May 7, 2014December 19, 2020Red-tailed Hawk Nest Updates

2014 Manhattan Score Card Update 5

All confirmed nests have hatched except for Thompkin Square Park, which should hatch by this weekend.

Randalls Island hasn’t been confirmed. I couldn’t find either hawk on my visit last weekend.

The eyasses are getting bigger and confirmed counts are coming in. Fifth Avenue has three eyasses, with the other counts at two. (Thanks to the Morningside Hawks Blog for news about J. Hood Wright Park.)

It looks to be a great year for Red-tailed Hawks in Manhattan, with slightly lower eyess totals due to the cold and snowy winter.

May 6, 2014December 26, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Three for Pale Male and Octavia

Now that the eyasses are bigger at the Fifth Avenue nest, it’s clear that there are three of them. They are standing and walking around the nest now. They also are flapping their wings every so often. They’re at a very cute stage. I would recommend making a trip to the model boat pond this weekend!

May 5, 2014December 26, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Two Heads Are Better Than One

A visit after work to the Sheep Meadow nest let me discover that the nest has two eyasses, rather than the single eyass that I had seen earlier. It was great to watch them get fed, and see the mother give up on an old rodent and have it quickly replaced by a fresh kill by the father.

The video is about twenty minutes long but includes a very tender feeding of the two eyasses.

May 4, 2014December 26, 2020Other Red-tailed Hawks, Tompkins Square Red-tailed Hawks, Washington Sq. Red-tailed Hawks

Three Nest Day

In the morning, I visited Randall’s Island nest. I couldn’t see any sign of hawks, but if they’ve gone back to the old nest, the female can hide fairly well. There’s also a good chance that the pair moved, given the Peregrine Falcon nest nearby.

I then went to Tompkins Square Park, which is still a few days from hatching. Both hawks there looked healthy. Locals estimate the hatch date to be May 10th.

Then it was off to Washington Square to see how things were going. As usual, they continue to grow bigger and bigger. They can stand briefly and feather shafts are visable on their wings.

May 3, 2014December 26, 2020Riverside Park Red-tailed Hawks

West End Avenue

I’ve been trying to tie up loose ends about this season in Manhattan, and West End Avenue is one of the nests I hadn’t heard news about. When I arrived shortly after a visit by the male, the female looked to be feeding an eyass briefly. It then sat down fairly low on the nest.

My guess is that we might have one egg hatched with other to follow. But I would suspect it will be much easier to figure out in a week.

May 2, 2014December 26, 2020Washington Sq. Red-tailed Hawks

Getting Bigger At Washington Square Park

The eyasses at Washington Square Park are getting easier and easier to see with each passing day. I caught up with them on a windy Friday. The video is very shaky but is fun none the less.

It looks like we’re going to have a record number of successful nests in Manhattan this year, although it looks like after the cold winter we may have more nests with one or two eyasses rather than three. I can’t wait for us to get an accurate count. I suspect we’ll end up having at least fifty Red-tailed Hawks in Manhattan by the time the last nest hatches. Plus we have many more in the other boroughs.

Too bad folks still only think about Pale Male when you talk about Red-tailed Hawks in New York City!