Urban Hawks

March 3, 2013December 17, 2020Owls

Saw-whet Still Here and a Spring Report

At least one Northern Saw-whet Owl continues to be seen in Central Park. It’s a joy to watch, even when it tries it’s best to hide from bird watchers!

As winter ends, it looks as though many Red-tailed Hawk pairs in Manhattan have started preparing for brooding. Nests have been rebuilt and relocated slightly in Inwood Hill Park and Highbridge Parks, and other nests have been tidied up.

As of today, I know the following:

Inwood Hill has a new nest which will be easy to watch and is further away from the owls in the park.
Highbridge Park also has a new nest. The old one was destroyed during Sandy.
The 175th and Fort Washington pair have been seen this winter, but I don’t know where they are nesting this year.
CUNY’s uptown campus has activity according to The Origin of Species blog.
The Saint John’s nest seems to have lost its male, and it’s unclear just yet how things are developing.
The Randalls Island nest seems to be in good shape.
There is a pair trying to establish themselves in the ’90s of Central Park.
Pale Male and his mate look to be all set for Spring.
The Central Park South pair with a nest they built last year on the Crown Building and a secondary nest on The Plaza Hotel, look to be all set for Spring.
The Washington Square Park nest is ready to go, but it looks like it might be without a webcam this year.

Let me know if you have additional news.

March 3, 2013December 26, 2020Other Red-tailed Hawks

Central Park Tennis Courts

Two Red-tails appeared over the Reservoir this afternoon, soared together and then came back down to perch about 100 yards apart near the Tennis Courts in Central Park. This is the pair that was bringing twigs to 350 Central Park West earlier in the week.

They stayed in the same trees for about twenty minutes, and didn’t like they were going to be moving soon, so I moved on. Let’s hope they stay in the park this spring.

March 1, 2013December 26, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Plaza Hotel Pair

There looks to be some question as to whether the Plaza Hotel pair might be Pale Male and Octavia building a secondary nest.

Looking at the photographs I’ve taken over the last two days, these look like a new pair to my eyes. Both the male and female look different than Pale Male and Octavia.

(Certainly, this pair has ventured up to Pale Male’s territory over the last few weeks and it might be one of the Central Park South hawks that was mistaken for Octavia up north. This would explain matching field marks.)

The Plaza Hotel pair also have a nest on the Crown Building. It is in a better location from the Plaza, but sadly out of view from the street. I hope they nest on the Plaza, but if they don’t we won’t be able to see the eyasses for some time.

February 28, 2013December 18, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Hanky Panky On The Plaza

The Central Park South pair copulated on the Plaza Hotel late this afternoon. The female was about twenty feet from the nest, and the male flew in and copulated with her. He quickly left and flew due west. She followed at dusk about twenty minutes later. I walked over in the general direction they flew, but didn’t find either of the hawk’s roosts for the evening.

February 26, 2013December 28, 2020Northwest Central Park Hawks

350 Central Park West

I got an email yesterday from Emily, a resident of 350 Central Park West, that a pair of hawks were building a nest on the 15th Floor of her building.

I got to see the pair this evening. The hawks are building on an air conditioner, on the right most faux balcony. I watched them copulating on the north tower of The Eldorado and bringing twigs to 350 Central Park West. (94 and 95th Street are the cross streets.) The nest building is in the very early stages, so there is still a good chance the hawks could decide to nest elsewhere.

But if the hawks do nest on Central Park West, we might have a bumper copy of young hawks in the park this summer. Between this new nest, the new nest on the Plaza Hotel, Pale Male’s nest on 5th Avenue, and the St. John the Divine nest, whose kids always end up in the north end of Central Park, we could have lots of fledglings in the park.

Of course a lot could happen between now and summer, but a hawk watcher can always dream!

February 23, 2013December 26, 2020Other Red-tailed Hawks

Locust Grove Youngster

A first-year Red-tailed Hawk was eating a squirrel in the rain on Saturday in the Locust Grove of Central Park. We’ve got lots of young hawks in the park this winter.