Urban Hawks

February 3, 2013December 17, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Saturday at Fifth Avenue

For 2013, I’ve wanted to spend time doing general bird watching rather than just hawk watching and have been birding Central Park, Inwood Hill, Fort Tryon, Battery Park and Randalls Island the last few weeks. My total for New York County is now 65 species, so I’m off to a good start for the year.

Despite my refocusing, I have spent some time at hawk nests. On Saturday, it was Pale Male and his new mate’s nest.

I saw them copulate, visit the nest together and saw Pale Male bring her a gift of a pigeon. The cold weather caused me to miss some of the action with my camera, but I was too busy trying to keep warm.

January 26, 2013December 17, 2020Other Red-tailed Hawks, Owls

Barred Owl vs. Immature Red-tailed Hawk

You always hear that owls and hawks don’t interact much, but a young Red-tailed Hawk didn’t get the message. It’s been harassing the Barred Owl that’s in Central Park for the past few weeks.

Tonight the Barred Owl must have had enough. The Red-tailed Hawk tried to roost in a tree the Barred Owl used to use during the day, so the Barred Owl flew out early and chased the Red-tail away.

January 13, 2013December 26, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Randalls Island Peregrine Falcons

A nice trip to Randalls Island on Sunday yeilded the two resident Peregrine Falcons atop the center building of The Manhattan Psychiatric Center. One was on a corner and the other on a set of communications towers. The bird on the tower was banded but it was too far away to capture any numbers.

The count for the day was fairly good. 35 species with a Common Goldeneye and a Belted Kingfisher as highlights. The day had three raptor species, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon and Red-tailed Hawk.

620	Brant
406	Canada Goose
30	Gadwall
3	American Black Duck
28	Mallard
12	Bufflehead
1	Common Goldeneye
14	Red-breasted Merganser
24	Ruddy Duck
1	Red-throated Loon
1	Double-crested Cormorant
2	Great Cormorant
1	Great Blue Heron
2	Red-tailed Hawk
1	American Coot
20	Ring-billed Gull
1	Herring Gull
4	Great Black-backed Gull
45	Rock Pigeon
3	Mourning Dove
2	Belted Kingfisher
3	American Kestrel
2	Peregrine Falcon
4	American Crow
4	Black-capped Chickadee
1	White-breasted Nuthatch
14	American Robin
2	Northern Mockingbird
57	European Starling
1	American Tree Sparrow
1	Song Sparrow
2	White-throated Sparrow
1	Dark-eyed Junco
6	Northern Cardinal
15	House Sparrow

January 11, 2013December 26, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

The Plaza Hotel – A New Red-tailed Nest

The Roger Paw Blog reported on January 9th that a new Red-tailed Hawk nest is being established on The Plaza Hotel at Central Park South.

This evening, at dusk while I was watching two Black Crowned Night Herons (one adult and one immature), and hundreds of Common Grackles come home to roost, I saw one the Red-tails at the nest site. The Red-tailed Hawk stayed on the nest for about ten minutes and then went off to roost.

Hats off to the Roger Paw Blog for such excellent reporting! Finding a new nest site, this early in the season, is hard work.

January 11, 2013December 17, 2020Owls

Another Northern Saw-whet Owl

A Northern Saw-whet Owl has been seen in the park for about the last week in a new location. Today it was hard to get a clear picture, but it was definitely a Saw-Whet.

January 11, 2013December 26, 2020Other Birds

American Tree Sparrow

An American Tree Sparrow has been hanging around the large woodchip pile in the northern section of Central Park. Today, it gave me some really nice looks. The American Tree Sparrow has a bi-colored beak, the top and bottom parts are different.