Urban Hawks

May 24, 2011December 25, 2020Riverside Park Red-tailed Hawks

Riverside Park Eyasses Preparing For Take Off

The Riverside Park pair of Red-tailed Hawk eyasses is really close to fledgling. I wouldn’t be surprised if one is off the nest by Memorial Day. Today they did lots of wing flapping and branching. Their tails look a little too short and some feathers haven’t grown in on their heads, but otherwise they look pretty close to being ready for their first flights.

The Urban Park rangers have been doing a great job of helping the single parent mother feed the eyasses, by putting out food. I think this made a major difference for the outcome of this nest. The Rangers have also put up posters with simple do’s and don’t about how to respect the hawks. The posters remind dog owners to keep their dogs on leash.

There aren’t enough Urban Park Rangers or Parks Enforcement Police to enforce the leash laws in Riverside Park, so it is helpful if the hawk watching community talks to owners of dogs who have their dogs off leash. This doesn’t have to be an adversarial discussion. Last year, the mother would swoop over any loose dog that was chasing squirrels the week before they fledged. So, the issue is not only a hawk safety issue but also a dog safety issue.

May 23, 2011December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Still Too Little

I was hoping for a glimpse at a 5th Avenue eyass today, but they’re still too small. I suspect this Memorial Day weekend will be a better time to visit.

I received some comments about the previous years nest failures. It was suggested that in addition to the possibility of Lola being infertile over the last few years, it still could have been the cradle. The hypothesis being that after all these years the nest was finally built up high enough to prevent drafts/heat loss from the metal cradle. While this is a possibility, there have been a number of successful fire escape and air conditioner nests in the New York City area over the last few years. Since most of these nests worked their first year, and were similar to the cradle, I would place my bets on Lola being the problem. The nest isn’t that much higher than last year, and the biggest variable that changed was Lola being replaced by another mate.

May 22, 2011December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Joy On Fifth Avenue

In my post two days ago about signs that show a nest has hatched, I forgot about another way hawk watchers know there are eyasses on the nest. The eyasses “slice”, or in layman’s terms defecate. I recorded this twice on Sunday afternoon, so absolutely, positively the nest has hatched.

I started hawk watching after the Fifth Avenue nest had been taken down, so this will be my first real Fifth Avenue season. It will be fun to observe the nest that started serious hawk watching in New York City.

The hatch vindicates Marie Winn, the Park’s Department and NYC Audubon for their compromise with the co-op to put up the nest cradle. When the nest failed to produce offspring, everyone’s conjecture was it was most likely the cradle, and possibly Pale Male’s advanced age, but very few suggested it might have been Lola. So, to Marie Winn, the Park’s Department and NYC Audubon a very, belated thank you.

May 22, 2011Washington Sq. Red-tailed Hawks

Washington Square Update

While I was away on vacation, I received a note from someone who had additional information about the Washington Square nest and they informed me that I was too harsh on the NYS DEC team that visited the nest on the Thursday before last.

In my comments about the operation, I was trying to be critical of the NYS DEC's approach to high profile situations, which I feel lack transparency, have a tendency to include credentialed but inexperienced experts and fails to involve/educate local rehabbers.

My statement inappropriately implied that the assembled team on that Thursday was not professional. The team did include a number of highly experienced experts, some of whom had extensive rehabilitation experience. To anyone whose reputation I might have slighted through a poor choice of words, please accept my apologies. The conservative action taken that day has turned out to be an appropriate choice.

May 19, 2011927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Positive Signs At Fifth Avenue

When a Red-tailed Hawk nest hatches, long before the eyasses are visible to observers a few behavior changes take place.

The mother will eat on the nest rather than flying off to a nearby location to eat
Both parents will spend time waking around the edge of the nest looking down into the nest
The mother will tear up small pieces of food and appear to be feeding young

I received reports that all three changes appeared to take place today on Fifth Avenue. It's too early to know for sure if the nest has hatched but all signs are positive.

I'm still on vacation but will be back on Sunday to make a first hand report.

May 12, 2011December 21, 2020Washington Sq. Red-tailed Hawks

Lost Opportunity

This female Red-tailed hawk at Washington Square had problems last Friday when she was caught in some string. At that time, it was also clear that she had problems with the bird band on her right leg.

It was determined that she was having problems with her foot. Athough the band might not have been the cause of her problem, it clearly wasn’t helping her recovery. (In the last week, pictures were collected and the circulation problems seem to have existed for at least six months with this female.)

Today, the N.Y.S. DEC had a number of experts at N.Y.U. who spent time an hour on the roof without any of the necessary equipment to assist the female, if that was warranted. So, it seems preordained that nothing was going to be done today.

It’s unfortunate. This week was the perfect time to remove the band. The mother didn’t need to keep eggs warm, the eyass was small enough it could not be frightened off the nest, and the mother would attack anyone coming near the nest, so it would be fairly easy to catch her. Any other time of the year, it will be very difficult to catch her.

So, the window to remove her band and make her life more comfortable is almost gone. I hate it when protecting your goverment job trumps being humane.

Someone should open the bathroom window near the nest, and as she defends the nest, catch her. Then remove the band and return her to her nest. I don’t understand why this action is not being taken. If she doesn’t let herself get caught, no harm, and if she can easily be caught her tight band can be removed.

In the pictures below, you can see that Bobby has two missing secondary feathers on his right wing. This is a great temporary field mark to tell him apart from Violet. It will go away this summer when he molts and gains new feathers.