Urban Hawks

These hawks are growing up fast and should be leaving the nest in the next week.  Tonight, I arrived after the eyasses had eaten and they slept for most of the early evening. But they did spend 15 minutes energetically flapping and jumping around the nest.

I learned that the female Red-tailed Hawk went after another off-leash, squirrel chasing, dog this week.  I’m not sure if she is claiming the squirrels as her prey or warning the dogs not to hunt in the area so as to protect her future fledglings.  In any case, she ignores humans and dogs on leash, so for the safety of both the dogs and the hawks, it really would be helpful if dogs were kept on leash in the area north of the Boat Basin and west of the Highway for the next few weeks.

The Riverside Park nest had lots of activity this evening.  All three eyasses were active, the father made two food deliveries, the mother helped tear up a squirrel and the sun came out after a brief shower.

The wing feathers are growing in fast.  Incredibly fast.  They are looking different from day to day.

Tonight was quiet at the Riverside Park nest, except for a brief period where both the adult female hawk and an off-leash dog went after the same squirrel.  The hawk was not very happy and kept an eye on the dog from a branch above the dog. While returning to the nest for the evening, the mother swooped down near the dog to give him a message to stay away.

If my past observations of birds are correct, birds seem to “clean up the neighborhood” in the week before fledging.  Two years ago, in Green-Wood Cemetery, the Red-tailed Hawk father got rid of four aggressive Northern Mockingbirds before the kids fledged.  Similar behavior happened with the Eastern-Screech Owls in the North Woods of Central Park, who attacked neighboring raccoons just before their owlets fledged.

Hawks and dogs rarely interact, but it would be helpful if dog owners kept their dogs on leash while visiting the boat basin for the next month.  There is not reason to tempt fate.  Plus, there are two great dog runs just to the north and south of the Boat Basin were dogs can be off leash all day.

I visited the nest after a brief rain and the passing of a cold front on Sunday afternoon and into the evening.  The winds made for shaky video and difficulty photographing the nest.

The eyasses mother only visited the nest two times and never stayed.  She left the eyasses to themselves, which is normal for this period of the nesting cycle.  The eyasses are starting to learn how to eat on their own.  They don’t quite know how to rip the meat yet by holding it with their talons and grabbing, so they end up breaking off small pieces by picking up a large chunk and shaking.

The winds were so strong my video is very shaky.  Watch at your own risk!  After the video, among some of the photographs, I have included details of the eyasses’ wing and tail feathers.  Watching them grow in gives you an idea of how they’ll end up working.

The eyasses at Riverside Park won’t be ready to fledge for about 10 days, but with each passing day they give hints that they’ll soon be ready.

Today, I saw them try and feed themselves for the first time.  They don’t really have the “ripping the meat off the animal before eating” part down yet, but it’s fun to see them trying.

The parents are also feeling more and more comfortable leaving them alone on the nest for extended periods of time.  The adults took a break from parenting and spent time on the Normandy Apartments towers in the morning.  They even copulated on the tower.  I guess like humans, they needed a romantic weekend getaway from the newborns.

If you own a copy of Sibley’s Birding Basics, I would recommend re-reading the sections on feathers and tail structures while watching the eyasses grow up.  Watching how the feathers are growing in on the eyasses with the background of Sibley’s text, really helps make everything make sense.

This evening I arrived to find the male arriving with a squirrel.  He paused in two branches before making his delivery, and had a Blue Jay swoop down on him a few times.

The mother than fed the eyasses, although they seemed to be trying to eat on their own.  After their feeding and with full crops, the eyasses quickly settled down and slept.

The eyasses are starting to get some orange on their chests.   Another sign they’re growing up.