The Randall’s Island Red-tailed Hawk nest has at least on eyass on the nest as of Wednesday. I was able to see a small head, in addition to their mother, while visiting the island to see the Fork-tailed Flycatcher, a rarity that was found by Karen Becker on the abandoned golf range.
The success of this nest was welcome news, given the abandonment of the American Museum of Natural History nest and the death of an eyass at 93rd Street.
I visited the nest on Monday and could only find one eyass of the nest. At first, I thought it one was just hiding in the bowl of the nest but when the mother came in to do a feeding, I could still only see one. So, something may have happened since I last visited last week.
We had some rather raw and cold weather, so we could have lost one of the eyasses. But it is possible that one has begun to branch or might have fledged prematurely. I suspect we’ll figure out what happened in a few days.
Update: It has been confirmed that one of the eyasses has died and was found by Central Park Conservancy staff. The remains were given to the Urban Park Rangers who are arranging for testing to determine the cause of death.
Further Update: I learned in February of 2026, that the results of testing by the NYS DEC where that the eyass died of Frounce, an often fatal, contagious parasite-induced yeast infection in birds of prey transmitted by Rock Pigeons.
I didn’t have the right equipment with me today to take lots of pictures, but I did take one during a feeding. Both eyasses look good. They may end up being the earliest fledglings in the city.
The two eyasses at the 93rd Street nest are no longer little white chicks anymore. They’re starting to get their juvenile feathers and have gotten much bigger. On Tuesday, I was able to watch a feeding in the fog and for a few seconds the whole family was on the nest.
Tahj Holiday let me know let me know that the San Remo pair had built a nest on the American Museum of Natural History in late March, but I didn’t think much of it. The San Remo pair has had a history of failed nests, except for one year. But the female has been brooding and a second hand report says there are three of something, but it was unclear if it was eggs or hatched chicks. From the mother’s behavior it looks like she’s still sitting on eggs.
The nest is on a ledge below the “top” floor. (The roof level contains offices, but I’m not counting that level.) If you start on the Southeast side of the building at 77th, follow the round turret to where it meets the straight part of building and you’ll see the nest.
Update: The parents have abandoned the nest as of mid-May.
A fellow birder let me know that they had seen feeding behavior at the 93rd Street (Wild West Playground) Red-tailed Hawk on Friday. I went on Saturday in the rain and wasn’t able to see a feeding but was able to on Sunday. It’s great to have another set of young hawks in the park! We should be able to see the eyasses (chicks) in a week or so.
For those who don’t know much about how to view this nest, which is difficult to view without a scope, see my old post from last year.
