Could Central Park Support Four Hawk Pairs?
Central Park can be divided up by the east/west roads that cross it. The park starts at 59th and ends at 110th Street. In between there are major roads crossing the park, at 65th, 72nd, 79th, 86th and 97th.
If we use these major roads as approximate territorial lines for the current nesting Red-tails, the Trump Parc hawks get 59th-72nd, the Fifth Avenue hawks get 72nd to 86th Street. There is an open area between 86th and 97th, and the St. John the Divine hawks use the north end of the park from 97th to 110th. These ranges are very approximate. (Both the Trump Parc and St. John the Divine hawks also use large areas adjacent to Central Park.)
The unclaimed area between 86th and 97th is where I’ve been seeing the new adult this week. (This adult has been seen for the last three weeks by an experienced hawk watcher.)
This new hawk spent the late afternoon moving from tree to tree from 86th to 95th. It made a number of hawk cries as it moved about. This hawk seems to be single, so the cries seemed unusual given that no other hawk seemed to be close by. Is it just claiming the area for the winter? (It seems to have claimed the subway vents from 86th to 92nd, which I’m sure have lots of prey in the late afternoon and early mornings.)
Or does it have hopes of attracting a mate and staying put?
So, here’s the big question…
Could Central Park support a fourth resident Red-tailed Hawk pair?
The comment section is open below for opinions!
Update: There have been a number of excellent comments. It seems that the issue isn’t can the park support four pairs, but can four pairs share the park when the breeding season begins or is it too small?
