My flight returned from Finland in time for me to spend the early evening up at Morningside Park.
They’re growing up but it still looks like their parents are feeding them. Hunting practice should begin soon. I’m also beginning to wonder when they’ll be venturing off to Central Park for a visit to the North Woods?
I’ve just gotten back from ten days in Finland and Estonia. I spent most of my time with family, but couldn’t resist taking a few bird photographs.
Both fledglings were on the Cathedral School when I arrived. Later one moved to a tree across Morningside Drive and the other moved to the scaffolding on the southern edge of the school.
Kara C. Donohue and Alfred M. Dufty, Jr. wrote an excellent paper about using size measurements and weight to determine sex in Red-tailed Hawks, Sex determination of Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis calurus) using DNA analysis and morphometrics, J Field Ornithology, Vol 77, Issue 1, pp. 74-79.
This paper shows how hard it is to tell a Red-tail’s sex. I would caution anyone who thinks they can quickly tell a Red-tails sex by simple observation to think twice before declaring the sexes of our two Cathedral fledglings.
Update: This note sparked a discussion between Donna Browne and John Blakeman about this year’s fledglings sexes on Donna’s blog, palemaleirregulars. My comments above were to start a discussion about the sex variations beyond just height. I think Donna and John are exploring this very well on her blog.
I went up to the Cathedral early Sunday afternoon during the break in the rain. I was able to find one hawk before a downpour occurred. The fledgling was on a chimney on the Cathedral School. After the rain started, the fledgling flew into the scaffolding on the southern section of the Cathedral School. I bet it was looking for a dry spot.
