Category: Northwest Central Park Hawks

Northwest Central Park Hawks

Wild West Playground Status

I’ve been birding without a camera this week, but have been visiting the Wild West Playground nest at 93rd and Central Park West. For the most part, I’ve only seen a hawk brooding on the nest, barely visible. However, I have caught two exchanges on different days around 6 pm. If things go well, we might see signs of hatching by April 15th.

Northwest Central Park Hawks, St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks, TCC/MCNY Red-tailed Hawks

St. John, then Wild West

My afternoon of bird watching started at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Over the last few days, many birders have watched a pair of Common Ravens (not so common for Manhattan) work on a nest on the shoulders of St. Andrew. (This is the site of a long time Red-tailed Hawk nest that was abandoned when construction of a building started nearby. The pair moved to another spot on the Cathedral and eventually moved to the Columbia University campus.)

So, when I looked a the nest, I was very, very surprised to see a young Red-tailed Hawk sitting in the nest. It will be interesting if the ravens reclaim it, or if they will move. (Update: Birders report the ravens have reclaimed the nest.)

Afterwards, I went down to 102nd and Fifth Avenue to look for the pair that had been there all winter. I could not find them. Others have also lost track of them. They may have a new nest location but I couldn’t find it. This is a real mystery, as they had been seen copulating often on a building at 104th and Fifth Avenue.

Lastly, I went to see the Wild West Playground hawks. They had an exchange (switching brooding duty) before I had my camera out, so I only go pictures of one of them hunkered down on the nest.

Northwest Central Park Hawks

Wild West, Again

I’ve been having some bad luck visiting the Red-tailed Hawk nest. It either rains or there are high winds. Today it was both. But I got to see the male bring a pigeon to the nest, and the pair do an exchange (swapping brooding duties) later in the afternoon. After last year, with no nesting Red-tailed Hawks in Central Park, even with the problems photographing this pair, I’m happy the park is back to normal.

Northwest Central Park Hawks

Another Visit To The Wild West Playground

I spent about an hour at the Wild West Playground nest late in the morning on Wednesday. The male was sitting on the nest when I arrived. I wasn’t sure it was the male, but when the female returned to tree about 100 yards north of the nest he flew over and they copulated. Than made it easy to tell who was who. After a few minutes the female flew to the nest.

When hawks start to nest it can be hard to know if they’ve laid eggs yet. A female can start sitting on the nest a few days before she starts laying eggs and the eggs are laid a few days apart. Figuring out the start date is hard. And early March seems a bit earlier than normal.

I would love to see the female roll her eggs to get a better sense of how far things are along. But this is part of the fun of watching a nest, you just have to make observations and do your best to make the right guess.

Northwest Central Park Hawks

Wild West Playground

In the northwest corner of the Wild West Playground around 93rd and Central Park West is a new Red-tailed Hawk Nest, with a brooding female. I went out in the rain, expecting there to be a break, but it was misty or raining the entire time I was there! The male joined the female briefly near the nest, and she came off the nest. They copulated, and then she returned to the nest.

This location has always had bad luck with eyasses and adults dying, mostly from frounce. I hope this pair will do better than past years.

86th and WEA Peregrine Falcons, 927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Northwest Central Park Hawks, San Remo/Pinetum Red-tailed Hawks, TCC/MCNY Red-tailed Hawks

Spring Is Coming

Some updates:

  • The Peregrine Falcons at 86th and West End look to be doing fine. The male hunted for the female this afternoon, and they made an exchange of food above the Broad Nosh Bagel shop on Broadway. She ate the prey on the church tower ledge. I read her band number and it is 77/BV, so she’s the same female as previously. She is from Du Bois Library, at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she hatched and was banded in 2019.
  • The El Dorado Peregrine Falcon pair have been seen often. Where they have a scrape is unknown. Keep an eye and ear out for where it might be.
  • The Peregrine Falcons at Riverside Church are back after a year off for construction.
  • The Red-tailed Hawk pair, with a new nest in the Wild West Playground in Central Park at 93rd, just off Central Park West, has the female sitting on the nest. Female hawks sometimes sit on their nests a few days before they lay eggs, so we’ll have to watch some more to figure out what’s going on. Anyone with an apartment higher than the nest may have a great view.
  • The San Remo pair are back to building a nest high up on the towers again. And a raccoon is still using their old nest to sleep in.
  • Octavia has been seen often along Fifth Avenue around 77th Street in the afternoon, on window she and Pale Male used to share.