Category: Other Red-tailed Hawks

Other Red-tailed Hawks

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?

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927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Red-tailed Hawks

Christmas Eve Mystery

On Christmas Eve, we had a mystery.

Around 4:00, Pale Male and Lola are on the Beresford’s southeast tower.
At 4:10, I found this adult Red-tail on a building at 86th and Central Park West.
The bird moves south a few buildings.
Landing on a building at 83rd or 84th.
After a brief stop the hawk flies north, making a number of cries.
I lose sight of the bird, but it looked to be going into the park around 86th.  So, I walked north of the transverse, and two dog walkers pointed to this bird perching in this tree just inside the north 86th Street entrance to the park.
I thought it was Lola, but she slept on the Beresford according to Lincoln Karim.  So, who is this mystery bird? Is it the same hawk I had on the rooftops?  Or the bird that elicited the cries from the rooftop Red-tail?
The Red-tail was in the tree way after dark.  This was a 3 second exposure taken at 5:15 p.m.
927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds, Other Red-tailed Hawks

Christmas Bird Count

Central Park had its 107th Annual Christmas Bird Count on Sunday.  (To accommodate various greater New York locations, the counts are held on various days before and after Christmas.)

The Count is a census which records the number of each species found in the entire park.  There are seven
teams, splitting up the park into sections, Northwest, Northeast, Reservoir, Great
Lawn, Ramble, Southwest and Southeast.  The teams all start at the South Pump House, split up to do
their section’s and then meet back at the Arsenal for lunch and the tally.

The mix of birders included all skill levels, from beginners to experts.   So, if you don’t think you’re qualified for the event, don’t worry.  Join in next year, everyone is welcome.

Marie Winn giving a portion of the Ramble team its instructions.
Our first raptor was this Cooper’s Hawk.  It keep our initial numbers down at the feeders in the Ramble, which was free of birds as long as the Cooper’s Hawk was about. 
(Most of my pictures I took were of the raptors we found.  This, however, is not representative of our day.  My photographs of the day clearly reflect my fascination with raptors, not the full range of birds we saw!)
Our second raptor was a Red-tailed Hawk by the area along the Lake called the Oven.
House Finch
Two Mute Swans
This is the same Red-tailed Hawk as seen earlier.  It looks to be Pale Male, but I can’t be certain.  The morning was cold and this bird had puffed up to stay warm making it harder to make an I.D.
Downy Woodpecker
Sleepy Raccoon
Red-tailed Hawk passing overhead.
Red-tailed Hawk just outside the park on a water tower.
One last look before going to lunch.
Lunch before the tally.
New York City Park’s Commissioner, Adrian Benepe.
After the count, I went out to look for hawks in the Great Lawn area.  I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in a tree inside the Diana Ross playground at 81st and Central Park West. 
After about twenty minutes the hawk moved about 20 feet east before moving from tree to tree about 100 feet north.
Then the hawk took off and was chased by an adult hawk up to the top of the Great Lawn.
When I caught up to them, the juvenile hawk was nowhere to be found, but Pale Male was there with a pose that said, “Youngster, this is my territory.”
Other Birds, Other Red-tailed Hawks

103rd Street

I walked through The Rambles, the Great Lawn and the Reservoir without seeing anything too unusual.  So, I left Central Park and made my way to 103rd and Amsterdam.  The Parakeet nest was empty, so I walked through the Fredrick Douglas Houses, and saw a group of about 100 pigeons circling overhead.  A sure sign a raptor was about.

On top of 875 Columbus, I found a Red-tailed Hawk.  This building is at the top of a hill and must have great views in all directions. 

The hawk stayed for about 30 minutes before flying at least 20 blocks south-southwest.  I had been all set to say it was the Cathedral Female, before the long flight south! 

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After the hawk left, I went to the Monk Parakeet nest. There was a couple watching them with binoculars.  They reported that the Monks had just arrived around 4:10.  The Parakeets tucked themselves into their roost by 4:25.

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Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds, Other Red-tailed Hawks

Not What I Was Looking For…

I went into Central Park on Saturday hoping to find a Cooper’s Hawk, take a few pictures of Pale Male and then go off to the Monk Parakeets on Amsterdam Avenue.

As often happens when birding, I ended up with a different set of observations.

This American Kestrel was on the Met.  I missed the Cooper’s Hawk, which I found out from other birders had spent an hour in the Tupelo tree in the Ramble.
The Reservoir had a number of ducks, including two pairs of Hooded Mergansers.
American Coot
Pied-billed Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
I then went off to 103rd and Amsterdam.  No sign of the Parakeets, who seem to have completed their nest/roost.  I suspect that they’ll be harder to spot now, since they’re going to spend more time exploring the neighborhood now that the nest is done.
Having struck out with the Parakeets, I went to the The Pool and the Loch in Central Park.  The Pool was quiet and partially frozen over.  In the Loch, I heard a group of Blue Jays.  They were aggressively after this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.  There are a number of young hawks in the city this fall.  One is in Tompkins Square Park, which someone has given a very complicated Myspace page.
Attacking Blue Jay in the lower right.
This young hawk moved from tree to tree moving west to the Pond and then up to the Great Hill.  It made a number of half hearted hunting attempts along the way.
Good luck making it through your first winter.