Category: Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

888 Seventh Avenue Fledgling Growing Up

The girl who seemed so shy when she first entered the park is growing up.  Her range has increased, she’s hunting and has lost the awkwardness she had when she first entered the park.

I caught up to her while she was engaged in stick play.
This helps her with her hunting skills.
She went after a squirrel but missed it.  She’s flying 250-500 feet without problems.
She moved to a tree with a clear view of both the Essex House and CNN signs, at dusk.  I wonder if she wanted to be able to see her parents in the morning.
She did a lot of panting and kept her wings open a lot.  It was over 90 degrees.
Although I left before she went to sleep, what seemed to be her last perch was a very thin tree branch.  I wonder if she roosted here, on a branch too thin for raccoons?
Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Lunch Near The Ballfield Café

The 888 Seventh Avenue fledgling continues to do well in the park.  A good flyer, she still has problems with branching. 

The father arrived with a nestling for the fledgling’s lunch.  I suspect the nestling was a baby robin, but can’t be sure.
The father and the fledgling traded trees for a few minutes.
Until they ended up on the same tree branch.  The father is on the left and the fledgling on the right.
The fledgling ends up dropping the meal, and eats it on the ground.
It gets eaten slowly.  The fledgling seem in no rush.
The fledgling has been banded.  Despite protests by some bloggers against bands, they do not bother the birds.  They allows scientists to study migration patterns and if this bird is injured give those giving help access to its past medical records.
While the fledgling was on the ground, the father kept watch.
I had to leave, but the fledgling continues to be well looked after by its parents.  It should spend the summer in the park learning to hunt and fly, and leave us in late August or early September.
Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

North of the Ballfields Feeding And The Parents Perches

I got to Central Park in the early evening after visiting Inwood Hill Park.  I had struck out trying finding the hawk family in Inwood, so I was hoping for better luck at the Heckscher Ballfields.

Our well looked after 888 Seventh Avenue fledgling. 
Relaxing north of the Baseball Fields.
One lone American Robin helped me find her.
The mother came and we saw the father fly north.  She left and returned with a pigeon.  It was hard to tell who actually caught the prey.
The mother left the food on branch, called for the youngster to come for dinner and left.
The parent then flew around the Time Warner Building in Columbus Circle. It was windy, and she gained speed and height quickly.
The mirrored building seems to fascinate this pair.  New York City Audubon has been working to minimize bird deaths from building collisions.  This spring they published an excellent guide for building owners and architects, Bird-Safe Building Guidelines, as part of their Project Safe Flightinitiative.
Here the mother rests on the new Zeckendorf building.
The fledgling’s dinner for tonight was a pigeon.
The fledgling’s dinner for tonight was a pigeon.
The parents are both efficient eaters, but this fledgling is still learning.
She was eating next to a Baseball dugout, and the team playing in Red uniforms were named the Hawks!
The mother on the roof of the new Zeckendorf buildings at 62nd and Central Park West.  This building didn’t exist two years ago, so we’re learning what’s changed this year.
Both parents ended up on near the roof of the N.Y.A.C. (New York Athletic Club).  This is the first time, I’ve seen them perching there.
The mother on the railing.

What a nice way to start the summer, with fledglings playing all over New York City.

Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Sheep Meadow And The Ballfields

Our Central Park South fledgling is a good flyer for being so young.  She has managed to make it to the southern edge of the Sheep Meadow, and to each corner of the Heckscher Ballfields.

The fledgling
A young squirrel was dinner for one of the parents.
The fledgling
The mother
The father
I think that’s a Baltimore Oriole being unhappy by the adult male’s appearance.
Yes, your child did make the news.
The fledgling settling in for the night.
Getting ready to go to bed as the last baseball games got rained out on the Heckscher Ballfields.
Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Baby Pictures And A Protective Dad

Wednesday started out as a foggy, rainy morning in the southern portion of Central Park with a fledgling who spent the night alone, and ended as a sunny evening, with a family reunited. 

My earlier posts detail the morning and the reunion. It had been found by its parents earlier in the afternoon and noisy reunion was followed by a feeding.

I got back into the park around 6 p.m.  The fledgling was in a small tree behind a baseball diamond.  The fledgling was hopping from branch to branch learning how to maneuver around a tree. 

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After awhile the Blue Jays found it, and the fledgling yelled for help.
In response for the cry for help, the father came quickly.  We hadn’t seen him in the nearby trees, but he must have been watching over his child. 
He did something amazing.  He acted as a target for the Blue Jays, drawing them away from his little girl.  He moved from tree to tree until he had moved the jays safely away from the fledgling.

I had to leave the park to join some friends for dinner, but left with a warm feeling, that a hawk family was back to normal in the park I love, Central Park.

Thank you to Bobby Horvath and all of the Urban Park Rangers who made this possible.