Both the adopted fledgling and the biological fledgling are starting to feel at home flying around the park and exploring the ground too.  This evening it was one happy family with the adult male feeding both youngsters.  It should be a fun summer.

The Tompkins Square Park foster child has been fully adopted by the parents in the park.  They’re feeding it at least twice a day.  It however seems a little overwhelmed by the park and is still a little reticent to fly around.  It’s preferring to branch around a tree rather than fly just yet. I’m sure this will work itself out over the next few days.

Thanks to the Horvaths for giving this youngster a chance to be a wild animal again.  Nothing is without risk, but giving this bird a chance to live a natural life is fantastic.

The Tompkins Square Park foster child finally decided to leave it’s tree.  It first went to a fence and then spent much of the afternoon exploring the main lawn of the park.

The fact that it wasn’t eager to fly back up into a tree had a few folks overly concerned.  The parents had already fed the new bird twice since it arrived.  Fledglings are like toddlers and can do silly things.  The right folks were keeping track of the bird, and everyone who needed it had the phone number of both parks employees and the rehabbers. 

Releasing a bird back isn’t without risk but rescued eyasses deserve to be given a chance to be wild again.  I learned a long time ago not to second guess an established, trusted rehabber.

The foster child and the fledgling were both in the same trees they had been the day before when I visited Tompkins Square Park.  What was different was the behavior of the parents.   Both were doing their best to entice both fledglings to leave their respective trees.  Christo, the adult male few around with a pigeon, making multiple passes to entice the youngsters to fly.  Dora made visits too, but without food.  However, both youngsters were content to stay perched in their respective trees.

After visiting Washington Square Park and striking out in my attempt to find the fledgling (who was sighted earlier in the day), I went over to Tompkins Square Park.  To my surprise there was an extra juvenile in the park.  It has been brought by WINORR so it can be adopted by the Tompkins Square Park parents.  In almost all cases, the parents will adopt a juvenile brought into their territory, although it may take a day or two and a crying, hungry youngster for things to click.  We’ll see what happens over the next few days.

The first five photographs are of the transplanted hawk from Flatbush, Brooklyn who is banded.  The others are of the Tompkins Square Park fledgling.

The eyass at Tompkins Square Park has started to do some minor branching but shows no sign of leaving home just yet.  I visited the park briefly on Sunday.