93rd and Central Park West Hawks
The adult female has been spending time in the Wild West Playground nest at 93rd and Central Park West. When she’s in the nest she’s barely visible. Red-tailed Hawk females often spend time on the nest before they’ve laid their eggs, so given that it’s early March, I don’t think she has eggs just yet. When we start to see exchanges between the male and the female, we’ll know for sure that eggs have been laid.
When I visited the nest on Sunday, the female was just barely visible on the nest except for two times when she got up to rearrange herself. The male visited with a half eaten pigeon, but the female didn’t get off the nest to eat it. He left quickly to dealt with an intruder over the tennis courts and the North Meadow.
I’ve received reports that the New York Athletic Club pair at Central Park South and Seventh Avenue is active again this year with the pair working on the nest in January and February.
The San Remo pair as still around, but given their track record we only have a small chance they’ll return to nesting in trees and will be successful breeding again.
With the death of Pale Male and the abandonment of the Cardinal Cooke/Museum of the City of New York Nests much of the eastern half of the park and the North Woods is available for new pairs to establish nests. I’m hoping to be surprised by reports of a new pair in the park this season.
