Urban Hawks

December 30, 2006December 25, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Inwood Hill Park Red-tailed Hawks, Other Birds

Inwood Hill, 103rd Street and Central Park

I started the afternoon in Inwood Hill Park on Saturday. The Urban Rangers hosted an Owl walk. No owls were seen, but owl pellets were found and dissected. Both kids and adults had a good time.

We didn’t see either of the Inwood Red-tails, but I did get a chance to see their nest. I learned from a ranger that the female Inwood Red-tailed hawk had to be rescued in the fall. She tested positive for West Nile virus, but has made a complete recovery and has been released back into the park.

This was the only raptor I saw up at Inwood was a Cooper’s Hawk.

The 103rd Street Monk Parakeets were on my way home, so I stopped by to take a look. One was on the balcony when I arrived.

I then walked down to see how our 86th Street, Red-tailed Hawk was doing. Like clockwork, after moving about for a fifteen minutes the hawk settled down for the evening.

December 28, 2006December 17, 2020Other Red-tailed Hawks

Theodore Roosevelt Park

A mob of crows led me to a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk at 80th and Columbus Avenue. The tree was in the Margaret Mead Green inside the Theodore Roosevelt Park which surrounds the American Museum of Natural History.

As soon as the crows left, the hawk resumed its meal of what looked to be Rock Pigeon. It’s a good spot for the youngster. Being behind Pale Male and Lola’s perch on the Beresford is a lot safer than being in front of it!

December 27, 2006December 20, 2020Other Birds

Gluttonous Monks

After reading Mary Beth Looper and Ben Cacace’s reports of four Monk Parakeets on the Yahoo! group ebirdsnyc, I’ve been trying to find time to see them. The Parakeets are in the block bounded by West 77th Street, West 78th Street, Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue.

I can confirm that there are four Monk Parakeets. I saw them in two trees on 78th Street, close to Columbus. They were enjoying two budding trees full of berries.

I couldn’t find their roost. Before dusk they appeared to go into the center of the block, where there are backyards and gardens, although they could have gone to an adjoining block.

December 26, 2006December 20, 2020Other 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?