Friday hawk pics and a couple of updates on the Tompkins Square fledglings

A quick update on our Tompkins Square Red-Tailed Hawk fledglings: the one taken to Wild Bird Fund on Monday is still there. It showed signs of head trauma and a wing injury (no broken bones), consistent with a collision of some kind. Seeing how the young hawks chase after squirrels and pigeons, it's not unexpected that this type of injury could happen. I'm hoping it can be released soon. I had conflicting reports on whether it's male or female.

The DEC returned results of the necropsy done on the fledgling who died in late July, but we still don't have any answers as to what exactly happened to the hawk. There wasn't enough tissue to do a toxicology test to see if there was any rodenticide present, but they did find bits of rodent fur and claws internally. They were unable to determine whether the hawk was male or female. Judging by the way the hawk's body was positioned on the fire escape, I still believe it was severely weakened by something (illness/poison) while it roosted at night and died as a result. 

The third fledgling is still alive and well and has been seen around the park this week. 

Mid-August is normally the time we see the hawk fledglings take off on their own, so any sighting makes me happy.

This fledgling still has the yellowish color on its chest. By the time the young hawks take off on their own, that color is usually gone. 

I found this fledgling zipping around the skateboarding area of the park.

Here's a nice view of the wings and tail.

The strip of bushes along the park fence on E 10th Street has been a popular source for rodents. On this day, the fledgling caught a small rat in that area.

I love to watch the hawks as they take off, showing the strength it takes from their legs and wings to get airborne.

This is dad Charlie taking off from a fence. He's looking a bit shaggy as he molts - I'll do a separate post dedicated to his and Amelia's summer molts.

More to come...