Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Other downtown hawks

The red-tailed hawks of Tompkins and Washington Square Parks have company this winter. I've seen more Cooper's hawks in the area than ever before, and they have become a fairly common sight throughout the neighborhood.

Over the weekend, I came upon this adult Cooper's near Avenue D. 

Adult Cooper's hawk

Note its rusty barred chest and long banded tail.  This hawk appeared pretty big, about the same size as Christo.

Adult Cooper's hawk

Adult Cooper's hawk

Adult Cooper's hawk

Adult Cooper's hawk

After perching in the tree, the Cooper's flew to the top of a building where it was promptly mobbed by a kestrel. About a half hour later, an adult Cooper's showed up in Tompkins Square and I believe it was likely the same hawk.

Adult Cooper's hawk

Below is an immature Cooper's who was hunting birds along Avenue A and 7th Street.

Cooper's hawk

It flew up to a fire escape above Ray's Candy, a spot where Christo has been known to roost.

Cooper's hawk

After a few minutes on the fire escape, the Cooper's flew back into the park where I lost track of it.

Cooper's hawk

Cooper's hawk

Meanwhile, down at Battery Park on Tuesday, I met this lovely immature red-tail.  It seemed to be hunting around the big lawn, then spent some time near the South Ferry terminal.

Red-tail in Battery Park

In the video below, 1 New York Plaza can be seen in the background.





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