Thursday, February 3, 2022

This week in East Village hawks

East Village red-tailed hawks, Christo and Amelia, have been reliably visible the last couple of weeks, often hanging out on the cross of St Nicholas of Myra church on Avenue A.

I feel like I've taken this photo a thousand times, but it never gets old seeing Christo up there in the late afternoon sun.

Christo in the evening sun

It's even better when the pair hang out together. Below, Amelia is on the left and Christo is up top.

Amelia and Christo in the late evening sun

On Wednesday, the two hawks were on the cross when something caught Christo's attention and he flew off.

Christo takes off as Amelia looks on

Note the difference in body size between Christo and Amelia. He is smaller than her and is generally slender. She's a little fluffed up in the photo below, but you can still see how much broader she is across the chest.

Amelia watches Christo take off

Christo leaps over Amelia

Christo soaring to parts unknown:

Christo with dark clouds in the background

After leaving the red-tails, I was greeted by an immature Cooper's hawk perched on my building when I got home. It was nearly dark and, at first glance, I thought it was a rooftop decoration.

Immature Cooper's hawk perches on a cellphone tower

The hawk spied a flock of pigeons and took off after them, so I headed inside for the night.

Immature Cooper's hawk takes off from a roof

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