The first of the Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk chicks fledged (flew from the nest tree to a neighboring tree) yesterday, June 6. The second chick made a "fludge" or half-fledge as it attempted to fly, but missed the landing and got tangled in some branches. We expect it to make a real flight today.
But we must back up a bit!
This was the scene on May 27, when all three chicks were still in the nest. The youngest is in the middle and I believe the oldest is on the right.
The young one still has a whole head of white fuzzy down.
The little one then takes a rest and watches one of its siblings practice flapping.
The little one has another go at it - the three siblings seemed to have a system down for taking turns exercising in their confined space.
Last Thursday, (June 2) we checked on the nest during a thunderstorm and found the oldest sitting outside of it on the branch. This counts as branching.
The second chick seemed to be getting ideas about branching him/herself.
After the rain stopped, the first chick made a few stretches before hopping back into the nest.
After a little while, the oldest became much more adventurous and climbed out to the end of a limb.
It's a big new world out there!
This chick is identifiable by one of its tail feathers that has a white stripe on it.
Meanwhile, the second chick decided to climb up to the top of the tree above the nest.
In the photo below, you can see the nest on the lower left, the second chick perched above it, and the first chick way out to the right.
Later, parents Amelia and Christo prepared dinner for the energetic kids. It appears to be a baby mourning dove and it was (unfortunately) still alive when Christo brought it to the tree. The two hawks both hung on to it for a while until it stopped struggling.
Then Amelia administered the fatal neck squeeze before taking the meal back to the nest where all three chicks reassembled for dinner time.
Part 2 will feature fledge photos...
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