I spent Christmas Day in Tompkins Square Park with resident red-tailed hawks, Christo and Amelia. It was a beautiful cold sunny winter day, and the park was mostly quiet.
The cold weather (about 27°F) caused Christo to remain fluffed up, trapping warm air with his feathers.
He conserved energy by perching for long periods of time in the sun.
As he sat in this tree, an immature Cooper's hawk joined him. I've seen Christo share trees - and even branches - with Cooper's hawks many times. He's highly tolerant of them for reasons only he knows.
Later, Christo flew around the Christodora building on Avenue B.
As he did that, Amelia perched on the cross of St Nicholas of Myra church on Avenue A.
She took off, revealing a full crop.
Back in the park, Christo actively hunted for rats.
He made a couple of unsuccessful dives at rodents as they scurried beneath some bushes.
He flew past me very close - so close that I chopped his wings and feet out of the photo.
The hawks aren't bothered by the cold. If anything, they seem more active in winter than they do in hot summer.
I'll never get tired of Christo looking straight at me. I really wish he could tell me what he's thinking.
Christo nabbed two small rats in the span of about ten minutes. In the photo below, he's holding one in his talons. In the few seconds it took me to get closer to him, he'd swallowed it whole.
Here is a view of the feather pattern on Christo's back. Also note the white tips of his tail feathers and the position of the black band across the red feathers. These are features that can be used to identify him. The dark cheek patch under his eye is also visible here, which is one of his identifying marks.
After eating, Christo met up with Amelia on Avenue A.
Something caught Christo's attention and he took off south along Avenue A. Amelia soon followed.
All in all, it was a peaceful day and the hawks had plenty to eat. Merry Christmas.
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