A moment with the Tompkins Square hawk family

Although the breeding season for our local red-tailed hawks has pretty much come to a close, I lucked out when I had a chance encounter with the Tompkins Square hawk family the other evening.

As the sun was going down, I found Amelia perched on the cross of St Brigid's church on Avenue B. 

I stayed with her a while as she watched pigeons on the church roof. At one point, she took a dive at one but missed.

Someone else must have been watching her, because as she paused on the church roof for a few seconds, her fledgling came roaring out of the park behind me and went right for mom.

Amelia got out of the way as her crying fledgling took her place on the roof. I was really happy to see the fledgling as it's been increasingly hard to find.

The last of the pigeons took off as well.

Amelia went back to the church cross and the fledgling remained on the roof. Then, to my delight, dad Charlie came flying in right over Avenue B. He appeared to assess the situation before coming in for a landing.

He took a seat on the cross next to Amelia.

Less than two minutes later, Charlie dove across the street and nabbed a pigeon. He was so fast, I didn't realize right away that he'd caught anything.

Was this a demonstration for the fledgling? Perhaps.

After a couple of minutes, Charlie flew the pigeon to a tree within the park.

The fledgling watched dad carry away the pigeon and soon followed.

The fledgling caught up with Charlie in the park and took the pigeon for its dinner. Amelia took off somewhere south, and Charlie returned to the church where he appeared to be hunting for his own evening meal. I was really happy to see the whole family together in one place and they appeared to be well-fed and content.

 

This fledgling is the only one of the original three who is out and about in the neighborhood. To recall, one of its siblings passed away in late July, and the other sibling was taken to Wild Bird Fund on August 11th with an apparent wing injury. We have since learned that the injured hawk was transferred to the Raptor Trust in New Jersey on August 18th for further treatment and recovery. 

 

 

Summer hawk molt

It's summer molt season for our local Red-Tailed Hawks as they discard the feathers they've had for the last year and replace them with new plumage. Resident male Charlie is going through a noticeable wardrobe change.

These two photos of him from late June show him in his regular state of sleekness.

This unflattering image was taken on August 14th. He looks pretty roughed up, and I believe he's fresh out of a bath, making him look even more shaggy.

It may be hard to see in the photo, but Charlie's head is very pale. He's lost a lot of the darker feathers on his face and neck.

This photo, taken August 2nd, was the first day I could really see that Charlie was molting. The raggedy tail is the most obvious - he should have twelve tail feathers, but he only has six full-length and three half-grown tail feathers. His head and body also look disheveled.

Last year, Christo displayed some dramatic molting, and Charlie looks to be going through a similar experience.

These photos were taken on August 6th within Tompkins Square Park.

Here is a better look at Charlie's tail. He has a couple of feathers on the right side of his tail that have some banding on them, markers unique to him.

Charlie's eyes are still bright and light, and are striking in person. 

With so many feathers missing from his head, Charlie's eyes really stand out.

This photo is not my best work, but I like that it shows all of Charlie's primary and secondary flight feathers, as well as his tail.

By October, the hawks should look new and spiffy. 

 

So, why don't I have any photos of Amelia? For one reason, she doesn't look all that bad. If it weren't for missing tail feathers, she doesn't look much different than usual. For another reason, I just haven't been able to get any adequate photos. She's been spending the last few weeks up on top of Most Holy Redeemer church on E 3rd Street, or other high places where I can't see her as well. Charlie has been looking after his offspring all summer, so he's been more easily accessible.

 

 

Wrapping up the 2025 hawk season

It's mid-August and time to wrap up this year's Tompkins Square Red-Tailed Hawk nesting season. It's been a different and often emotional year, from losing Christo in February, to meeting Charlie and welcoming three hawklets, to tragically losing one of them and needing to rescue another, to...wishing the third the best on its journey to be a successful hawk.

The three hawk fledglings brought a lot of happiness to a lot of people this summer, so it's hard to see them go, but this is the natural progression of things. Parents, Amelia and Charlie, will stay in the neighborhood as it is their resident territory, but their offspring will eventually migrate to parts unknown. 

 

As of this posting, the rescued fledgling is still being cared for at the Wild Bird Fund and, if all goes well, it will be released and embark on fall migration with other young hawks. The fledgling who remains out in the "wild" of the neighborhood has spent a lot more time away from the park and has been difficult for me to find. This is not a bad thing as it means they are independent and free to go wherever they want.

 

Below are some of my last fledgling photos from this season. 

You can see all of my photos from this year in this Flickr album, and all of this season's hawk posts here. My full hawk archive is here, and I'm working on creating a dedicated site to better house these records.

 

I'll still post any fledgling updates if/when I get them, and we do have Amelia and Charlie to observe, so we are never without hawks. 😊