Sad news: one of the Tompkins Square hawk fledglings has died

I'm heartbroken to report that one of the Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk fledglings was found dead on a fire escape on Avenue C Sunday morning. It's not known exactly what happened, but the situation looked a lot like one we saw in 2022 when a fledgling had to be rescued from a fire escape after displaying obvious signs of illness. In that case, the theory was it had been weakened by rodenticide poisoning, and died just a few hours after being rescued. 

In this case, the hawk was already deceased when found, and I'm hoping the person who collected the body does the right thing and hands it over to the Urban Park Rangers so they can send it to the DEC for necropsy. In the 2022 case, the hawk was sent to the Wild Bird Fund, where it died, and the body was disposed of rather than sent off for testing. Consequently, we were never able to determine the cause of death. If both of these hawk deaths were caused by rodenticide, we need to know as it is a public health issue. 

I don't know which of the three fledglings this was. After the hawk was taken away, I went to Tompkins where I found one of the other fledglings and dad, Charlie. I had to leave the park due to weather, but will continue to search for the third fledgling this week.

In the mean time, below are some photos of the fledglings and parents, Amelia and Charlie, taken over the last few days. 

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Fledgling perched on one of the towers of St Brigid's church on Avenue B: 

This fledgling caught and ate a rat in the park, then spent the rest of the afternoon chilling on a nearby fire escape.

This fledgling spent time exploring the decorative rooftop of the Newsboy's Home on Avenue B.

This fledgling takes off from a rooftop railing on a building further south on Avenue B.

At sunset the other night, I found this fledgling perched on a rooftop vent at the Earth School on Avenue B.

Back in the park, one of the fledglings perched on a fence as it hunted rats in the enclosed flower garden.

The front door of the Christodora building can be seen in the background.

Having no luck finding rats in the bushes, the fledgling flew further into the park and perched in a small tree in another garden area where rats have previously been found.

I love how the colors of the hawks blend into the summer leaves.

I couldn't get the whole scene in the frame, but this young hawk is running along the fence of the handball courts along Avenue B.

These hawks bring so much joy to so many people...when times are stressful, it's really heartening to come into the park and be uplifted by them.

At sunset on Wednesday, this fledgling decided to check out the view from a rooftop on 9th Street and Avenue B.

Dad Charlie is still providing food for the fledglings, although their dependence on their parents is lessening. He and mom Amelia have been spending more time away from the park and can often be found perched atop Most Holy Redeemer church on 3rd Street. From there, they have a view of the park and the neighborhood.

Although it's no longer nesting season, I recently found Amelia collecting leaves for some project she's working on.

This is her taking a break in her favorite locust tree.

Finally, Charlie soars overhead.

If/when I get an update on the fledgling who died, I will post it here.

 

 

Amelia and her kids tussle on St Brigid's church

Earlier this week, I was getting ready to leave Tompkins Square Park as the sun was just about to set, but then Red-Tailed Hawk, Amelia, and one of her kids turned up on the cross of St Brigid's church on Avenue B. 

In this photo, the fledgling is on top and Amelia is on the right. 

Amelia has begun her summer molt and is starting to look a little scraggly around the face and neck. While I watched, she pulled out a tuft of downy feathers, which comically stuck to her nostrils.

At some point, the hawks switched places, putting Amelia on the left and the fledgling on the right. 

I was happy to see them together like this, so continued taking photos despite the sun disappearing and the lighting getting bad. I have brightened all of these photos quite a bit, so the quality is not very good, but I like the sequence of events.

 

The fledgling began squealing at Amelia, getting more and more urgent. She didn't respond, and the fledgling hopped up to the top of the cross to get closer to her. Note the size of the fledgling - Amelia is (in my opinion) a large hawk, and her offspring is about the same size. 

 

The fledgling became impatient, moving around on top of the cross while trying to maintain balance. The lightning rod seemed to be in the way of its right wing.

Fed up with dealing with it, the fledgling returned to its perch on the right arm of the cross.

Suddenly, a second fledgling arrived.

It made a rough landing, causing Amelia to jump up.

Everybody's discombobulated!

The lightning rod seemed to be giving the fledgling the same trouble as its sibling, so it continued to flap its huge wings as it tried to settle itself.

Finally, Amelia had enough of the chaos and took off.

She flew into the park as the two fledglings looked after her.

The one on top decided to take Mom's seat.

Finally, some calm. 

I was hoping the third fledgling would join its siblings, but no suck luck, and the second one took off into the park after Amelia.

The remaining fledgling stayed on the cross for a few minutes before flying back into the park. By that time, it was pretty dark, so I headed home.

 

 

Dad teaches kids to hunt squirrels

As I walked around Tompkins Square one recent afternoon, I found four hawks together on one of the lawns: three fledglings and their dad, Charlie. I was taken by surprise as I didn't expect to see him on the ground. 

He was eyeing a squirrel and it quickly became apparent he was demonstrating to his kids how to hunt.

He chased squirrels through the grass and pounced several times.

Charlie also stalked the flowerbeds, looking for rats and other prey.

There are plenty of squirrels in this area, though, and he chased after every one of them.

If you look closely, you can see one of the fledglings watching the action from the edge of the plants in the lower right of this photo.

Just as Charlie was about to nab the squirrel, the fledgling who had been watching swooped in and tried to grab it. Charlie flew up and out of the way as the squirrel escaped.

Then, to my delight, he headed straight for me.

This squirrel-hunting lesson went on for quite a while and was absolutely fascinating. I was reminded of a day back in 2020 when Christo showed his kids how to catch squirrels. The sequence is one of my favorite posts as it shows the dedication of the male hawk teaching his offspring.

 

Fast-forward a few days and I came upon two stealthy hunters lurking in a flowerbed.

Anyone casually walking by might not have noticed them.

Not finding any squirrels to chase, the two young hawks turned to each other for some play-fighting.

I haven't seen the fledglings catch any squirrels yet, but they've been catching rats and pigeons. This one, after having a late lunch of rat, rested in a tree...

...and took a nap.

Later, after the summer heat subsided, the hawk perked up and became active again.

More to come...