Tompkins red-tailed hawk fledglings hang out on bathroom scaffolding

The scaffolding that currently surrounds the Tompkins Square comfort station (bathrooms) provides a perfect perching place for the fledgling hawks. On a recent morning, I found two of them hanging out there.

The hawk on the right had just eaten breakfast (it caught a rat), so it relaxed as it digested its meal. The hawk on the left had not eaten and was much more active, hopping and flitting around.

In the photo below, the two hawks are in reversed position.

The hawk on the right took off:

And settled on a different perch.

It then flew over to a pipe that had a black plastic zip-tie sticking out of it.

Everything is a potential toy, so the hawk went to work tugging on the zip-tie.

The hawk also paid attention to the netting, trying to pull it off. Perhaps the hawk is getting impatient with the time it's taking to renovate the bathroom building.

When the hawks fluff up their feathers, they can look like completely different birds. The photos above and below are of the same individual.

This is the other fledgling who remained still as it digested its meal. To me, it has a rounder and slightly wider face.

Compare to its sibling who looks a bit more slender over all.

Speaking of digesting meals, this is one of the fledglings after scavenging some leftover pigeon from the bushes. The hawks will often go back for food they did not finish eating.

Looks tasty!

This is just a random photo showing the ruffled feathers on the back of one of the fledglings as it comes in for a landing.

You can also just barely see the fifth tail feather from the left is slightly shorter than the others. This hawk had a missing/stunted feather that left a gap in its tail after fledgling. I don't know how it got that way, but it made this individual easy to identify. However, after several weeks, the feather is now grown in and the tail looks almost exactly like those of its siblings, so identifying them individually has become a lot more difficult.

More to come...

Tompkins hawk fledglings explore rooftops and buildings

The Tompkins Square hawk fledglings have been exploring the streets and buildings surrounding the park.

I found this one perched on top of a building on Avenue B and East 7th Street.

From there, the hawk flew a block north where it tried out the cross of St Brigid's church. This is a favorite spot for hawk parents, Christo and Amelia.

Over on Avenue A and East 11th Street, one of the fledglings discovered a rooftop fence, but two territorial Mockingbirds did not tolerate the hawk's visit.

Back over on East 8th Street, one of the youngsters found a nice windowsill on which to rest in the sweltering summer heat.

Anybody home?!

The hawk laid down on the sill - it looked to me like there may have been some pooled water there, so maybe the ledge felt cool.

After resting on the window, the hawk hopped over to an adjacent fire escape and let its wings hang out, which is something the birds do to stay cool in the heat.

Stretching:

As evening set in, the hawk flew off and returned to the park.

On a recent morning, I found one of the hawks on the main lawn playing with what I thought was some plastic trash.

A closer look revealed the trash to be a pair of eyeglasses!

Although the young hawks are becoming more independent, they still act like kids, often crying for food when ever they see their parents flying around. Below, one of the fledglings returns to the nest and cries. Before the hawks could fly well, Christo and Amelia would drop food at the nest for the youngsters to retrieve, but they have not been using the nest now for several weeks.

As previously noted here and here, the hawks have been using the park sprinklers to cool off during the recent heat wave. The hawk below tried out the mist at the Avenue A playground on a sweltering evening.

This video shows the hawk getting down in the water and almost toppling over while getting a good soak.

And in this one, the hawk sticks its face directly in the spray.

Finally, as seen at the end of the previous post, the fledglings have been enjoying the decorative rooftop fence of the landmarked building at Avenue B and East 8th Street. I've been seeing them go up there in the evenings just before sunset. The one pictured below has its wings slightly open to catch some of the breeze.

Later, after the sun went down, the hawk flew across the street to St Brigid's church. The mosquitoes were feasting on me by this time, so I had to take my leave.

More to come...

Tompkins Square hawk fledglings get better at catching prey

The three young red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square are quickly improving their hunting skills and are growing less reliant on mom and dad to provide them with food. They are also spending more time venturing outside the park.

Early on a recent sultry morning, I found one of them perched atop the cross of St Brigid's church on Avenue B.

It was quickly joined by one of its playful siblings who attempted to take over the perch.

The hawks have been playing games of "tag" where they chase each other around the park and nip or pounce on each other. On this morning, all three put on quite a show inside the park, but were so fast, I couldn't get more than one in a photo. This was kind of frustrating, but I just had to stand back and enjoy the spectacle.

These games are all practice for catching prey. However, the hawks don't just catch and kill everything they find. Below, one of the fledglings finds a carpenter bee crawling around on the pavement (the bee is in front of the hawk's leg, to the right).

The hawk watched the bee for a few minutes.

Getting a closer look:

The hawk even put its talons over the bee, but didn't hurt it.

What kind of creature are you?

In the end, the hawk got distracted by something else and left the bee alone.

Meanwhile, one of the other fledglings (below, right) caught a rat under a bush. The second fledgling then swooped in to see if it could mooch off its sibling.

The first hawk would not share its breakfast, so the second hawk chased a rat around in the shrubbery before flying off to try its luck somewhere else.

With the competition gone, the first fledgling took the remnants of breakfast up to the fence railing.

After eating, it scanned the area around a garbage can.

All the young hawks love chasing squirrels, and the squirrels seem to love taunting the young predators. As far as I know, none of the fledglings have been able to catch one yet.

However, the hawks have been successful catching pigeons. Below, one of the hawks nabbed one right in the middle of a walkway.

The other pigeons look on, but inexplicably don't fly away.

The hawk was able to fly its prey to a nearby tree and eat it safely on a high branch.

One of the other fledglings dove into a bush in the SE quadrant of the park and pulled up a house sparrow. It's hard to see in the photo, but the sparrow is in the hawk's right talon.

This hawk was also able to take the sparrow to a nearby tree to eat. They have had to learn to take their food to a high place to stay out of danger from people, dogs, bikes, and vehicles.

Across the street from St Brigid's is a decorative rooftop fence that the hawks seem to enjoy perching on at sunset before going off to roost for the night.

If you're around the park looking for the hawks, it's worth checking the church crosses and surrounding rooftops. They naturally prefer high viewpoints, and are gradually moving their way up to higher and higher perches each day.

More to come...