Playing the waiting game with the Tompkins Square hawk pair

We're still on egg watch for red-tails, Christo and Amelia, in Tompkins Square. The hawks appear to be pretty much done building their nest, so it's ready when ever they are.

I caught up with the pair a few times this last week and watched as they shared food, mated, and defended their territory against intruding young red-tails who are hanging around the area.

Below, Christo joins Amelia on a branch of one of the American Elms in the park.

We've enjoyed a few warm sunny days this week and I love how the late afternoon sun brings out the orange tones in the hawks' plumage. Below, Amelia rests on a locust branch as the sun begins to set.

She's joined by Christo, who swoops in for some mating.

Four seconds later:

That is Amelia on the left and Christo on the right. You can see Amelia is significantly larger than him, and her coloring is also a bit darker.

Amelia looks to me like she could lay an egg any minute. For those keeping track, below are egg-laying dates from the last seven years, going back to Christo's first nest on the Christodora building.

• 2020: March 4 - Christo and Amelia built their nest in a Honey Locust tree in Tompkins Square (same as this year)
  
  
• 2019: March 13 - Christo and Amelia built their nest in a Ginkgo tree in Tompkins Square
  
  
• 2018: April 20 - Christo and Amelia used the Ginkgo nest. The nesting season started late for the pair because Christo's first mate, Dora, had to be taken to a rehabber, and Amelia entered the scene in early April
  
  
• 2018: April 3 - Christo and Dora built their nest in the Ginkgo tree and they were seen brooding and doing a nest-exchange the day before Dora was rescued, indicating they had an egg
  
  
• 2017: March 14 - Christo and Dora built their nest in the Honey Locust tree (same as the current season)
  
  
• 2016: Around March 20 - Christo and Dora had their nest in the Ginkgo
  
  
• 2015: On or before March 26 - Christo and Dora hastily built their nest on a 12th floor air-conditioner of the Ageloff Towers at Avenue A and 3rd Street. This was after being evicted from the Christodora, where they attempted to rebuild their nest from the previous year
  
  
• 2014: March 29 - To the delight and surprise of everyone, Christo and Dora settled in the neighborhood and built their nest on a 7th floor air-conditioner of the Christodora at Avenue B and 9th Street.

Discounting the year 2018, when the situation was abnormal for the hawks, they seem to be on schedule for egg laying any time before the end of March.

In the mean time, we've been able to observe Christo catching food for Amelia, which is one way they bond. Christo's favorite food is rat, but Amelia prefers pigeon, so it's been interesting to watch Christo work hard to obtain his mate's favorite dinner. Although Christo is an expert at catching rats, he's not as skilled at catching pigeons. Amelia, however, excels at catching pigeons off rooftops, and seeing her in action is pretty spectacular.

The other evening, I watched Christo take a dive at some pigeons on a rooftop from his perch atop the cross of St Nicholas of Myra church at Avenue A and 10th Street. He failed his first attempt, but then set his sight on a target within the park.

Locking his gaze on the prey, he took off.

Christo shot down from the cross to the lawn north of the Temperance Fountain and nailed a pigeon on the ground.

After a few seconds, he took off with the pigeon and flew it to a tree on the central lawn.

He called to Amelia to come get her dinner, but she didn't immediately respond.

Christo took the pigeon to several different trees within the park, continuing to call for Amelia, but she didn't answer. After a while, he started to eat the pigeon himself.

Christo on his flag pole throne:

Christo posing in the late afternoon sun:

I still get excited when Christo flies right past me at eye-level.

As the sun went down, Christo hunted for rats from atop one of the street lamps in the park. He usually makes one last dinner run before dark.

Just as I was leaving the park for the night, I saw Amelia land on the cross of St Nicholas out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough, Christo swooped in to mate with her. I was two blocks away when this happened.

Three seconds later:  😄

See more recent hawk photos here.

Christo and Amelia making final touches on nest

There's not much to report yet on red-tails, Christo and Amelia, in Tompkins Square. Their nest is nearly complete and they've been keeping close to the park and defending their territory against other hawks that fly through. 

Here is Amelia breaking a stick from a tree:

She flies a stick back to the nest:

I've been seeing Amelia do most of the nest construction, but Christo works on it as well. As usual, he likes the seed pods from a favorite redwood tree. We saw him collect pods and add them to the nest last year in late January.

I'm not sure what the significance of the redwood pods are, but there is a theory they may be an insect repellent. Christo has taken the pods from the same tree each year except for 2015, when his nest was on Avenue A and 3rd Street - perhaps too far to carry the pods.

Here he is delivering the redwood pods to the nest.

One afternoon while nest construction was going on, I found a young Cooper's hawk hanging out on the other side of the park.

A brave squirrel dashed across the branch right in front of the hawk. The squirrel is nearly as big as the hawk, so was not likely prey, but this was a bold move nonetheless.

(Photographer's note: there's always a perfectly misplaced branch to get in the way!)

Here is a better view of the Cooper's hawk after it moved into the sun. Its crop is bulging, so it was likely chilling after a meal.

After a while, the hawk took off, flying right over my head.

Later, after nest construction was done for the day, Amelia rested in front of a waxing moon.

This evening, I watched Amelia sit in the nest well after dark, a sign that egg laying time is soon.

A new nesting season is underway for red-tails Christo & Amelia in Tompkins Square

It's time!

Red-tailed hawks, Christo and Amelia, began building their new 2021 nest in Tompkins Square the week of February 5. They're using the same locust tree as last season despite damage to the tree last August during Tropical Storm Isaias that destroyed their previous nest and took out several branches. Then again, the hawk pair successfully fledged three chicks from that nest, so we have to trust they know what they're doing.

Below, Amelia and Christo discuss the best placement of sticks in the nest.

Both Christo and Amelia collect sticks and bring them to the nest, but Amelia does most of the furniture arranging.

This is Amelia selecting a stick.

Getting the right angle while retaining balance can be tricky.

This one looks perfect.

Success!

Amelia taking a stick back to the nest:

At one point, she landed right above my head.

I observed Amelia working hard for over two hours. She cut sticks from trees all around the park before taking a break in the late afternoon.

Christo helped her for the first hour or so.

Here he is snapping a stick.

Sometimes, they really have to stretch to get the one they want.

Amelia:

Christo looking victorious at the end of a busy day:

The pair have also begun mating this last week, which is right on schedule for them. We can look forward to watching them continue building their nest and bonding over the next could of weeks. If all goes well, we should expect eggs in early-mid March.

Seeing pink

For me, living in NYC, February is traditionally the dreariest month. Spring is in sight, but still far away, holidays are over, and the weather is usually cold an cloudy. We've had a lot of gloomy gray days recently, so I thought I'd warm things up by slipping into a pink mood.

First up, a flirty Roseate Spoonbill:

Could it be smiling?

Check out those pink legs. What a cheery creature.

What other pink birds are there? Probably the most famous is the American Flamingo:

Then there's the lesser-known and rarely seen East Village Flamingo:

Other than these two, I couldn't think of an example of another pink bird. There are many red birds, but pink is a much rarer find in nature.

Looking more mauve than pink, I enjoyed the antics of this Reddish Egret who put on a show as it actively hunted for fish along a beach.

All of the photos above (except for the EV Flamingo, which was in Tompkins Square) were taken on a pre-pandemic trip to Florida, and this egret ended up being one of my favorite birds observed during the visit.

It's not quite pink, but this Eastern Bluebird has a rosy orange chest that gives it a warm glow.

Male House Finches are described as red, but can look pinkish in a certain light.

This is a similar-looking Purple Finch, who doesn't look purple at all.

If you're going to be a red bird, go RED, like this Summer Tanager.

Maybe I have pink on my mind because Valentine's Day is this weekend and there are pink and red decorations and gifts in shop windows. It's also the time of year - despite being cold and gloomy - that birds start to display mating behavior. 

Below, a Cedar Waxwing feeds its partner a berry. Sweetness.

I went digging in my archives and came up with a photo of one more pink bird, seen right here in the city.

!!!!

This chick was one of the animals being blessed at the Feast of St Francis at St John the Divine. 

The color pink is said to have a calming effect on people. When I see it, I feel happier and hopeful. Birds have been found to see a much wider range of color than we do, so I have to wonder what they see when they look at each other, or when the sun goes down and turns the sky brilliant colors. Can they see this muted color as we do, are are they seeing much, much more?

Christo and Amelia weather the snowstorm

Just as the snow started falling late Sunday, I found resident red-tails, Christo and Amelia, hanging out together in their old nest tree in Tompkins Square. They've been spending time in this tree recently, so I hope that means they're considering it for their nest this season.

Amelia is perched high, Christo is down low:

Today, as the snowstorm really got going, I found the pair perched together in a tree on the west side of the park. Amelia is on the left and Christo is on the right.

Due to the weather conditions, I only had a pocket camera with me, and it was easier to take video.

After a few minutes, Amelia took off and Christo lingered in the area. I tried to get some decent shots of him but the wind and snow made it difficult. This was the best I could do, but you can see that he looks just fine.

Here's more video of Christo enduring the wind.

This wasn't Christo's first snowstorm - we captured him in worse conditions in 2016, and again in 2018 during a 'bomb cyclone'. The hawks (and other birds) can handle winter weather with their warm down coats, and seeing the hawk pair together in the park is a good sign that spring is not that far away.