Tompkins Square hawk fledglings explore beyond the park

As we round out another week, we continue to follow the progress of the three Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk fledglings. They are spending more time outside the park exploring and, just this morning, Urban Park Ranger Rob Mastrianni was called to rescue one from an air shaft on 10th Street. Huge thanks to the resident who noticed and took action, and applause for Rob, who is no stranger to rescuing our fledglings.

There have been three Tompkins hawk fledglings who have become trapped in air shafts, and their dad, Christo, surprised us all when he found himself stuck in an air shaft on 7th Street. Again, Rob came to the rescue.

Recently, I found two of the siblings hanging out together on a rooftop. The one below on the left is Fledgling #3, and the one on the right is one of its older siblings. I'm unable at this point to tell which one is Fledgling #1 and which is Fledgling #2. They're both large and presumed female. Fledgling #3 is presumed male, and it sounds likely he was the one who ventured down the air shaft.  

From the other side, Fledgling #3 is on the right.

Fledgling #3:

Sibling:

Fledgling #3 took a short trip across the street to the roof of St Brigid's church.

Then, a journey down the block to inspect a fire escape.

Although the hawks are exploring the neighborhood, they still gather in the park to eat and play.

I found two of them tussling together on the central lawn on a recent morning.

Attack that dangling tree branch!

Dirt clods are a favorite toy for prey-catching practice.

Tufts of grass and leaves also make entertaining playthings.

What next?

This fledgling found a dead rat in the grass, likely dropped off by Christo.

It played with the rat for a while before eating some of it.

This photo shows the size of the rat. One thing the young hawks have to practice is working up strength to carry a heavy rat. The hawks themselves are only 2-3 pounds, while adult rats are generally around 5-17 ounces.

Once the hawks are able to successfully catch their own food, they will be ready to disperse. But, we're not there yet! More to come...

Tompkins Square red-tail fledgling plays on the mulch pile

We've seen the Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk fledglings play with many different objects within the park like a rope, and pieces of wood, so what could be an even better toy?

How about a mountain of stick toys?

Wooo, jackpot!

 

Watch as the young hawk hops around play-hunting bark and leaves in this video clip:

The hawk was so exited, it smacked itself in the face with a clump of leaves.

Fun time over, the hawk took off across the park.

The fledglings are extremely curious and there's always something else to steal their attention.

After hours of playing, one of the fledglings takes a rest on a tree branch. Learning to be a hawk is a lot of work.

What will the young hawks get up to next? Stay tuned...

A few Friday hawk highlights from Tompkins Square

It's been a sweaty week here in NYC, but that hasn't stopped our local Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk family from going about their daily activities.

The three fledglings are doing well and it's been great seeing them continue progressing with their flying, play-hunting, and exploration.

My telephoto lens makes it look like the people in these photos are closer to the bird than they really are. From what I've observed, the majority of people this season have been respectful of the hawks and have given them space to do their thing.

Will pigeon be on the dinner menu?

Not today.

This fledgling has better luck looking for food scraps in the vegetation.

These two siblings hung out on the construction scaffolding for a while. I spoke with a worker today who said they've really been enjoying watching the hawks as they renovate the field house.

More to come next week...