Dinner with Christo

Christo, the resident male red-tailed hawk of Tompkins Square Park, keeps a schedule. He has always been an orderly individual, keeping a routine and being organized. I most enjoy watching him hunt for the evening meal because he's like clockwork, and he's extremely good at what he does.

Last night, pigeon was on the menu. Christo was perched atop the cross of St Nicholas of Myra church on Avenue A & East 10th Street when he spotted his target well inside the park. In a flash, he was off like a rocket and came zooming in from over a block away to grab the pigeon. It never saw him coming.

Once the meal was secured, Christo took it to a high tree branch to prepare.

Pigeons require plucking, an added step of work that is not required for rats, so I've always been curious why the hawks make the choice to go for pigeons over rats (they seem to eat both in equal amounts). I've never eaten either myself, so I don't know if there's a difference in taste. It seems the amount of meat on each creature is about the same.

As Christo plucked the pigeon, he called to his mate, Amelia, to announce dinner was imminent. When he was ready, he flew the pigeon to another tree, where he ate part of it before delivering the rest to Amelia.

A few days earlier, I found Christo in a tree with a very large rat. You can see its tail hanging down in this photo.

Another smaller rat:

Below are just a few random shots of Christo doing his thing.

I'm not forgetting Amelia, but she's been less visible than Christo recently. A good place to see her is when she perches on the roof of the Christodora building (always the north end). I think she must enjoy the sun and view from up there.

Brooding time for our local hawks

Hawk nesting season has officially begun as Tompkins Square red-tailed hawks, Amelia and Christo, are brooding eggs. We do not now how many there are, but hawks usually lay 1-3 eggs per season. If all goes well, it will be a few weeks before hatch time.

Below are some photos from the last few days.

Christo and Amelia perching together:

They both spotted something...maybe a squirrel messing with their nest. What ever it was, Christo went off to deal with it.

Later, Christo returned to Amelia as she perched in another tree.

The obligatory mating photos!

The hawks will continue to mate until the full clutch of eggs is laid.

One way to tell Amelia is in brooding condition is she is less likely to engage in any physical conflict with the resident squirrels. She would normally move right in on this one that crept right up to her.

On this day, though, Amelia was definitely conserving energy and mostly ignored the pesky squirrel.

I mean, look at this! Not only did the squirrel get very close to Amelia, but it turned its back on her and started grooming itself like there was no danger at all. Tompkins squirrels are tough, but this is still a risky move.

This is Amelia and Christo perched together again - you can really see the size difference between them. Amelia (left) is noticeably larger and has a broader chest.

The pair doing some nestorations:

Amelia taking off:

Back in the nest again, but this time Christo prepares to take off with a chunk of rat.

He was nice enough to give me a better look at the half-rat before he took it to a tree where he could eat it.

This is Amelia soaring. She'll spend the next several weeks hunkered down in her nest, so it's always nice to observe her enjoying herself catching some air.

Spring is approaching for Christo and Amelia

As winter seems to be slipping away, Tompkins Square resident red-tailed hawks, Christo and Amelia, are going about their routine of preparing for the upcoming nesting season.

I was happy to find Christo perched atop his golden orb the other evening, actively looking for prey.

After several unsuccessful dives from the flag pole, Christo tried another vantage point in a tree.

From there, he flew down to a fence where he spotted rodents lurking in the shrubbery.

He made an attempt to catch something on the ground, but came up empty-taloned.

Not giving up, Christo flew up to a nearby lamp post where he had a view of the area.

Sitting up there in the beautiful late afternoon sun drew the attention of several onlookers who whipped out their cellphones for a quick snap. He didn't seem to mind.

I watched Christo make several more swoops at rats and pigeons, but he didn't catch any dinner during my visit.

Christo even tried to grab some pigeons off the roofs of some buildings, but just didn't have luck behind him on this evening. So, why was he doing this?  He has to feed himself, of course, but he's also providing meals to his mate, Amelia.

While Christo went through the motions, Amelia patiently watched and waited in a tree nearby.

She seems to prefer eating pigeons over rats (don't we all?), and I suspect he puts in the extra effort to try and catch her a pigeon.

 

As spring begins, the hawks will show more breeding behavior: mating, becoming more territorial, driving squirrels away from their nest, and sharing food. I like this time of year when they are obviously sweet on each other. All our time with them is a gift.

 

Leucistic Red-Tailed Hawk

Earlier this month, I attended the annual Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Raptor Fest in St. Petersburg, Florida. One of the featured raptors was this leucistic adult male Red-Tailed Hawk.

His striking and unusual plumage drew a lot of attention and questions about his condition.

Apparently, this hawk was doing just fine on his own until he consumed poisoned prey. Thankfully, someone rescued him and took him to a rehabber, who discovered he had a problem with his left eye (see photo below) and was determined to be unreleasable.

You can see in the photo below that he has the red tail.

I've seen leucism occur in birds before, but not to this extent. He is quite a beauty.

Although leucistic hawks are rare, they're not unheard of and they do manage to survive in the wild. Here is video of a leucistic female feeding her chick last spring in Tennessee.