Month: July 2011

Pip eating a pigeon one of her parents left for her on the ground earlier in the day.

In this footage from July 5th, 2011, Pip flies from a tree to a dead pigeon on the ground. Witnesses earlier in the day had seen one of the parent birds drop the food on the ground beneath the tree Pip was sitting in at the time for her. In this clip, Pip lands on the dead pigeon to eat.

There were many startling facts about the occurrence in this footage. Bobby and Violet chose Washington Square Park for their territory. The park is not that large and is often heavily populated with people. As such, Pip does not have much room to navigate as she learns to fly and hunt and feed in the park.

In this case, Pip had to land mere feet from people seated on the grass in order to reach her meal. Pip was noticeably anxious about the large number of people (about a dozen) who suddenly converged near her in order to take photos and video and otherwise stare. Pip did eat her whole meal and flew away immediately afterward.

Pip is a wild animal in a heavily-populated city. You can’t blame people for being curious and thankfully, she was not endangered in this instance but I for one resolved to observe her from a further distance from now on.

Footage taken on July 4th, 2011. Pip enjoys a scratch while seated at the Northern end of Washington Square Park.