A couple of fellow Hawk-watchers and I saw Washington Square Park fledgling and adult Hawks to-ing and fro-ing this morning but didn’t get to see much more than flybys until two of the fledglings settled down to share a pigeon meal. They spent around an hour and a half on their building; perching and taking turns eating.
We heard one of the fledglings crying before we saw it fly into view. It traveled above us then landed on top of the building we were standing next to.
The fledgling’s impressive masterful flying form:
I spotted it through a gap in a tree. It was plucking pigeon feathers:
The fledgling was located where the star appears on the map below (not too far east from the park):
One of the pigeon feathers floated down past us where we stood on the sidewalk.
Wiping its beak clean:
The first fledgling moved away from the meal. The other fledgling then moved in and had its turn eating.
A view from another angle where you could see both of the fledglings in one shot:
A House Finch perched on the railing between them. I see Finches hang out with fledglings every year.
Butter talons:
Nice recovery:
Both fledglings sitting and looking relaxed overall:
I had just moved further back to get a different view of the birds when all of a sudden Bobby flew away from the fledglings and circled back toward Broadway. I wasn’t prepared so I missed getting a nice shot but the photo below shows some of the action:
It looked like Bobby had dropped off another meal because one of the fledglings dove at it and started to eat.
It began to lightly rain so and I was stuck without an umbrella so I knew I had to pack it in soon.
The other fledgling negotiating the slick cables:
A couple of workers saw us watching the Hawks and pointed at the birds and told us they had just been up in that building on a job and saw the Hawks close-up eating a bird. I mentioned it was a pigeon the Hawks were eating. One of the guys said he keeps pigeons in a coop on his apartment building. I don’t think he was too sore about the Hawks eating a pigeon. The men were both obviously delighted over their close encounter with the youngsters.
It’s possible we saw all three fledglings today what with all the flying about but I can’t be sure about that. There was no telling how long the rain shower would last so I left for the day.
Jeez, those fledglings can still make me hold my breath in fear they will fall… Love that you are helping us see what happens outside of the nest! As always, thank you so much for the wonderful pictures. I wondered, when the fledglings are taking turns eating, are they really sharing, or is it that they fight each other for the food and the strongest one eats first?
Thanks, Shirley! I have not seen them fight for food post-fledge. They have been taking turns as though there’s an understanding hierarchy-wise as to who gets to eat first. One will eat while the other watches. When that first Hawk is done eating the one who was watching will then go to the food and eat. This may not be the case every time they are fed but it’s been the case every time I’ve seen them get a food delivery.
Thank you so much for your response. I was really wondering… I haven’t watched hawks much in the past and don’t know too much about them. I watched bald eagles a lot and saw they continue fighting over food after they fledged. Wherever a parent brought food, there was a mad dash to the dinner “table” and the fastest and strongest got to east. Their nest was near a fish hatchery, so they were able to learn to fish for their own dinner fairly shortly after fledging. Again, I thank you so much for taking the time to educate us!
Thanks, RP, for your vigilance! Seems all is well!
Thanks, Jill! So far so good!
“Butter talons!” 😂😂😂