Sadie Hawk protects her young fledglings – June 23rd, 2018

I was walking toward Washington Square Park from a few blocks southeast of the park when I saw a Red-tailed Hawk pass overhead. I knew I was within the WSP Hawks’ territory boundary but was surprised to see a Hawk that far from the park. The Hawk started calling out loud. I then saw a second Hawk circling with it. The two flew rather low over the street. They both landed on a building together.

Bobby on the left, Sadie on the right:

Back to circling together:

The red star indicates where they were circling in relation to the park:

They carried on in this way for 5 minutes (circling together then darting back and forth following each other) before they flew back in the direction of the park. I couldn’t see any other Hawks or raptors so it was mystifying why the pair was so charged up.

A fellow Hawk-watcher spotted the fledglings on the back of NYU’s Silver Center eating at an old established Hawk ‘dinner table’:

You can see the tiny rounded top of the 3rd fledgling’s head on the upper left:

The center fledgling laid down flat:

The fledgling on the left hopped over its prone sibling then landed next to it:

It was charming to see them eating at this location because it was the very same ‘table top’ area where Bobby and his first mate Violet would feed the first Washington Square Park Hawk baby Pip. The adult Hawks have a few designated eating spots they round the fledglings to every year.

Post-meal antics:

Bobby flew to the table with a fresh meal:

The fledgling closest to him ran over and took the food from him:

Bobby flew to a spot further west on the roof:

He then flew eastward and out of sight.

More fledgling hop-scotching:

Sadie arrived 20 minutes later and landed on the exact same spot Bobby did earlier:

On the building’s flag pole:

She then flew to her favorite corner of the building facade:

Everything was very relaxed. The fledglings were resting when two tiny birds landed on the ledge below them. Sadie instantly charged toward these little birds and positioned herself over them:

She flinched like she was going to jump them when they fled. The bird on the left appeared to be a Rosy-faced Lovebird (perhaps a pet escapee):

Sadie’s powerful maneuver was shocking to see because those tiny birds were obviously not a potential threat yet Sadie was obviously not going to take any chances with her little ones. It was an incredible sight and I was thankful to have been witness to it.

The small birds departed after a few seconds. Sadie flew eastward then circled over the blocks near the building. I had errands to run so I had to be on my way myself.