I saw both Washington Square Hawks doing quite well today. Sadie was on one of her favorite buildings north of the park while Bobby spent his time on the park grounds.
I could just see the little bump-out shape of Sadie sitting on the west-facing side of the Cardozo Law School Building at 5th Avenue and 12th Street:
I walked over to her and watched her rest and preen:
She was obviously settled in so I tore myself away from her after half an hour so I could look for Bobby in the park.
The Cardozo building in the distance beyond the Washington Square Park arch:
I had looked for Bobby for close to an hour and was considering leaving when all of a sudden the western side pigeons flocked and fled their cozy area in a panic.
They dashed and circled a few times with seemingly nowhere to go. A number of them assembled on the park arch, a surefire sign that they were avoiding a Hawk. I suppose it’s a ‘safety in numbers’ tactic.
One of the main pigeon-feeders told me a while ago the pigeons perch on the arch almost exclusively when a Hawk is around so I was thankful they were signaling as much.
Other pigeons would go to land in their favorite tree (dubbed the ‘pigeon tree’). But they would stop short of landing and quickly turn and fly away from their tree as fast as possible. It was a sign that the Hawk was in that very tree. It’s so important to learn the habits of the other park creatures when looking for the Hawks!
I got closer to the pigeon tree and saw Bobby perched there. He was not there when I searched that tree a few minutes earlier.
Some of the pigeons returned to the tree but would sit tensely. Other pigeons would think of perching but then keep flying and scatter away:
Bobby does not attack these nearby pigeons though because he needs space to get momentum while diving for a kill.
Bobby scanned the lawns below and other trees for prey:
He did watch a young squirrel that was foraging along park benches. But I think the squirrel was too close to people for Bobby to attempt to catch.
Bobby flying to a new tree:
He flew out of the area after 45 minutes:
I saw him head into the foliage of a new tree but couldn’t find where he landed. I searched the group of trees for almost 20 minutes before noticing him sitting clear across the park on a flag pole!
He took off and headed south of the park 10 minutes later:
Hi!
Do you have any idea of how often the hawks actually catch prey? During baby-raising, it was several times a day I thought, but once those demands are over – wonder how often they actually catch/eat? Does a pigeon give them more calories than a squirrel or rat? Any way of figuring that out without further adding to all of the time & effort you devote to them?! Thanks!…Susan
Hi, Susan! From what I’ve seen, the Hawks will eat once or twice a day.
If it’s vermin on the menu, they’ll often eat two or three mice at once and typically one rat in one feasting (our rats are awfully big and probably filling enough for a while). But in the winter you will regularly see them eat more than one rat at night because they need the food to generate more body heat overnight.
I don’t recall seeing them eat more than one squirrel or pigeon in one meal during the summer. Their summertime meal can last them a whole day.
I haven’t looked into it but I gather squirrels have more meat/calories than pigeons. Our rats are huge but not squirrel-huge (although it’s close)! 🙂
I am thinking those pigeons are of the messenger variety! Or maybe charades pigeons – using action and sound to provide hints regarding their message rather than waiting for a message to be tied to a leg. LOL One thing that was surprising regarding hawk meals was the way they leave parts of meals in various places and come back later to finish their dining. You would think they would worry about other raptors doing grocery shopping where the hawks have left parts of meals. I have never seen eagles or osprey do that – have you Roger Paw?
About them leaving meals: I think I’ve only once seen an interloper Hawk come into the park and pick at the WSP Hawks’ leftovers. It was a pigeon left in a tree if I remember correctly. But that was the only time in eight years so that’s not too bad. The Hawks defend their territory quite well. I haven’t followed other raptors so closely so I couldn’t say if Eagles or Osprey do the exact same but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.