Second fledgling is rescued – June 14th, 2019

I approached Washington Square Park along East 3rd Street because that was where we had last seen a fledgling yesterday.

I was a block east of that last location when I heard birds (I think Starlings) causing a ruckus as though there was a Hawk nearby. I scanned all over but didn’t see a Hawk until I was a block west, turned around, and saw mama Sadie Hawk sitting on the corner of a building:

It was beside that building where I did most of my original scanning. I had no idea she was right above me (yet out of view) the whole time.

She was peering down at the lower building tops from her location:

Preening:

I looked to see if she was looking at her young fledgling child but I did not see it.

I temporarily gave up this search so that I could look for the other fledgling who had last been seen and heard on a building three blocks northeast of the park.

I had no luck there either so I returned to my original location.

I did not see Sadie on her building corner anymore but I did see the back of a Red-tailed Hawk on a terrace of the building last night’s fledgling was on:

I moved to a new vantage point and saw that it was Juno, the new male Hawk.

He was looking down from his perch just like Sadie was earlier:

I noticed Sadie was now seated on a terrace further south on the facade:

A Mockingbird dive-bombed her several times and then would sit near her:

Juno then did something completely new and shocking to me. I thought I had heard the fledgling crying its “feed me” call a few times as both of these adult Hawks sat on their perches.

But I realized that it was Juno who was making this “feed me” call. I took pictures of him opening his mouth at the same time I heard these calls and confirmed that it was him making these vocalizations.

His calls were not as desperate-sounding as the young fledgling Hawks’ “feed me” calls are. The fledglings can go on and on making these calls several times after another but his calls were more like three or four at a time.

Sadie landed next to him:

They were both looking down but Juno more intently:

He dove down a few stories and crossed Broadway:

He made a chirping sound as he descended:

I did not see where he wound up. I was scanning and trying to find him until I saw him on a street lamp located above a Broadway sidewalk.

He was looking down intently. He made more chirping sounds:

I thought, ‘Oh no, if he’s looking down like that he must be looking down at the fledgling who’s either on the sidewalk or the road!’

I looked over and there was a semi circle of people with their cameras out so I looked closer and saw they were surrounding the fledgling who was on the facade below a window and above the sidewalk:

I ran over and asked everyone to please back up and give the bird space as it was a wild Hawk and was scared. I got Bobby Horvath of WINORR (Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation) on the phone after I was unable to reach Park Ranger Rob Mastrianni (who has helped rescue Washington Square fledglings in the past).

Bobby Horvath suggested I get a cardboard box and place it over the fledgling until help could arrive. Thankfully I was with Bruce of Urban Hawks at the time and asked him to try to find a box while I stayed on the phone with Bobby and continued with crowd control. 🙂

Bruce got a box so I took it and approached the fledgling and began to cover it with the box. The Hawk slipped to the side and was about to escape so I utilized my recent Hawk-holding training and grabbed onto the bird’s upper legs, cupped his wings closed so he could not flap again, held him gently against me for a few seconds, then placed him in the box.

Bobby Horvath taught me how to hold a Red-tailed Hawk a few years ago when we released a fledgling in 2016. I had been out of practice but luckily had recently held the fledgling that was released only four days ago on June 10th! That extra bit of practice made all the difference.

Bruce had gotten in touch with Ranger Rob so we waited for Rob’s arrival so he could check on the fledgling’s condition.

I know that Sadie and Juno were there watching the fledgling’s capture.

I looked up and Juno was looking down at us as we sat next to the box housing the bird:

Sadie moved about from perch to perch with some prey in her talons:

She took it further east:

Ranger Rob arrived with a carrier:

He did a brief inspection of the Hawk before placing it in the carrier and into his vehicle for delivery uptown to the Animal Medical Center for an evaluation.

The X-Ray came back negative but because the young Hawk had such a stressful day it will spend the night at WINORR before it is released back into the park over the weekend. The fledgling had a full crop, indicative of having recently had a full meal.

I am so thankful to Mr. Horvath for these screenshots of the X-Ray to share:

***

Initially I had thought, and even said aloud, that perhaps Juno had knocked this fledgling down to the sidewalk but I must fully retract this statement because what I said was based on a supposition made from examples of his past aggression toward the fledglings.

I reflected on the day’s events and realized how this initial supposition was unwarranted and that reporting only what I actually observed is what is helpful for Hawk documentation. I did not see Juno cause the fledgling to reach the sidewalk. The first time I saw the fledgling by the sidewalk was after the fact.

Yes, Juno has swooped down in close dive-bombs at the fledglings as they have perched or been eating in the past however I have not seen him make contact with the fledglings except when I witnessed him kick two of the three birds off the nest ledge on fledge day.

I am not being a ‘Juno apologist’ but these are important points to be made, especially for those who think he will kill these fledglings. He has had ample opportunity to kill or hurt these young birds since they left the nest and so far I’ve seen no such contact and I’ve been at the park every day since June 7th. This is not to say that he is completely tolerant of these young birds. And he may yet attempt to drive them away from the park but so far he has not made those kinds of motions against the young Hawks.