I recently received information on the banded Red-tailed Hawk that visited Washington Square Park on January 6th. My post featuring this Hawk can be found here.
The Hawk was banded on October 23rd, 2019 by staff at The Raptor Trust in Millington, New Jersey. The Raptor Trust is about 35 miles west of Washington Square Park (only a short hop for a Hawk).
The Hawk’s assumed hatch date was 2017 or earlier.
I received a lovely email and Certificate of Appreciation from the USGS and Canadian Wildlife Service for reporting the band number.
Bonus shot of the Hawk as it ate a rat in the park:
Hi,
Do females ever fly into new territories? I’m lucky I have a nest behind a house 2 doors down. Early the other p.m., one of the hawks was sitting in a tree across the street. He/she started it’s distinctive yelling at me, as my garage door went up, and my old, blind dog came tottering out. It watched me as I was walking backwards up the street, watching it. Then a few other birds caught it’s attention. By the time we got back to my driveway, myself and Cali were the center of attention again. I cannot find the nest for the life of me.
Several years ago, one of the fledlings was trapped in the woods in my yard. I realized, somehow, a green tendril got wrapped around his leg. For about 3 hrs I kept going out to check on him. Then thought of the online NYU group, who gave me the name of a rescue group here in North GA. My husband was keeping an eye on him while I was dialing, when he said, he just flew away.
There is another nest in some nearby woods, so the sky’s can be filled with hawks. I didn’t think they tolerated other hawks in their territory. There is also a nest somewhere to the east.
These guys need air traffic control!
Looked out my kitchen window one day about 2 weeks ago, and there was a RTH sitting on one of the posts of my deck! Ran to grab my cell phone – closest camera. Unfortunately, the screen is in better view than the hawk. I guess he saw me in the window, because he flew off.
Yes, female Hawks have been known to fly into other Hawks’ territories (if that’s what you’re asking?). It was back in 2013 when I caught Pale Male’s mate Octavia mating with a different male who lived several blocks south from Pale Male’s nest. She mated with that other male a few times but remained with Pale Male.
The Tompkins Square and Washington Square Hawks know of each other and have flown alongside each other but have never fought as far as I know. They have an understanding as to where their boundaries are as it seems your neighborhood Hawks do.
Thanks for sharing those Hawk stories. I like learning all about their behavior and interactions in the city and suburbs.
Thanks for sharing the info. It would be interesting to know if you see him (?) again.
I hope to see him again too but it’s unlikely since resident Hawks are pretty intolerant of stranger Hawks and drive them away soon enough.
Are the rats in the parks still being poisoned by the city?
No, there hasn’t been rat poison in Washington Square Park (and Tompkins Square last I heard) for years specifically because Hawks reside there. They do use rat poison in other non-Hawk parks though.
Always so interesting , learning of the hawk colonies or “loners” moving into the WSP
Are the RTH a loner type bird that allows for individual pairing and building of a nest and eventual hatchlings or they a “community” building bird?
Thank you , Roger_Paw for passing along the information and congratulations on your Certificates of Appreciation from the USGS. Your community of Roger_Paw followers extend our appreciation ,also.
The Hawks pair up and take care of their nest and hatchlings on their own, together. They don’t allow for outside Hawks to get involved. Not from what I’ve observed and read over the years anyway. Thanks, Jeanne!
Do you remember the kerfuffle a few years ago when the Philadelphia female at the Franklin Building was widowed and she allowed a new, YOUNG, male to assist her in bringing up the three babies? Everyone was open-mouthed, but clearly she thought she was going to be in distress and looked out for her nestlings first. I think I’ve got the story right.
I don’t recall hearing about that. Did the male Hawk still have bars on his tail feathers? A Hawk-watching friend of mine observed the same thing uptown in Manhattan. A widowed female Hawk was seen hanging out with a male Hawk who still had bars on his tail feathers (so he was under 2 years old). I believe I have it right. Amazing how the Hawks kick into rearing mode even at that young age.
Roger, Rena is correct.
It was an amazing story.
The babies were newly born when Dad died.
Coincidentally one of the main hawk followers/photographers worked at Franklin.. and had access to a stash of frozen white mice. She thought about what was right and
She ultimately decided she had to help. She chucked them out a window to the nest despite heavy mantling and her feeling a little fearful.
But
Mom backed down and accepted the help.
Then the young male came.
I happened to be watching when
He brought food, showed it to
Her and then flew off with it.
Some People in chat got angry thinking he was teasing her but I
was optimistic and sure enough he came back with the food nicely filleted.
Mom was leery and
protective but he continued to provide food and brought Lovely greenery for her.
It was so sweet.
She started to let him feed the babies and then finally entrusted them to him while she stretched her wings and hunted.
She and T2 were a solid pair for a few years , producing babies with success, until
he died in a crash.
I was heartbroken 😢
Thank you! Such a great story. Sad to hear he passed away. It’s so rough out there for these amazing birds.
Kudos and congrats to you for your certificate and notice!
Thank you!
Can you share anything else they told you about the banded hawk when they got back to you? You mentioned location and approximate age — did they confirm sex?
Thanks! So cool you have a certificate 😃
Hi, under Sex they wrote, “UNKNOWN”. Thanks for asking; I had forgotten to include that part in my post.
I photographed a banded adult RTH in Battery Park on January 20. Wondering if this is the same one. I could only see a partial number: 0416.
Yes! That’s the same Hawk then. The one I’ve seen has the band number 2187-04163. Do report your sighting here so you can get your nice Certificate of Appreciation!
That’s very exciting, Goggla! This means he went south to Battery Park then made his way back to Washington Square Park only 3 days later.
Thank you for the complete number! This is very interesting. I think you may remember a few years ago a banded immature RTH who came from NJ, and made visits to WSP and TSP before spending the winter in Battery Park. It’s great that we can track a few of them and know that they do visit different locations around the city.
You’re welcome! Yes, I remember him. NJ-30!
Here’s a compilation of posts from his visits to WSP:
https://rogerpaw.com/2013/08/banded-fledgling-visits-wsp-catches/
https://rogerpaw.com/2013/08/banded-fledgling-still-in-wsp-has-rat/
https://rogerpaw.com/2013/08/banded-fledgling-in-flight-august-11th/
https://rogerpaw.com/2013/08/banded-fledgling-update/
https://rogerpaw.com/2013/08/banded-fledgling-and-bobby-in-park/
https://rogerpaw.com/2013/08/rosie-fights-banded-fledgling-august/