Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Behold the new hawk in town

Bobby Williams has been keeping tabs on a juvenile red-tailed hawk who arrived a few days ago in Tompkins Square Park...





You can see that this hawk does not have a red tail yet ... something about molting their feathers after their first year... Actually! Per roger_paw in the comments: "Red-tailed hawks don't develop their signature tail feathers until they've reached a certain age." Check out her hawk photos here.





And yesterday, the new hawk dined on a rat (entrails alert!) ...




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9 comments:

  1. LindsayOctober 12, 2011 at 9:05 AM

    Wow! Bobby, amazing photos!!

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  2. VH McKenzieOctober 12, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    Great shots, Bobby! If only we could have a flock of these guys to tend to the rats.

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  3. Roger_PawOctober 12, 2011 at 9:42 AM

    Actually, the lack of a red tail does not have anything to do with molting. Red-tailed hawks don't develop their signature tail feathers until they've reached a certain age.

    This hawk is obviously a juvenile (very likely born this spring) with a year or more to go before growing in the nice reddish tail feathers.

    I've been documenting red-tailed hawks on my blog for several months now. Please feel free to check out my hawk posts by clicking on my user name and checking out my Roger Paw blog. :)

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  4. EV GrieveOctober 12, 2011 at 9:47 AM

    @Roger_Paw

    Thanks for the background. It was obvious that I had no idea!

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  5. Roger_PawOctober 12, 2011 at 9:48 AM

    Just wanted to add; this hawk probably won't be seen much longer. Tommy will probably drive it out as TSP is his territory and this juvenile is probably currently dropping by during its migration south. It's a gorgeous bird and I'm so happy Bobby got to photograph it and share it!

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  6. Marty WombacherOctober 12, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    Wonderful photos, Bobby! And great documentation by Roger_Paw at her blog.

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  7. Laura Goggin PhotographyOctober 12, 2011 at 1:11 PM

    Beautiful!

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  8. Roger_PawOctober 12, 2011 at 3:41 PM

    Thanks, guys! And thanks Grieve for linking to my blog in the post! :-D

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  9. MelanieOctober 14, 2011 at 12:47 PM

    Great shots Bobby.

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