Get well soon, Currant!

Photo by Emily Einhorn via the Wild Bird Fund 

Last Wednesday, one of Amelia and Christo's young hawks appeared distressed in Tompkins Square Park. 

As Goggla documented, Ranger Rob (Rob Mastrianni, a Manhattan Ranger) came to the rescue. Since there were no clear signs explaining the fledgling's state, Ranger Rob took it to the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side for a closer exam. 

Here's an update from the Wild Bird Fund via Facebook (and Instagram): 

Such a sweet face on this juvenile red-tailed hawk, who was rescued in Tompkins Square Park earlier this week (thank you, Ranger Rob and Urban Park Rangers!) ... this young bird was lethargic, unafraid of people, and thin. He hadn't eaten in a while and has a poor body condition and weak grip, so something has been off with this one for some time, either because of illness, a window collision, or both. 

We treated him for potential rodenticide poisoning and common bacterial infections, and we're caring for his swollen eye. He's a bit stronger and taking food well, so we hope to see continued improvement for this handsome youngster, named Currant.

Goggla has more about the dangers of using rodenticide (Tompkins Square Park does NOT use it, though plenty of other people do in the city) at this link. 

Young red-tailed hawks continue to entertain in Tompkins Square Park

Photo by Steven 

It may be entertaining to us, but we feel for parents Christo and Amelia as they deal with this martial arts phase of their 2024 offspring. 

Goggla has some great shots of the young hawks at play here.

The juvenile red-tailed hawks are already huge and getting into staring contests with squirrels in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven 

We're now entering prime juvenile red-tailed hawk season in Tompkins Square Park. 

Amelia and Christo's three 2024 offspring are in the student-driver phase of their lives as they learn to fly, navigate trees, hunt for food, and appreciate the live hardcore and death metal bands on the occasional weekends. 

Here, one of the fledglings takes in a neighbor's "freeze/observe/assess" routine...

Goggla has a new post today (link here) with photos and observations on the young hawks.

A look at Christo and Amelia's 2024 offspring in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven 

Amelia and Christo, the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, have welcomed three bouncy baby fuzzballs to the nest this spring. 

Steven took these photos over the past week...

As we've seen in previous summers, the hawklets grow so quickly... by mid-June, they'll be surprisingly huge and learning to fly, hunt, pose for photos, etc. 

Visit Goggla's site for the back story on our local hawks.

When a young red-tailed hawk gets stuck in the airshaft outside your kitchen window

This morning, Kim, who lives on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, discovered that one of the juvenile red-tailed hawks from Tompkins Square Park was stuck in the airshaft of her building... just outside her kitchen. 

Oh hi.

The hawk appeared to be OK... just a little unsure how to get back out. 

With the assistance of her friend (and EVG correspondent) Steven, Kim contacted Ranger Rob — aka Rob Mastrianni, a Manhattan Ranger supervisor. 

Rob quickly captured (not his first airshaft rescue!) the young hawk, one of Amelia and Christo's 2023 offspring.

After examining the hawk and determining that it was not injured, Rob released the fledgling back into the park... where it likely met up with his two siblings.

   

And a little later... (photo by Steven)...

It takes 2

Photos by Steven 

Here are two of red-tailed hawk siblings at rest in Tompkins Square Park... enjoying the moment seemingly hiding amid the brush with parents Amelia and Christo keeping an eye from a distance ...

Hawkarazzi, busted...

Later, testing out the wings...

... and exploring...

Goggla has new photos of the three red-tailed hawk fledglings here.

Mid-morning juvenile hawk watch

Photos by Derek Berg 

One of Amelia and Christo's 2023 kids was out and about in Tompkins Square Park this morning...

See our previous post for more background on the red-tailed hawks.

Young hawks are having an ongoing play date in Tompkins Square Park

As noted the other day, Amelia and Christo's three 2023 red-tailed hawk offspring have fledged and been active in Tompkins Square Park this past week.

Here's a sampling of some up close-and-personal moments (top two photos by Derek Berg)...

And the following two photos are by Steven...

... and you may get busted taking photos, FYI ...

EVG reader Nancy Van Epps shared this rather camouflaged view of a fledgling...

Goggla, who has documented the red-tailed hawks here for years, offered up some sensible advice about this playful period (via the EVG comments):

As the fledglings are out and about now, this is a good time to remind everyone to take care when watching them — give them a lot of space as they learn to fly and hunt. If they are on the ground, please keep dogs away and let them do their thing. It's normal for them to be on the ground eating or playing. If you have reason to believe they are in distress, call 311 and ask for the Urban Park Rangers.

Find Goggla's photos here.

And for equal time to other TSP-based birds, a pigeon (and a pretty cool hat) for your consideration by Daniel Efram...

Tuesday's parting shot

Photo by Mark H. 

There is A LOT of juvenile red-tailed hawk activity now in Tompkins Square Park in recent days... as Amelia and Christo's three 2023 offspring have fledged and are testing their wings and practicing their staredowns. 

Many more photos TK in the days ahead.

Nest Ball: Amelia and Christo's 2023 chicks make first appearance

Photos by Steven

ICYMI: It appears that red-tailed hawks Amelia and Christo in Tompkins Square Park have several hatchlings in their nest. 

Difficult to say at the moment how many... but observers have seen at least two fuzzy little heads poking up from inside the nest...

As always, follow Goggla for the latest on the red-tailed hawks... in this post, she documents Amelia and Christo brooding their eggs in late April.

A look at the remaining red-tailed hawk fledgling in Tompkins Square Park

Photos yesterday by Steven 

Amelia and Christo, the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, welcomed three chicks to the nest this spring. 

Unfortunately, as you may have heard, two of them died last month. 

As Goggla first reported, a fledgling died on July 4 from what appeared to be frounce, "a naturally occurring illness that afflicts raptors."

On July 27, the second fledgling was found with its eyes closed and looking weak on a fire escape across from the Park on Seventh Street. Sgt Dan of the Urban Park Rangers was able to scoop up the unwell hawk, who died later that night at the Wild Bird Fund.

While a cause of death has not been determined, from what Goggla observed (and based on what happened in previous summers), she strongly speculates that it was rodenticide poisoning. 

Meanwhile, the third fledgling appears to be healthy, remaining active in the Park (despite this heat) ... and providing a thrill for onlookers... 

You can visit Goggla's site for more photos of Amelia, Christo and the fledgling.

Frequent flyers: The young red-tailed hawks in Tompkins Square Park

Amelia and Christo's 2022 offspring have been VERY active in Tompkins Square Park of late... learning to fly, hunt and drink water from a playground fountain, among other activities, like checking out adjacent buildings. 

Derek Berg spotted the two red-tailed hawk siblings this morning (above!) flying at a lower altitude route.

The photos below were from Sunday when Steven came across one of the juveniles wrangling a water stream on a Tompkins playground ...

Sadly, as you may have heard, the third fledgling died earlier this month, as Goggla reported. As she wrote, the cause appears to be frounce, "a naturally occurring illness that afflicts raptors."

And thank you to everyone who has shared photos of the young hawks!

Monday's parting shots

Photos by Steven

Here are two of Amelia and Christo's 2022 red-hawk fledglings in Tompkins Square Park... looking for something...

First red-tailed chick takes maiden voyage

Photos by Steven 

The first of Amelia and Christo's three 2022 red-hawk offspring has fledged... leaving the nest yesterday for a sturdy-looking branch in a tree away from the nest. 

Looking good!

Steven reports that a second hawklet made it out of the nest, landing in another part of the tree "and kind of got stuck for a bit in the thin branches."

The three chicks have grown so quickly (the first hatch was April 17, per Goggla).

Expect a lot of young hawk activity (flying at low altitudes, for instance) in the weeks ahead.

Given some potentially unsteady flying, please check out this post via Goggla about what to do if you need to reach someone regarding an injured hawk, falcon or other NYC wildlife. 

Red-tailed chicks continue to dine-in

Photos by Steven 

While the three Tompkins Square Park red-tailed hawk chicks are getting closer and closer to branching out and leaving the nest, they're not ready to hunt and prepare their own meals. 

In this sequence, Amelia makes an in-nest delivery (no third-party apps here!) ... before taking for Park parts unknown...

The three chicks have grown so quickly (the first hatch was April 17, per Goggla) and appear to be in their mischievous plotting phase...

Amelia and Christo's chicks looking ready to wing it in Tompkins Square Park

Photos Monday by Steven 

Amelia and Christo's 2022 chicks are GROWING so quickly... and looking more and more each day as if they're ready to branch out...

Goggla has excellent observations here about the hawklets, roughly 5 weeks old now... 

The appearance of the chicks will change quickly now. They will soon lose all the fuzzy down and should start exercising their wings more. The next step for them will be exploring the branches outside the nest... 

Goggla also shared some insights on photographing the red-tailed hawks or any other urban wildlife in a previous post. (AND PLEASE — NO DRONES!)

Once again, 3's company for Amelia and Christo, the red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven

As you may have heard/seen, Amelia and Christo, the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, have three chicks in the nest this spring.

Local red-tailed hawk documentarian Goggla first noted their arrival last week. Per her timeline:

The first hatch was April 17, but we were not able to see any of the nestlings until April 25. A second chick was seen April 27, and the third on April 30. 

Check out her site for more on the hawks — and other NYC wildlife.

The chicks are, as always, growing quickly... and coming into view for the hawkarazzi ...

This is the third consecutive year Amelia and Christo have hatched three chicks. Last year, just one of Amelia and Christo's three offspring survived. However, all three survived to fledge in 2020. 

Longtime hawk regulars may recall when Christo and his then hawk-pal Dora set up the nest in more precarious quarters, like an AC on the Christodora House (2014) or the Ageloff Towers (2015). 🙀