[Updated] A red-tailed hawk rescue outside Whole Foods on East Houston

This past Thursday, East Village resident Helen Stratford, a.k.a. Helen the Accordion Lady, was walking on Houston Street near Whole Foods when she noticed a group of bystanders trying to help a bird in distress on the sidewalk.

Several people tried to assist what turned out to be a female juvenile red-tailed hawk. Whenever anyone got too close, the agitated young hawk tried to fly off, landing in the street where a car clipped her.

As EVG correspondent Steven reports, Stratford took charge of the situation, first going into Whole Foods at the Bowery and commandeering two shopping baskets to help corral the hawk. She also asked Whole Foods staffers to find a large cardboard box and punch holes in it. 

Stratford and a bystander successfully got the hawk into the makeshift basket cage, where she covered it with her shawl. Stratford and a tourist from Austin, Texas, then called a Lyft and transported their passenger to the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side. 

In a follow-up on Twitter, the Wild Bird Fund reported that the young hawk, estimated to be about a year old, "got into a fight with another raptor," which led to the collision on the sidewalk and street. 

Fortunately, the Wild Bird Fund also reported that the hawk "is stunned but not badly injured." A volunteer said that they would eventually release the hawk back into the wild.

For now, the Wild Bird Fund has given the hawk the nickname "Helen." 

Updated 6 p.m. 

The Wild Bird Fund released the hawk this afternoon in Central Park... Stratford can be heard in the background calling out "we love you" as the hawk flies off...

 

Photo by Phyllis Tseng via Twitter

Ranger Rob brings a new red-tailed hawk to Tompkins Square Park

Apparently there will be more than one hawklet to watch this summer in Tompkins Square Park.

This afternoon, Ranger Rob (aka Rob Mastrianni, a Manhattan Ranger supervisor) released a juvenile red-tailed hawk into Tompkins Square Park. He was assisted by Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation.

Earlier this month, the hawklet was injured falling out of a nest on Flatbush Avenue. It was deemed too dangerous for the hawk to stay there.

Ranger Rob, an East Village resident, said that it's very likely that Christo and Dora, the adult red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, will adopt this one. (There isn't any shortage of food.)

The first three photos in this post are by Bobby Williams...





...and these photos via Steven show the hawklet adjusting to the new environment...





The hawk has also been tagged to help keep tabs on it...



Updated 10 p.m.

Goggla shares this photo of Ranger Rob with the juvenile hawk...



According to Ranger Rob, this hawk is a male... and given his Brooklyn roots, people watching this scene unfold started calling the hawk Flatbush...

Goggla has a lot of great pics here.

The 'other' hawk

As Goggla first pointed out on Friday, Christo, the red-tailed hawk of Tompkins Square Park, has been seen in the companionship of another hawk while Dora recuperates from an injured wing.

The Park's hawkarazzi have been busy keeping an eye on the new hawk, called Not-Dora (Nora?) or Arod (for the opposite of Dora, plus Arod had an affair with Madonna).

Steven shared these photos of the new hawk hanging around the Park...













This relationship has possibly been blown out of proportion. To date, Christo and Not-Dora have only been spotted sharing a branch and, possibly, a rat.

As Goggla wrote on Friday:

Red-tails mate for life and the good news is Dora is alive. She will be released back into the park when she is healed, but that could take some time. What will happen at that time remains to be seen. I'm hoping everything will work out as it should.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Scandal in Tompkins Square Park as Christo courts new hawk while Dora recuperates

Sunday morning with the juvenile red-tailed hawk in Tompkins Square Park

Steven shared these photos of the juvenile red-tailed hawk in Tompkins Square Park this morning... he was calling out for food in hopes that his parents, Christo and Amelia, might drop off something to eat...



The juvenile appears to be fully healthy after battling (possibly) West Nile Virus in recent weeks...





Hawk watchers aren't sure how much longer this juvenile will stick around the area before moving on to start his red-tailed hawk life elsewhere...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The EVG podcast: Red-tailed hawk talk with Laura Goggin

The EVG podcast: More hawk talk with Laura Goggin

HAWK FIGHT

There was plenty of red-tailed hawk drama in Tompkins Square Park today.

Here's a brief narrative, pieced together from several eyewitness accounts. (The first batch of photos are by Steven.)

Hawk watchers spotted who they presumed to be Christo in the nest that he has been fortifying for Dora. However, it turned out to be an intruder, another red-tailed hawk who was unfamiliar to the Park regulars. (The other hawk wasn't Barucha/Nora/Not-Dora.)

That's when the fight started. One eyewitness said that the intruding hawk was the aggressor...





By all accounts, Dora, on top in the above photos, kicked the intruder's ass (paraphrasing). The intruder fled. Red-tailed hawks are very territorial, and the sight of an intruder in her nest, where there may be eggs, likely angered Dora.

After the skirmish, Dora struggled to take off ... Ranger Rob (aka Rob Mastrianni, a Manhattan Ranger supervisor and East Village resident) was eventually summoned to the Park. He thought that Dora would be fine, especially as she started to fly.



She eventually made it into a tree, where Christo brought her a rat...



... and later in the day, Dora appeared to be doing OK...



And a few other photos of Dora today ... via Ryan John Lee...





... and from Garrett Rosso...



H/T Emma Haddad!

Weekend hunting trip with the juvenile red-tailed hawk in Tompkins Square Park

Christo and Amelia's hawklet was quite active this past weekend... with numerous sightings as the young red-tailed hawk continued to hone his food-gathering skills.

On Friday, Christo brought a mouse by for a snack. Unfortunately, as these photos by Steven show, the mouse fell off the branch and into the bush below during the exchange from father to son. The young hawk spent considerable time looking for the mouse...









In the end it was just easier for Christo to drop off another mouse...



By Saturday, the juvenile was on to larger food sources... this photo is by peter radley...



Yesterday, the young hawk caught a squirrel ... these two photos are by Steven...





And it also appears that the young hawk has (hopefully) recovered from his recent malaise...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The EVG podcast: More hawk talk with Laura Goggin

A look at the other OTHER hawk in Christo's life

[Amelia on the left with Christo]

Last Wednesday, as Dora was leaving Tompkins Square Park for a wing-rehab stint on Long Island, an unknown female red-tailed hawk quickly took up residence in the now-empty nest. She and Christo, Dora's longtime companion, then mated.

Since then, the Park's hawk watchers have had a chance to observe this newcomer. (For the record, she isn't Barucha/Nora/Not-Dora, Christo's hawk-pal from when Dora left the first time around.)

Goggla was the first report on the hawk, who last week showed considerable skill maneuvering in that day's wind gusts that reached 50 mph. "For this reason, a fellow hawk-watcher suggested calling the new girl 'Amelia' after Amelia Earhart." (Hopefully this Amelia will enjoy a less-mysterious existence.)

Steven shared these photos of Amelia from recent days...







... and coming in for a landing...



As Goggla points out, she is larger than Christo... she has also been assisting in nest-building duties.


[Amelia on the right here with Christo]

There's no timeline yet for Dora's possible return... So all eyes now on Amelia.

Red-tailed hawk parents Christo and Dora are building another nest on the Christodora House

An EVG reader writes in:

Christo and Dora seem to be back in nest mode. The past day or so they've been carrying sticks and such to shore up the nest (same one as last year, on top of the A/C unit). This morning they were both hanging out in the nest.

It is true. The red-tailed hawk parents are rebuilding their nest that netted three offspring last year on the Christodora House on Avenue B and East Ninth Street ... (someone removed the remains of the old nest in November.)


[Yesterday]

We ran this by our hawk-watching friend Goggla.

They've both been hanging around the nest area, so it's good to know they're back at it. Interesting that Dora is helping out. She did all the supervising last year, while Christo would cut the sticks, then get her approval before taking them over to the nest. She didn't like one of his choices and kicked it out of the tree when he presented it to her.

On Wednesday, Goggla noted Christo's first stick-gathering session of the season.

Last year, Christo didn't start the stick-gathering, nest-building activities until Feb. 14.

To be continued for sure. And visit Gog in NYC for all the off-season hawk activities here.

And now a flashback... a time-lapse video of the hawk kids via East Village resident and photographer Francois Portmann ...



Photos by Bobby Williams

Previously on EV Grieve:
Red-tailed hawks nest on the Christodora House

The hawks of Tompkins Square Park have laid an egg at the Christodora House

More eggsciting hawk news from the Christodora House

Breaking (heh) news: The hawks of Tompkins Square Park are officially parents

OMG baby hawks! (UPDATED WITH VIDEO!)

VIDEO: Watch the baby hawks of Tompkins Square Park dine on some rat

Triang hawk relations: Updates on Christo, Dora and Not-Dora/Nora

Steven took this photo of Christo and Not-Dora/Nora (on the right) yesterday atop the Christodora House on Avenue B.

As previously reported, Christo, the red-tailed hawk of Tompkins Square Park, has been spotted several times in the companionship of this hawk while his longtime partner Dora continues to recuperate from an injured wing suffered in late November.

Goggla had an update on Dora back on Thursday:

[A]s of this week, her wounds have healed, but she is still unable to fly. She is still in the care of WINORR and we are hoping she can exercise her wing and regain strength. I really miss her and I think maybe Christo does, too. I try not to anthropomorphize and project my feelings onto him, but he has been acting sullen and surly since she's been away.

Goggla has more on Christo, Not-Dora/Nora and a juvenile red-tailed hawk in this post.

Meanwhile, Christo has been working on a nest (pro tip: complete the bathroom first) ... one can hopefully speculate that this is in anticipation of Dora's return...




[Nest photos by Steven]

And from yesterday, Christo eating something...


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

P.S.

I have not personally seen the opossum in the Park lately ... but there have been several sightings this past week. Perhaps we'll have some photographic evidence soon. Because people have asked about the opossum.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Scandal in Tompkins Square Park as Christo courts new hawk while Dora recuperates

The 'other' hawk

Get well soon, Dora!

One of Amelia and Christo's red-tailed hawk offspring has died

One of Amelia and Christo's red-tailed hawk fledglings died last night. 

On Friday afternoon, the young hawk was spotted in a dazed state on a fire escape behind a building on Seventh Street. (Thank you to Lauren of 7th Street for sharing these photos.)

According to residents, the hawk "flapped clumsily out of a tree onto our fire escape. Clearly not well, damaged wing or leg?"

Rob Mastrianni of the NYC Urban Park Rangers transported the chick to the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side for observation. There was blood in the hawk's mouth. However, as Goggla noted in her post today, an official cause of death has not been determined. The young hawk was said to have a spinal injury.

Amelia and Christo, the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, had three chicks this spring. One died from unknown causes in May.

The surviving two fledglings had been quite active in recent weeks, learning to fly and hunt.

And this is not the first time that the resident red-tailed hawks have suffered the loss of their fledglings. In 2018 and 2019, at least one of the chicks died from rodenticide poisoning.

Signing off with part of Goggla's post:

[W]e've noticed several dead rats in Tompkins Square Park and in the surrounding neighborhood over the last couple of weeks. This is NOT normal and anyone finding a dead rat should report it to 311. If one is found within the park, please notify a park employee so they can dispose of it. We have concerns that with all the trash in and around the park the last several weeks, people could be using rodenticide. We currently have an outstanding inquiry with the Parks Department to confirm whether or not they are still employing nontoxic dry ice for rat control.