PondoveOn an eighth-floor window ledge at New York University’s Silver Center, one of the juvenile hawks that took flight Monday night for the first time.
HAWK CAM 2012
Chronicling the red-tailed hawks of Washington Square Park.
The Baby Hawks Take Flight
By EMILY S. RUEBD. Bruce Yolton/Urbanhawks.blogs.com The first flight, caught on video.
Updated, 1:07 p.m. | The adolescent hawk stars of the live reality raptor series broadcast live from New York University’s Bobst Library, named Boo and Scout, fledged on Monday night after nearly 50 days of life.
Just after 8:00 p.m., as the light was fading on Washington Square Park, one of the eyases took flight from the 12th-floor nest at the library. It sailed to an eighth-floor window ledge at N.Y.U.’s Silver Center, located on the east side of the park.
Then, about 10 minutes later, the second hawk took flight and joined its sibling on the same ledge. Read more…
F.A.Q. About Fledging Hawks
By NEW YORK CITY AUDUBON
Screengrab by GhentArtJump flap! 2:43 p.m. Wednesday.We are approaching fledge day, when the juvenile hawks of Washington Square Park take their first flight out of their 12th-floor nursery at New York University’s Bobst Library and begin the next phase of their development in the broader confines of the park. Wednesday is 43 and 44 days since Boo and Scout emerged from their shells. Typically, red-tailed hawks take flight between 42 and 46 days of life, though hawks in urban areas can take longer. Last year, the baby hawk named Pip by readers first used its wings after 49 days on the nest and sailed to a rooftop on a neighboring building.
So, what to expect before, after and when Boo and Scout take flight? Some answers from New York City Audubon.
How will they know when they’re ready to take off? Are there any signs that we humans will notice?
One key developmental milepost that occurs before fledging is that the young birds begin to tear their own food for eating. In order to do so, they must stand up on their toes, rather than resting on their tarsi (in a person these would be the foot bones — what we think of as “knees” are actually their ankles). Next, the young birds begin jump-flapping, which Scout and Boo have already begun to do.
What is jump-flapping? Read more…
Hawk Watchers Gather in the Park
By EMILY S. RUEB
Emily S. Rueb/The New York TimesHawk Cam fans congregated to watch Bobby, Rosie, Boo and Scout from Washington Square Park on Sunday.About two dozen Hawk Cam fans who normally view the red-tails of Washington Square on the small screens of their home and office computers congregated offline, under bright blue skies, to catch a glimpse of the raptors, and one another, on Sunday afternoon in the park. Read more…
A New View for the Hawk Cam
By EMILY S. RUEBWhile the pair still spend a great deal of time sleeping, they’re more mobile now. Using their yellow feet and black talons, they step more assuredly across the uneven pile of twigs and branches that line the nest, occasionally standing sentinel to survey the park below, like little Draculas with their wings tucked behind their backs.
Watch them as they stretch out their wings, occasionally catching an inch of air as they flap vigorously. Jump-flapping, as it is known in hawk parlance, is a sign that they are ready to venture out into the park and leave the nest for good.
Stay tuned to City Room for updates.
Washington Square South, 2:30 P.M.
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Screen grab by Emily S. RuebAny time is lunchtime in the Hawk Cam nest, now that the five-week-old hatchlings are big enough to feed themselves.
Baby Hawk Freed of Plastic Bag
By EMILY S. RUEB
Screen grab by SaidhbhinOn Tuesday morning, the baby hawk no longer had the disposable bag around its ankle.The bird is free.
The plastic bag that had been twisted around the ankle of a baby hawk for nearly a week up in the Hawk Cam nest released its grip on early Tuesday morning. According to viewers of the Hawk Cam, when the eyas stood up at about 6:30 a.m., the bag was gone.
Chat room members toasted the moment by sharing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” and clinking virtual Champagne glasses.
Wildlife experts who had been devising a plan to intervene on the hard-to-reach window ledge of Bobst Library at New York University, about 135 feet up from a concrete sidewalk, were also relieved.
“This is a very inaccessible nest,” said Elizabeth Bunting, a wildlife veterinarian at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine. Read more…
Plan for the Tangled Baby Hawk Is to Wait and See, for Now
By EMILY S. RUEB
Saturday, 3:48 p.m. Update, May 8 The hawk has gotten free of the bag. Read the post.
A team of wildlife experts, including the executive director of NYC Audubon, Glenn Phillips, has been closely monitoring the situation and working out how best to reach the baby hawk should it become necessary to intervene. The plan, for now, is to wait until next week before taking action on the nest.
“We all agree that the chick is not in any immediate danger, and that there is a good chance that the chick will free itself from the bag,” Mr. Phillips said in an e-mail.
But, he added, if by next week the eyas has not freed itself from the disposable bag, then a Long Island-based wildlife rehabilitator, Bobby Horvath, will attempt a rescue with a long-poled net.
“The nest itself may get damaged in the process, but at this stage in the game, it’s not critical,” Mr. Phillips wrote. “There are any number of things which may interfere with this plan should it even prove necessary, but we are all working together.”
We’ll keep you posted.
(Another) Tangle in the Nest
By EMILY S. RUEB
A screengrab from about 1 p.m. shows the handle of a plastic bag wrapped around a young hawk’s ankle.Update, Saturday May 5 | A plan to intervene on the nest is being formulated by wildlife experts. Read the latest report here.
There has been a bit of drama on the red-tailed hawks’ nest overlooking Washington Square Park: the handle of a plastic bag appears to be wrapped around the ankle of one of the 3-week-old eyases. Hawk Cam fans, who have been vigilantly monitoring the activities of the raptor family, first reported the incident on Wednesday morning.
Inspecting screengrabs and live images on Thursday afternoon, several experts agreed that the baby hawk’s foot did not appear swollen. They were also optimistic that the hawk would eventually free itself.
“It may be that the hawks will deal with this themselves when they get a bit bigger,” said Dr. Elizabeth Bunting, a wildlife veterinarian at Read more…
Watching the Hawks, With an Obscured View
By EMILY S. RUEB
Two baby hawks are in the nest, but only one is visible at about 12:45 p.m.We apologize that visibility of the red-tailed hawks’ nest has been significantly reduced. The once pristine view of Washington Square Park from the 12th floor of Bobst Library has been sullied by hawk excrement.
Because they cannot leave the nest to relieve themselves, baby hawks, in order to keep from fouling the nest, lift their backsides and forcefully expel their droppings in a process known as slicing. Last year, readers dubbed the red sandstone wall beside the nest, streaked with Jackson Pollock-like splatters, “the slice wall.” In the last week, the bird’s actions have cast a frosted glaze on the window in front of the camera that takes up much of the left side of the frame. Read more…
