Hawks find a home in the wilds of New York

[Kris G.]

Hawks Find a Home in Wilds of New York


(Jan. 29) -- The streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side will never be confused with a nature preserve. But neighborhood residents are buzzing over recent sightings of a majestic red-tailed hawk -- possibly the same one that hatched three eggs on a school air-conditioning unit two years ago.

"Last Sunday there were quite a few sightings," said Bill Tatton, a custodian at P.S. 188.

Tatton worked with professional photographer Francois Portmann to document the nesting, egg-laying, hatching and first flights of the three red-tailed hawk fledglings at the school on East Houston Street in 2008. They produced more than 120 photographs now on display .

Lola, the mate of famous red-tailed hawk Pale Male, perches on a tree in New York's Central Park after her nest was removed from a building in December, 2004. Birds lovers are encouraged by sightings of more hawks in the city lately."It's that time of year," added Tatton, a Bronx native who moonlights as a musician. "Time for them to be looking for a place to make their nest."

The school, wedged into a long file of housing projects along the East River, may seem to be an unlikely place for hawks to nest. Yet hawks and other birds of prey are no strangers to the neighborhood -- or the city at large. For years, the red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola made worldwide news as they nested on a pricey Fifth Avenue co-op uptown and dazzled visitors to nearby Central Park.

"It wouldn't be surprising if the female came back to the Lower East Side, especially if she had chicks there before," said Sarah Aucoin, director of the city's Urban Park Rangers. She estimated there are hundreds of hawks in the city on a given day, some passing through, others setting up permanent residence. The city, she noted, is also home to coyotes, wild turkeys, bald eagles, peregrine falcons and beavers.

Down on the Lower East Side, things tend to be a bit more raw than they are on upper Fifth Avenue. Just ask Miguel Cano, who supervises El Jardin del Paraiso, one of the neighborhood's many community gardens. Cano has watched hawks and falcons make meals out of the garden's animal populace, including chickens, ducks and bunnies. It's no mystery to him why red-tailed hawks are also known as "chicken hawks."

"Kids come from the school next door and the neighborhood to feed the bunnies and chickens," Cano said. "These are my pets. But the hawk wants to eat. Hey, we all gotta survive."

But city prey can be dangerous for the hawks, too. Three of P.S. 188's baby hawks became ill from eating pigeons infected with parasites back in 2008. Bobby Horvath, a city firefighter who also runs Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation out of his home on Long Island, helped nurse one back to health. Its two siblings died. The father was later found sick and near death at a construction site on the nearby FDR Drive.

Which makes Tatton, the school custodian, all the more thrilled that the mother may be back in the neighborhood. "We're hoping that's her," he said. "It's time for her to make a try at another family."

Bill Morris -contributor