Happy news for hawk worry-warts

Photo by Bruce Yolton
[Check out bulge at top of chest -- the sign of a recent meal]

For those of you worried that because of late fledging, the Trump Park youngsters are not getting enough to eat, here's a message from one of the core hawkwatchers, Bruce Yolton:


If anything the Fledglings are being feed all too well by Junior! Dad brings them lots of food, so much so that this weekend and Monday hardly any begging sounds were heard. Everyone in the core group has witnessed a feeding or two. Last night [8/2/05] it was a pigeon for Little, which he stripped clean. These hawks have plenty of food and are so big. They both look fully grown and beefy. The old guard keeps saying "look at their chests, you can see they just had a meal".

Despite fears that food might be scarce for these two late fledglings, Junior has brought a wide variety of meals, sometimes as close as two hours apart. There are lots of mice and rats along the subway vents next to Central Park West and the Columbus Circle area has an endless supply of pigeons. If anything, the late fledge has made it easier on these two children. Although they have had a few robins and blue jays annoyed with them, there has been none of the aggressive mobbing behavior usually seen earlier in the year. There are simply no nesting robins or jay chicks needing protection this late in the year. So, both fledglings have been able to enjoy lazy summer afternoons with full bellies.