Red-tailed Two

Continuing our primer from the other day, we now present a mature Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).Compared to that early sighting, this one look rather larger (even though it was higher up), making me think it was a female. Pairs of hawks should be in the bonding and mating stage in the city now. There are a good number of Red-tails within NYC; it is a surprisingly common breeder in our parks; it’s also the species you’ll see perched along the edge of the interstate more often than not. Of course, this doesn’t mean you’ll see them every day. And it won’t necessarily just be in or over the big green spaces. Buteos are soaring hawks; their wide wings are particularly conducive to circling in rising air currents. I occasionally see them sweep-circling over Sunset Park’s flatlands, just as I used to see them over the Gowanus. Neither terrain suggests great hunting possibilities, but these soaring hawks are generalists. They usually go after mammals but are not above raiding that well-stocked larder of those urban chickens, the Rock Pigeons.