Hawkeye and Rose

First Fledge Day, 2007, Mama Rose has a bite plus tempts her newly fledged youngster to a safer spot with food. That is she had a bite before the fledgling leapt over, she took flight to get out of the way, and he had the dinner.

From Chris Lyons, one of the chief watchers of Hawkeye and Rose over numerous seasons, including those during their nest tending on the pediment of Collins Hall at Fordham, has some thoughts and some hawk history for us--

Hawkeye and Rose have left the campus. At least they aren't using their nest on Collins Hall. I hadn't had much time to check on them lately (I was away during the period they'd normally start incubating), but I was hearing from others that there was no activity there. I went up on the roof of Dealy Hall to look down on the nest, and noted a lack of fresh conifer branches--the only spot of green came from wild onions growing out of the decaying sticks from last season. I wondered if the nearby construction of new dorm buildings (several hundred feet away) had been enough of a disturbance to them to make them go elsewhere--even though the disturbance was nowhere near what Pale Male & Lola or the Cathedral Hawks have endured in the past. Hawkeye and Rose aren't Manhattan Red-Tails, and their tolerance levels may not be as high.

Then Bruce Yolton brought this to my attention--a new nest at the New York Botanical Garden, in a very familiar-looking spot--

http://www.nybg.org/wordpress/?p=2205

I have not been able to get a close look at the adults using this nest, and I can't currently confirm they're Hawkeye and Rose. But looking at the location of the nest, the type of human structure it's built upon, and the profusion of coniferous branches on top of it, I can only assume it's one or both of them--and I have no reason to think they'd abandon their territory, of which Fordham is just one part.

If they are the pair using this Botanical Garden nest, this would be their sixth known breeding season--

2004: Nested on a fire escape on Creston Avenue, just west of the Grand Concourse, near Fordham Rd. Hatched two eyasses, who were then removed and sent to a rehabilitator, who released them upstate. Rose was found injured shortly afterwards, and taken to Bobby Horvath, who released her some weeks later, in the same location she was found, where she was reunited with Hawkeye.

2005: Nested fairly low in an oak tree near the Walsh Library on the Fordham campus, raised and fledged two young.

2006: Moved to the pediment atop Collins Hall on the campus, raised and fledged three young.

2007: Ditto.

2008: The same again.

2009: The saga continues....?

Now here's where it gets interesting, and this is why I'm not surprised at all that they moved to the NYBG. See, back in 2004 (and I believe 2005 as well), there was a completely different pair of Red-Tails nesting at the NYBG--on the same building, I believe, though on a window ledge, not a pediment.

In 2006, that nest became inactive, much to the disappointment of people working at the Mertz Library (I can relate). It was also in 2006 that I saw Hawkeye and Rose get into a shouting match with another adult Red-Tail, who got very close to their new nest on Collins Hall, before Hawkeye chased him off. This was presumably one of many territorial battles between the two local pairs, whose territories shared a border. When Hawkeye and Rose were nesting on Creston Avenue, the nest sites were far enough apart to avoid serious problems, but they then proceeded to annex the Fordham campus, moving their nest further to the east in two successive years--and now they were definitely too close for comfort. Somebody had to move.

What happened to the original NYBG pair is hard to say--my guess is that they ceded at least part of Bronx Park to the redoubtable Hawkeye and Rose. But most of that story will never be known.

So assuming this is the same pair that nested at Fordham, they were clearly hunting in the Botanical Garden with impunity by 2008, and may have even built a preliminary nesting platform on the Mertz Library--then opted to nest on Collins Hall for a third straight season.

Then there was a large noisy construction project near their old digs (it couldn't have helped). Food on the campus may have become less plentiful, in no small part due to their success as predators--and the Botanical Garden is a much richer habitat (there are Eastern Chipmunks there, for one thing--ideal Red-Tail prey).

And the fact is, most Red-Tails are not loyal to the same nest-site year after year. Pale Male has been the distinct exception in this regard. In the overwhelming majority of cases, Red-Tailed Hawks will change the location of their nest every few years, even if they have enjoyed perfect reproductive success at the existing location. Even if it's a nest on a building. The pediment on Collins Hall had proven to be a near-perfect location for a nest--but they had a very similar pediment to nest on at the Mertz Library, which for them is just a few wing-flaps away. I hate to say it, but moving was a no-brainer. And these two have repeatedly proven to possess exceptionally sharp and sensible hawk-brains,


2007-Hawkeye and Rose's nest on the pediment of Collins Hall, Fordham, complete with eyasses napping in the corner. The third had made her break off the nest earlier in the day.

Then there was a large noisy construction project near their old digs (it couldn't have helped). Food on the campus may have become less plentiful, in no small part due to their success as predators--and the Botanical Garden is a much richer habitat (there are Eastern Chipmunks there, for one thing--ideal Red-Tail prey).

And the fact is, most Red-Tails are not loyal to the same nest-site year after year. Pale Male has been the distinct exception in this regard. In the overwhelming majority of cases, Red-Tailed Hawks will change the location of their nest every few years, even if they have enjoyed perfect reproductive success at the existing location. Even if it's a nest on a building. The pediment on Collins Hall had proven to be a near-perfect location for a nest--but they had a very similar pediment to nest on at the Mertz Library, which for them is just a few wing-flaps away. I hate to say it, but moving was a no-brainer. And these two have repeatedly proven to possess exceptionally sharp and sensible hawk-brains,

So that's where it stands. I can't visit the new nest very often, so I'm not going to be posting regular reports. There is no equivalently good higher vantage point to observe the Mertz Library nest, so photography will be more challenging. I will try to confirm that these Red-Tails are the same ones I've been watching for the past four years. And whoever they are, I wish them luck. Even if they're not nesting directly on the campus, they would still very much consider Fordham part of their domain, and thus I still reckon myself one of their subjects. Long may they reign.

Anyway, I just found out today that a pair of American Robins are building a nest right outside my office--I can turn around and watch them from my desk. One door closes, another opens. ;)

Chris Lyons

Chris, as you say one door closes another opens but still, I'll miss your wonderful reports concerning Hawkeye and Rose, as I'm sure, though we know they know best, you will miss seeing them as frequently as you did in the past. Collins Hall had turned into one of the best, if not the best spot for RT nest observation in the city. Who knows what might happen in a year or two. They might well decide it was time to move back in.

It would be lovely if you could clarify whether it is Hawkeye and Rose in the NYBG as you're one of the few who know them well enough to do it. Also thank you so much for the wonderful Hawk History of Hawkeye and Rose.

As to the Robins, how nicely handy of them to allow you to make observations from your office chair. I must say, I enjoyed the accessible nest of Robins I watched a year or two ago very much.

Best,

Donna

Dear Readers,

If you didn't click on the link while reading through, do it. The new nest site's shape and position is quite fascinating.

Something else I noticed during my visit, the hawk pictured, if that is indeed one of the hawks building the nest on the Library Building, is neither Hawkeye or Rose.

The bird is too young.

Look at her eyes. Those eyes belong to most likely a two or three year old Red-tail. (John Blakeman could make a more precise estimate, I'm betting.) But whatever that birds exact age, any bird with light eyes cannot be either Hawkeye or Rose as they're more than twice that age.

I'm wondering if this could be a young adult who fledged from the pediment of Collins Hall, and found the new nest site to be pretty darn close to "just like home". I'd much rather that, or a pair who came to similar conclusions about their criteria as Hawkeye and Rose did, than the other worrisome possibility which may also have entered other's heads as well as mine.

D.B.