Chicks from hawk nest at New York University fledge, learn to fly over Washington Square Park
(c) Greg Saulmon 2012
Click to enlarge. (c) Greg Saulmon 2012
The baby hawks from the well-publicized nest on the 12th floor of New York University’s library fledged Monday, and on Wednesday I was lucky enough to run across one of the chicks taking some short practice flights around Washington Square Park.
The chick had found itself atop the park’s landmark arch. Still a little unsteady on its feet, the young hawk cartwheeled and scrambled along the edge of the arch before taking a leap of faith and flying to a nearby building.
The hawks have been the subject of a “nest cam” run by The New York Times, and the newspaper’s City Room blog has closely followed the lives of the adult hawks and the development of the chicks — nicknamed “Boo” and “Scout” by readers.
The chicks hatched April 9 and 10, putting them about 10 days older than the Race Street Red-tails back in Holyoke. I’d estimated that those chicks will fledge around June 4.
The Times blog recently carried a thorough FAQ on fledging by New York City’s Audubon Society chapter.
The Birds Downtown 
Gorgeous blog! I’m glad I came across it. I blog about the Washington Square Park Red-tailed Hawks at http://rogerpaw.blogspot.com/ in case you were curious how the little ones (and the parents Bobby and Rosie of course) are doing. All the best to you and yours!
Thanks so much, Roger.
I ran across your blog a while back and really enjoyed it. I felt pretty lucky to have been in the city to catch a glimpse of this year’s fledglings. You’ve done an amazing job documenting them.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for the work you’re doing in NYC! I’ll be adding you to my blogroll.