More Brooklyn hawks! These two–a mother and chick–are residents of Carroll Gardens. While their positions on 360 Smith Street, 340 Court Street, the Oyster Bar on Hoyt Street, Public Place and the Toll Brothers Gowanus development are unknown, we can say with 100 percent certainty that they are pro-pigeon and rodent, at least in the sense of enjoying them for dinner. The photos come from our Carroll Gardens Correspondent, who writes:
I have been watching these hawks swoop inside pigeon nests and steal babies over the years. The pigeons have nests in the cornices of the row houses across the street. Recently, I have been seeing one in the tree top in front of my window. Still not sure it was a hawk or a dove until I saw another hawk swoop in with a live mouse, its tail flipping around: a molting chick and the chick’s mother. You can see the fluffy down on the chick.
More photos below.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Queens Crapper // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:02 am
Those are American Kestrels, a type of falcon.
2 Yojimbot // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:03 am
Great…thanks for posting this. They are kestrels (a type of falcon) and not hawks though. I am studying nesting populations here in NYC…where was this exactly? I’ll add them to my list!
http://yojimbot.blogspot.com
3 Anonymous // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:04 am
Looks like either a merlin or a kestrel, but If it is eating mice, I’d say its probably a merlin. I think of kestrels as tending towards smaller things like large insects, but my birding skills are not what they use to be now that I’m a city dweller.
4 Rob Jett // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:31 am
Nice kestrel photos. There is at least one, and possibly two pairs near Prospect Park. It’s great that you keep an eye on them, but, if you find the nests, try not to post exact locations on your blog. There are a lot of knuckleheads in NYC that may not be fans of raptors.
Thanks.
5 Anonymous // Apr 16, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Excellent!! Falcons! I at first thought falcon, but thought again and said hawk. They fly around a block or so from Carroll Park. That is all I will say.