Urban Hawks

5th Avenue

I watched the nest at dusk on Friday and for about half an hour Saturday afternoon. 

On Friday, Pale Male brought prey to Lola.  He stopped twice while taking it up to the nest. Once on a balcony on a building a block south of the nest and once on a ledge on a building north of the nest.  The prey was a bird.  Once he got to the nest, Lola switched off and ate on a terrace a few blocks away.  After about half an hour she returned to the nest and Pale Male exchanged places with her on the eggs.  He then went off to the terrace to see if their were leftovers.

On Saturday, the "boys on the hawk bench", were kind enough to point out a new perch for Pale Male, on top of the building just to the north of nest.  They're doing construction by the water tower which has a large scaffold with a tarp around it.  He likes to sit on the upper right hand corner on days there are no construction workers.

Follow Up To My Bird Watching Tour Ethics Editorial

My concerns about birding tour leader ethics in Central Park elicited a huge response from readers of my blog.  That was wonderful, but even more unexpected was a positive response from NYC Audubon and the Central Park Conservancy.

The focus and debate has now shifted to “What are the correct ethics for birding in Central Park?”, “Is there science behind some of the ethics recommendations?”, “How would one write regulations to encourage and enforce proper behavior?” and “Should there be rules for commercial birding tour group leaders?”  (The American Birding Association has a detailed section in their Code of Ethics aimed specifically at tour group leaders.)

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My detailing of my concerns a few days ago, about the behavior of a tour operator in the North Woods, was not a condemnation of the use of playback to attract birds.

From what I can see, there are no thorough scientific studies about the possible effects of the use of playback to attract birds. The use of playback by birders, rather than by scientific researchers, is relatively new and hasn’t been well studied.  The general consensus among scientists seems to be that limited playback of calls for under fifteen seconds (and stopping if the bird arrives earlier), if done using common sense, poses few problems.  The feeling is that a bird will interpret the call as just another individual who entered its territory but rapidly got chased out, so that the bird may quickly return to its normal activities.

Deciding what constitutes limited and common sense is a problem, of course.  Listed below are some articles and audio dealing with the ethical issues of playback.

• Attracting Birds Using Tapes or Compact Discs by Noel J. Cutright.  PDF 1.4Mb
• SoundEthics by Sharon Stiteler, Wildbird Nov/Dec 2008.  PDF 2.4Mb
• A Birder’s Dilemma, VHF humanities Feature Bureau, August 17, 2007. Transcript, MP3 
• BirdJam Ethics Webpage, (Birdjam is a maker of software to organize bird calls on an iPod)

One of the issues for a heavily used birding hotspot like Central Park is: how do you use a bird call on a limited basis when other birders could have used playback before you? - or may use it after you?  This problem will only get worse over time, as more and more users have access to bird call recordings, and MP3 players or smart phones with speakers.

Another issue is: how to play a recording (or Pish, for that matter) in a small space like the Ramble, without disturbing birders who bird by ear?  During the spring and fall migrations, it’s not uncommon for five or six groups to be in the Ramble at the same time. So, there are etiquette issues in addition to conservation issues!

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What got me frustrated up in the North Woods last week was more complicated than just the simple playing of Screech-Owl calls.  My concerns were numerous.

1. The use of playback before the bird’s normal fly out time, so that the paying customers on the tour could see the owls in twilight.  It was painful to watch a bird that normally wakes up slowly, and flies out in a relaxed manner, instead be made to fly out rapidly, and be denied her normal post fly out preening and courtship behavior.  The difference is between a homeowner waking up on a lazy Sunday morning, and a fireman being awoken to respond to a fire alarm at 4 a.m.
2. The overuse of playback, including the extended use of it once the birds had been lured to the location of the tour leader.  I was also concerned about the intentional leading of the birds to a brightly lit road, rather than the safety of the darker woods, for the benefit of the tour.
3. The failure of the tour leader to do fieldwork on nights before and after a tour, to see if the owls could be located and viewed without the use of tapes, so that any potential stress could be reduced. My observations noted rushed fly outs, on days following any owl tours.
4. The disregard for birders who were not part of the tour, who instead of being able to watch the normal post-fly out behavior of preening and courtship quietly, had the owls whisked away to a brightly lit road full of loud birders.
5. The focus of the tour being about seeing an owl, period, rather than seeing an owl in its natural habitat and getting a chance to watch its normal behavior.  If you don’t get to see a bird’s normal behavior when you see it in the wild, why not just go to a zoo?
6. A lack of respect for the time of year.  The owls in the North Woods are a newly bonded pair.  In general, greater care is required during this time period, especially since Central Park owls have been very unpredictable about when they nest.  In past years, owls have nested over six weeks too early in Central Park.  
   Usually owl tours are held in the winter or after the owls’ offspring have fledged.  The late spring periods with fledglings are some of the safest, since the birds are roosting high in trees and can move their roost locations, if needed.
7. Most ethical owl watchers keep the location of known roost cavities to themselves, to avoid the over-birding of day sleepers.  This season’s owl tours disclosed roosting locations to scores of individuals.
8. The failure to provide a good example to younger and less experienced birders.

If you review the ABA’s Code of Ethics, you’ll find that all of these issues are covered.

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So, what to do about the issues of tour leaders who are pushing the ethical and etiquette boundaries?  And the issues of birders using playback?

Regarding commercial birding tour leaders, I do think they need to be held to a higher standard.  Once money is involved, ethical boundaries have a tendency to be tested.  Enforcing the current regulations requiring anyone using the park for commercial purposes to apply for a permit would be helpful.  As part of the permit issuing process, tour leaders could be required to abide by the ABA Code of Ethics, which would be helpful both to the wildlife and to the general birding community.  (If a tour leader wanted to organize tours that might run into conflict with the guidelines, there could be an exemption process.)

It would also be helpful to require tour leaders to submit a description and schedule of planned trips.  This would allow the Urban Park Rangers to monitor leader behavior and judge the impact tours are making on sensitive areas and species.

Some limitation is needed on audio playback of bird vocalizations.  Because of the stress already placed on birds and wildlife, just by being in an urban park, and the heavy use of the park by the bird watching community, it may make sense to ban or strongly discourage the use of playback devices to lure wildlife.  This has already been done in many refuge areas, state parks and national parks.

Short of a total ban on playback, there are some restrictions that could be put in place.

The North Woods and the Ramble already have additional restrictions since they are conservation areas.  In doing research about how regulations are worded in other parks, I came across a sentence in a Canadian National Park’s guidebook, “It is against the law to touch, entice, disturb or otherwise harass any wild animals big or small.”  Adding the word entice to current park regulations for the North Woods and the Ramble would broaden the current anti-harassment language, so as to restrict playback in these areas.

Alternatively, there could be a simple regulation that requires park patrons using playback devices to immediately stop their playback, if requested by other birders.  This would empower experienced birders to regulate the over-zealous use of playback by less experienced birders.  This would shift the balance from one of “I have a right to play tapes”, to one where the use of playback would require the consensus of all involved.

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For those who follow my blog, you know I’m a man of few words but lots of images.  If I’ve written this much, you know I really feel passionately about these issues.  Thanks for reading my rare editorial comments.

Riverside Hawks

Things seem to be just fine for the Riverside Hawks, although a rat baiting station in a small garden on the south side of Riverside and 79th Street, does have me worried.  Will rat poisons still be a problem this year?  Beyond this garden, it seems that a major source of poisons in city parks is from restaurant concessions, but there is still no legal language in their contracts to monitor/control their extermination plans.

When I arrived in the early afternoon, the male came in.  He landed on one branch, visited another with some old prey (either cached food or leftovers from his mate), and then visited the nest.  He then left and preened on a branch just north of the Boat Basin Café and flew out of sight.

Available in HD

Nest Height Change On Fifth Avenue

Below is a split shot of Lola and Pale Male's nest, the left is from last year and the right is from a few days ago.  Both were taken in March.  It looks like the nest is now an inch or two higher.  Cross your fingers for a positive outcome this year!

Riverside Female Sitting On Nest

The Riverside female Red-tailed Hawk has begun sitting on the nest north of the Boat House Café. She was there when I arrived early this afternoon.  She left briefly to copulate with the male and then returned to the nest mid-afternoon.  The male came to nest soon after the copulation with a rodent for his mate.  She eat it and then settled down into the nest.  She most likely hasn't laid eggs just yet, but she should over the next week.

When both of them are on the nest together, there are some pictures that clearly show the female's broken beak compared to the male's.  Her beak is recovering nicely and shouldn't pose a problem for the pair.  But it's great to have some side by side comparison shots.

Bird Watching Tour Ethics

I was taught by my parents that when observing wildlife one should do one’s best to avoid disturbing animals.  I also learned to never actively interact with them by feeding them or making noises. 

One of my best childhood memories is a hike in Grand Teton National Park with my family.  I must have been seven or eight and had raced ahead on the trail when I saw a bear.  Knowing what to do, I quietly went back up to the trail and told my family. My father found a spot for our family to watch from a distance, and the bear and her two cubs crossed the path and wandered across a meadow for half an hour.  I can still remember how wonderful it was to watch the bears and how hard it was to stay quiet!

I’ve been disappointed to learn that some bird watching leaders don’t follow these simple rules. It seems that bird watching tours run for profit can cross ethical boundaries in order to guarantee a successful outing for their paying group.

My first experience with this was while I was a participant in a photography workshop held in Florida by Arthur Morris.  Artie compromised standard guidelines for interacting with birds, in order to provide an optimal photographic experience.  This included feeding birds with bait, and incredibly, playing Great Horned Owl recordings at a Great Blue Heron rookery.

Over the last few weeks, I have been witnessing another breach of ethics by Dr. Robert DeCandido, Ph.D. He has been giving paid Eastern Screech-Owl tours in Central Park.  Instead of studying the owls and leading the tour discreetly through the North Woods in the dark, he actively uses sound recording to manipulate the owls and bring them to a brightly lit roadway.

The owl pair in the North Woods may be the only remaining Eastern Screech-Owls in the park – a gray female from the 2001-2002 releases and a newly introduced young red-phased male.

This is their first year together and tapes, which signal an intruder, agitate them significantly. Dr. Robert DeCandido, Ph.D., a.k.a. Birding Bob, is playing tapes two to three times a week as he leads his tours.  He is doing this during their breeding season.

This Thursday night, rather than waiting for the owls to naturally fly out and wake up, Dr. Robert DeCandio, Ph.D.  played the recordings too early.  Once he had the owls he couldn't just naturally follow them.  He had to loudly play his recording over and over again.

The recordings, which signal an intruder, are highly recommended against by the American Birding Association's Ethics Guidelines.

What bothers me the most is that Bob usually has inexperienced birders, including children and teenagers, on his walks.  He is setting the wrong example.  It is not acceptable to manipulate wildlife while observing it for recreation.

In addition, he isn't teaching them how to be owl watchers.  Because of the intrusive methods Birding Bob uses as an owl leader, his tour groups don't get to witness the fantastic behaviors I’ve seen over the last few weeks, which include fishing, worm hunting, copulation and moth hunting.

So, what to do about this? I don’t know.

Complaints to Bob, by myself and others, haven’t gotten him to stop playing his recordings.

The Parks Department has clear regulations prohibiting harassment of animals in the park. But it is unlikely to respond, since Bob has co-written a paper with senior Central Park Conservancy staff members and has been invited to speak at this year’s On A Wing lectures series.

At this point, I’m just frustrated and yearn for a simpler time, when money didn’t corrupt and boys could learn how to watch bears.

Lola and Pale Male

Lola is sitting on eggs, on her 5th Avenue nest.  The nest looks to be about an inch higher than last year.  A great sign the birds are responding to the renovations of the nest in 2008.  Let's wish them well this year!

I was birding in the Ramble, when I saw Pale Male circle the nest with food in his talons.  When I arrived, he had already left it on a nearby terrace and Lola and he had switched off.  He warmed the eggs while she eat.

Here are some pictures of her eating and a short movie of her return to the nest.

Madison Square Peregrine Falcons

Today one of my co-workers, called my office to tell me she could hear two Peregrine Falcons on the west side of my office building.  The falcons had already flown off by the time I got to her office, but from the east side of our office building, I was able to locate and photograph one of them high atop 41 Madison at 26th Street.

Riverside and Broadway

I spent the early afternoon looking at the Riverside Red-tailed Hawk pair on Saturday.  There nest is just off the Hudson River near 8st Street and looks great.  Last year they laid eggs around mid-March, so the female should start sitting on the nest soon.

Other nests in Manhattan are doing well.  Inwood Hill Park, Highbridge Park, St. John the Divine and 5th Avenue nests are doing fine.  The Highbridge nest is back to its old spot.

The Central Park South pair is still there but I don't have any details about their nest.  The Houston female lost her mate last year, and may be nesting on the ConEd plant around 14th Street.  The pair that was around the City College campus remains a mystery.

Sightings of hawks this winter around the north end of RIverside Park and around the Court House buildings on Center Street make these locations possibilities for new nests this year.

When leaving Riverside Park, check out the American Kestrels that have a scrape at 80th and Broadway.  One of them is usually on the building south of Zabar's or on the church at 79th and Broadway.

Saturday at Riverside, Nest Building

There were lots of trips to and from the nest and lots of time spend arranging the sticks.  Both hawks seemed to be eager to do the work, although the female seemed to measuring the placement of the sticks with her body and then rearranging much more than the male.

Saturday at Riverside, Gathering Sticks

Later in the afternoon, nest building resumed.  They both gathered sticks.  Sometimes breaking off tree branches and sometimes picking them up from the ground.  When they picked them up from the ground, they also engaged in a game of cat and mouse with the local squirrels.  They are being very industrious.  Last year, they started nesting mid-March, so they do need to get the nest finished soon.

Saturday at Riverside, The Normandy Level

It looks rather certain now that 81st Street by the river will be the location of this year's nest.  When I arrived Saturday afternoon, they were both high in the sky near the Normandy building.  They had spent the morning working on the nest and were taking a break.

Back To Familiar Territory At Riverside

It looks like the Riverside Red-tailed Hawk pair may be using their old nest from last summer after all.  They haven't been seen in the 90's this week, but have been building back at their old site a few blocks north of the Boat House Café.

The female was doing remodeling when I arrived late on Friday afternoon.  (Thanks to all of the Riverside birders, who emailed about the updated nest location.)