NEST OF WORRY
Clues sought in spate of city hawk deaths
BIRD-LOVERS are squawking about a mystery involving some high-flying Manhattanites.
Almost half a dozen hawks have been found dead in and around Manhattan parks in recent weeks, prompting fears that they were poisoned. “It’s a cluster, and that’s a concern,” said Bobby Horvath, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. “These are birds that just died. They were not hit by a car or flew into a building.”
Officials at the state Department of Environmental Conservation said they are awaiting test results on some of the birds, and couldn’t yet say how they died.
But bird-watchers and experts fear the hawks may have ingested poison second-hand by eating sick rodents or pigeons.
“It’s easy prey,” said Horvath. “They see a mouse stumbling or a pigeon flopping and don’t realize it’s weak because it ate poison.”
Local bloggers and bird-watchers have been chronicling the hawk deaths through February and March. One of them was Lima, the mate of celebrity hawk Pale Male, who made headlines when he roosted on a Fifth Ave. building.
Earlier this month, a female hawk that had been a favorite of bird watchers in Riverside Park was found dead. Just a few days earlier, the body of another hawk was discovered near Columbus Circle. And around March 18, a dead hawk was found by residents near Peter Cooper Village on the lower East Side.
“I would imagine the life of an urban hawk is probably pretty rough,” said Michael Shanley, director of exhibits at the Staten Island Children’s Museum. “Raptors rely on stealth, and unfortunately in Manhattan it’s hard to be stealthy with all the stimulation going on.”
Parks Department officials said they are careful not to load up parks with rat poison. “We value our wildlife and work diligently to create the necessary balance between public health and safety, and wildlife health and safety,” said Parks’ First Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanagh. “Out of concern for the resident red-tailed hawks in Central and Riverside Park, poisoned bait is not currently used.”
But Horvath and Shanley said the hawks may be picking up their poisoned prey outside of parks. “They are birds, they fly,” said Shanley. “They are going to go where they can find food and you just don’t know where.”