Red-tailed hawk ‘Taxi’ soars after 4 days of TLC

Give Taxi a medallion for resilience.

The red-tailed hawk, wounded and plucked from the side of the FDR Drive by a cabbie, soared Saturday into the gray November sky above Central Park after four days of avian TLC from local bird whisperer Rita McMahon.

"She took off with strength, and that is what we want to see,” McMahon said after bringing the bird to the park. “I always worry. I still worry.”

The hawk, less than a year old and weighing just over 2 pounds, was immediately dubbed “Taxi” after the Tuesday rescue by the cabbie. The anonymous hack loaded the bird into the front seat, steering with one hand while clutching the hawk with the other.

Taxi was likely knocked for a loop after bouncing off a Manhattan high-rise. The cabbie drove to Brooklyn and turned Taxi over to a cop, who had the bird delivered to McMahon’s Wild Bird Fund in Manhattan.

GREGG VIGLIOTTI Bird whisperer Rita McMahon (far left) of the Wild Bird Fund releases red-tailed hawk Taxi (also above) at Central Park on Saturday with aid from Jackson Guthart. Bird got name after rescue by a cab driver last week.