1 more Presidio hawk prepares to leave nest
The San Francisco hawk family whose home 100 feet up a eucalyptus tree has been featured in a live webcam since March is down to one fledgling: a juvenile hawk about to take wing.
The hawk’s sibling left the nest in San Francisco’s Presidio for the first time Thursday morning, and the remaining juvenile is likely to leave in the next day or two, said Jon Young, wildlife ecologist at Presidio Trust, the agency that manages the national park at a former military base.
“This is the time of year where people in San Francisco will see lots of raptors,” said Young, who added that it’s also fledgling season for other wild raptors like great-horned owls. “There’s going to be a big influx of juveniles flying around the city.”
In the web cam, you can watch the fledgling nap, groom himself, practice flapping his wings and gaze pensively over the edge of the nest. The live feed includes the sounds of the urban-verging-on-wild atmosphere around the nest, including children playing, trucks backing up and the wind picking up in the afternoon.
The hawks’ mother is a long-time resident of the Presidio that has been raising chicks, called eyas, in San Francisco since 2009 or 2010, Young said. She laid two eggs this spring, one of which hatched over Easter weekend and the other a few days later. Over time, the eyas grew from tiny fluff balls whose mother carefully fed them bits of meat to full-feathered birds who can eat rodents on their own — after their parents deliver the moles and mice.
“They’re little dinosaurs,” said Young, who watches the webcam and also can see the nest with binoculars from his house (he won’t disclose the location). “Eventually the mom is giving them the prey and letting them tear it apart. They’ve been learning the basics.”
On Thursday, Young was alerted that the first fledgling had left the nest, so he went over to the site. By listening for its high-pitched scream, he found it in a nearby tree.
“That’s a really good sign,” he said. “It’s learning how to fly but sometimes they end up on the road. They can get eaten by other animals or run over by a car.”
If that happens, Young picks up the birds and, if they’re injured, will take them to WildCare, an animal hospital in San Rafael, which has rehabilitated birds and released them back into the Presidio.
Once fledged, the juveniles will likely go back and forth to the nest, which is the meeting place for the family, for a couple of months, Young said. Until they can fully hunt on their own, they depend on their parents for food.
Keeping an eye on the fledglings this time of year is nerve-wracking, he said.
“I’m watching them dancing on the edge and thinking how dangerous it is,” he said. “They’ll be jumping around and I’m just waiting to have to go out there to stop traffic and get it safely somewhere.”