RED TAILED HAWKS- Nest Building

This time of year, Red Tailed hawk chicks are being hatched in nests that their parents have constructed from local materials. Where? Well, among other places, in the wilds of New York City. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.

Marie Winn is the author of Red Tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama in Central Park. Her book tells the true story of a family of Red Tailed hawks that built their nest on a window ornament outside the twelfth floor of a New York City apartment building. She explains how the nest was made.

“Every single stick in that nest that you see up here was not just picked up off the ground and plunked in there, but was carefully broken off at a certain length and then carried to the nest. And it’s not even that simple that they’ll break it off and bring it to the nest; they have a sort of procedure where they’ll break of a stick, fly towards the nest; then they’ll fly about a block south; then they’ll fly about a block north, make a little circle and then zip in to their nests with their stick. This must be some something that evolved to keep predators from seeing where their nest is.

“After they have brought the twigs in they get different kinds of material for lining the nest. They’re out breaking off twigs anymore, they’re picking up some grasses and lots of paper and plastic we saw them bringing in and once we saw them bringing in a square of linoleum that somebody had discarded around here. And I remember a hawk watcher saying ‘Oh they’re redecorating the kitchen.'”

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

RED TAILED HAWKS- Nest Building

Two avian urbanites scour Central Park for the materials of nest building.
Air Date:05/21/1999
Scientist:
Transcript:

This time of year, Red Tailed hawk chicks are being hatched in nests that their parents have constructed from local materials. Where? Well, among other places, in the wilds of New York City. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.

Marie Winn is the author of Red Tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama in Central Park. Her book tells the true story of a family of Red Tailed hawks that built their nest on a window ornament outside the twelfth floor of a New York City apartment building. She explains how the nest was made.

"Every single stick in that nest that you see up here was not just picked up off the ground and plunked in there, but was carefully broken off at a certain length and then carried to the nest. And it's not even that simple that they'll break it off and bring it to the nest; they have a sort of procedure where they'll break of a stick, fly towards the nest; then they'll fly about a block south; then they'll fly about a block north, make a little circle and then zip in to their nests with their stick. This must be some something that evolved to keep predators from seeing where their nest is.

"After they have brought the twigs in they get different kinds of material for lining the nest. They're out breaking off twigs anymore, they're picking up some grasses and lots of paper and plastic we saw them bringing in and once we saw them bringing in a square of linoleum that somebody had discarded around here. And I remember a hawk watcher saying 'Oh they're redecorating the kitchen.'"

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.