Red Tail Hawk Attacks Boro Parkers Who Come too Close to her Hatching Baby Chicks

By Yehudit Garmaise

   Beware the mother bird.

    Boro Parkers who live in or near the buildings at 14th Avenue and 46th Street should stay off their roof for now.

   For the past three weeks, a red tail hawk that has been brooding her eggs in a nest on the roof of a building on 14th Avenue and 46th Street has been so protective of her babies that she has been attacking anyone who comes near them.

   Today, the baby hawks, which are called eyasses, hatched, and the mother bird is still quite agitated about their safety.

   While the hawk is not swooping down to hurt pedestrians on the street, she is, understandably, staying protectively close to her baby chicks.

   Mother birds who feel that people or animals are threatening their babies will attack, says Audubon.org. In addition, people who come too close to mother birds might disturb or harass them to the point that they abandon their nests: dooming their eggs and hatchlings.   

  Mother birds, which, of course, do not abandon their nests easily, employ a variety of tactics that distract or deter unwanted visitors, audobon.org says. 

  One passerby in the neighborhood observed, “Anyone who goes up on the rooftop is going to get attacked.”

  “It’s the beginning of summer, and birds are either sitting on eggs or already have hungry hatchlings to feed,” audubon.org explains. “This time of year is when birds are most vulnerable—and the most defensive.”

  City dwellers should understand that the consequences of getting too close to a nest can be severe.

  For instance, mother birds who feel that their babies are in danger will “dive-bomb” anyone who comes too close.

 “Dive-bombing,” audubon.org says, “is the most aggressive form of anti-predator behavior, and it’s just what it sounds like: birds fly directly at intruders to drive them away from their nests.”