Susan Kirby

The first red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) I saw in Central Park,on January 20, 2018, was a juvenile. The young first-winter hawk was eating a rat near Laupot Bridge. At first I thought it was a Cooper's hawk, given the streaking down the front, but the large size of the hawk and the fact it was eating a rat rather than a bird made me wonder. Several birders later confirmed that this youngster was indeed a red-shouldered hawk.

A Young Red-Shouldered Hawk Visits Riverside Park

In early February 2024, a juvenile red-shouldered hawk visited Riverside Park and spent some time near West 98th Street hunting and generally looking very fierce, as only a juvenile buteo can do. The bird had been seen on Sunday, February 4, so when I got a chance to look for the hawk on February 6, I was thrilled my friend Tahj was watching him in a tree near the playground. The bird went from tree to tree for more than an hour, and gave us really good looks. We didn’t see him catch anything, but he did seem pretty healthy, so seemed to be eating.

The music used in the video is: Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (two variations), performed by Kimiko Ishizaka. Frédéric Chopin's Etude, Op. 10, No. 2, in A minor. Etude, Op. 10, No. 5, in G flat major Etude, and Op. 10, No. 10, in A flat major, performed by Chiara Bertoglio, and Chopin's Etude, Op. 25, No. 1, in A flat major, performed by Donald Betts.

We have since had a second hawk that many believe is also a juvenile red-shouldered hawk. We're not sure, but perhaps these photos will help from March 13, 2018.

This is the first red-shouldered I saw, on January 20, 2018.

The Chasing the Hawks in Central Park video is pretty graphic in its depiction of hawk dining on rat. As with most of my hawk videos, there is no sound.

All the photos below were taken January 20, 2018, near Laupot Bridge in Central Park.