Tompkins Square Fledgling Trouble

I received an email with a link to a "funny" Red-tailed Hawk story. A desperately hungry fledgling red-tail wandered into a restaurant near Tompkins Square Park looking for something to eat.

When Red-tailed Hawks first leave the nest they are a bit clueless and do not fear humans. The hawk in question actually jumped up on the writer's table and grabbed his BBQ chicken. You can read the entire story here. It was clear to me (especially after viewing the second photo) that this bird was in trouble. It looked thin and hadn't been preening its feathers, or at least not very well. I sent an email to a recently created discussion group about NYC raptors, expressing my concern. The park rangers were contacted and someone went over to Tompkins Square Park to search for the poor thing. This morning I received the following note:

From: Richard Simon
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009

Just wanted to let you know that the bird from the [Tompkins] square park area was brought by someone to Animal General. It was identified by their staff as a red tail. I am not sure what its current condition is. We are awaiting a call back [from] Animal General.