Hawk Release

I received a call from Bobby this afternoon regarding the St. Agnes Church Red-tailed Hawk. The feisty male hawk was ready to be released and Animal Care & Control was coming by his place to pick it up.

Wildlife rescuers try to release animals as close to where they were picked up as possible, so I told Bobby to have Mike of Animal Care & Control call me when he got to Brooklyn. A Prospect Park release made much more sense than Redhook, where he was picked up. I directed him to the 4th Street entrance of the park. From there we'd bring the hawk to the Long Meadow for release. Most of the Red-tailed Hawks I've come in contact with over the years have been very mellow individuals, but this one was another story. When Mike lifted the towel that was covering the front of the animal carrier, it jumped towards me, talons first. Good thing there was a gate in between us. He seemed more like a snarling junkyard dog than one of our chillin' Brooklyn raptors. When Mike set the carrier down on the grass at the edge of the meadow, this hawk wanted OUT and he wanted it NOW! I guess being cooped up in a church attic for 5 days with a bunch of pigeons drove him over the edge. Here's a video of the event:

I don't imagine this hawk is going to be following a flock of pigeons inside a building anytime in the near future.