Red-tailed Hawk Release

"Pip" has been given another lease on his short life. In May of 2012 this small male Red-tailed Hawk fell out of his nest in Prospect Park. He wasn't flighted yet and wildlife rehabbers Bobby and Cathy Horvath took care of him until he was healthy enough to be returned to his nest. Unfortunately, by that time his parents had left the nest area. As an alternative Bobby brought the young raptor to Big Mama and Junior's nest in Green-Wood Cemetery knowing that the adults would easily adopt this youngster as one of their own. They already had two nestlings and, almost immediately, began feeding him along with their biological offspring. Pip eventually fledged along with his foster siblings and continued to be seen around Green-Wood Cemetery and Prospect Park (he has a band on his left leg). Then on February 28th of this year Bobby received a call from Animal Care and Control. They responded to a call about an injured Red-tailed Hawk at Ocean and Church Avenues in Brooklyn. He had band number 1967-05898 on his left leg. It was Pip. From Bobby:

"He has blood in his throat and head trauma indicating a collision with something but nobody saw anything. He's in decent flesh and good feather meaning it was a recent incident and was probably doing fine before this."

Bobby called me on Wednesday to let me know that Pip was given a clean bill of health and was ready to go home. We arranged to meet Thursday late in the afternoon at Green-Wood Cemetery. Here is a short video of the release: