Adult red-tailed hawk catches a rat in Tompkins Square

This is Christo, a wild adult red-tailed hawk (in summer molt). At the time this video was shot, he was about three years old. He lives in Tompkins Square Park where there is a lot of food: rats, pigeons, squirrels, mice and small birds. Christo prefers rats and this video shows him as he hunts for one.

The squirrels in the park are large, strong and fierce. They can defend themselves and often harass the hawks. Christo will go for small squirrels, but tends to avoid the larger ones, as shown in this video.

For those who have complained about the length, I have presented the video here in its entirety as it shows the hawk's complete hunting task. I was sitting on a bench when he landed on the fence a few seconds before the video starts. I stood some distance away to give him room to do his thing. We are fortunate and thrilled to have a wild hawk right here in our urban park.

A note about the squirrels - they are all Eastern Gray Squirrels, which come in different colors: gray, black, brown, orange and blonde. They are all the same species showing different fur color just as people have different hair color. There has been a study published explaining that the black coat coloring is a recessive trait of cross-breeding with Fox Squirrels. You can read more about that here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/interspecies-breeding-responsible-some-squirrels-black-coloring-180972921/
You can also read more about the unique hawk-squirrel relationships in Tompkins Square Park here: http://www.gogginphotography.com/2020/07/hawks-and-squirrels-tough-guys-of.html

Tompkins Square Park
East Village, Manhattan, NYC
September 9, 2014

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