Little Stick Hawk

Originally published February 29, 2016

This little hawk has been visiting Central Park for at least two weeks. The youngster hangs out around Strawberry Fields and the Bandshell, until chased out of those areas by the Beresford hawks. The hawk got the nickname because one day after getting harassed by blue jays and moving up several branches in a tree, he pulled off a small branch and flew to another tree, where he proceeded to flip it around with his talons, then wave it around in his beak. After several minutes of playing with the branch, he dropped it. You could almost read his mind as he looked down: "I dropped my stick. I dropped my stick. Now what?" His decision: to fly north over Bow Bridge, into the Ramble.

For more photos of Stick, visit the Red-Tailed Hawks page.

This Silly Video shows Stick from Feb. 3 through Feb. 23 as the youngster tries to survive in Central Park despite the blue jays and adult hawks that harass him. You can see how Stick got his name in the video on the Red-Tailed Hawks page.