UPPER WEST SIDE (PIX11) -- Bird lovers and experts warn the City that its way of killing rats could endanger the newest pair of red-tailed hawks and their babies on the Upper West Side.
Glenn Phillips, the Executive Director of the N.Y.C. Audubon Society, said the hawks are expecting hatchlings soon and rat poison nearby could kill them.
"The pair have had a lot of trouble at this nest, first a storm, then rat poison. We are hoping the park will be clean of rat poison," said Phillips.
A plastic sign near dumpsters on Riverside Drive warn pedestrians of the poison, but baby hawks are still at risk.
"Red Tail Hawks have been making a comeback in New York City, but rat poison is the number two killer of urban hawks right now, after vehicles," said Phillips.
Urbanhawks.com is a local website that tracks and photographs the hawks in New York City.
According to bird experts, the pair of hawks near the Boat Basin on 79th street will have hatchlings any day now.
A Parks Department spokesperson defends their use of rat poison and said: "Some have attributed the death of baby hawks found in Riverside in 2008 to a form of rat poison. The poison supposedly implicated is not one we use at Parks, but there remains the risk of a hawk eating a poisoned rat or feeding the meat to its young, and for this reason we are using bait more cautiously. It is our standing practice to not put out rat poison once the young hawks hatch; when we bait at other times of the year, and we do so on a very targeted basis."
To see more photos of the pair check out urbanhawks.com.
To see more photos of the pair check out urbanhawks.com.
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