MANHATTAN — After news broke Thursday that Violet, the beloved red-tailed hawk of NYU and Washington Square Park, died following surgery, bird lovers took to Twitter and Facebook to express their condolences.
"I can't stop crying," Facebook user Maggie Zimmer wrote on the page of Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation, a Long Island-based organization that cared for Violet before her death of an apparent heart attack around 3 p.m. Thursday.
"We loved Violet, and she is deserving of our grief. However I know she is in a better place."
Others paid their respects on a Twitter page set up for Violet's 7-month-old hatchling Pip after @PipTheHawk wrote Thursday, "Mom died today."
"I'm heartsick," @PFossil wrote.
@TheLadyMuse offered Pip a "big, big hug."
On Friday morning, @PipTheHawk responded: "Everybody #SQWWWWAAAk for mom. I'll miss her, but such is the cycle of life. (As I'm about to teach some squirrel.) #SQWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAk," he wrote.
Wildlife rehabilitators Cathy and Robert Horvath of WINORR captured Violet in Washington Square Park on Christmas Eve in order to treat her necrotic right leg, which dragged behind her body. Cathy Horvath said the infection in the leg was likely the result of an animal bite, causing swelling that pushed a monitoring band up her leg, ultimately worsening her condition.
A veterinarian who Cathy Horvath declined to name conducted the surgery, and performed CPR on Violet for about 20 minutes when she suffered an apparent heart attack, as DNAinfo first reported.
It remains unclear whether a necropsy will be performed on Violet's body.
Viewers of Hawk Cam, the New York Times' live web camera of Violet's nest, first noticed an injury to the bird's right leg in early May.
But a group of veterinarians, NYU administrators and members of the State Department of Environmental Conservation determined on May 12 that treating Violet could endanger her health or that of her hatchlings, according to The Times.
Violet was treated Thursday because the condition of her leg had worsened, Cathy Horvath said.
Twitter user @mylestanzer suggested that Violet died of a broken heart after her mate, Bobby, was spotted with a female bird that observers called "very energetic."
"Finding out that Violet (the NYU hawk) died after being left by her husband was the most traumatic event of 2k11," he wrote.
NYU spokesman John Beckman said in a statement Thursday night that the university was saddened by news of Violet's death.
"Violet was a beautiful and majestic hawk. It was a great privilege to have the intimate view we did into the life — and especially the motherhood — of this wild raptor," he said.
Community Board 2 chair Brad Hoylman said the death of the 5- to 6-year-old hawk leaves a void at Washington Square Park.
"In a short time, Violet became part of the unique ethos of the park, and we hope her mate and her progeny continue to make the park their home," he said.
