By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Riverside Park's widowed hawk mother is feeding her babies with dead rats left out by park rangers, hawk watchers say.
That's good news for those who feared for the future of the feathered family after the red-tailed hawk father was found dead recently, leaving the hawk mother to care for two newly hatched young ones herself.
"It's a great sign," said wild bird rehabilitator Bobby Horvath, who's been consulting with the Parks Department on how to help the hawk family. "It allows her more time to tend to her babies."
Horvath said rangers will need to put out more food as the young hawks grow. Right now, one rat will feed the entire hawk family, but in a few weeks, each young hawk will need about one rat per day, Horvath said.
But despite the welcome news, criticism of the Parks Department is mounting, with one wildlife blogger calling on hawk fans to email and phone Riverside Park administrator John Herrold directly to grill him on why the Parks Department placed rat poison near the hawk family's nest north of the Boat Basin Cafe.
The hawk father's cause of death hasn't been determined yet, but some suspect he died after eating a rat that had been poisoned by the Parks Department.
Urban Hawks blogger Bruce Yolton says he warned park officials weeks ago not to put out poison while the hawks had newborns poised to hatch.
In a recent posting, Yolton said he was "infuriated" when Herrold responded in an email that "We in Riverside Park are especially proud to have these beautiful creatures living in the park, and take great care to protect them."
Yolton fired back on his blog, "Absolute B.S., when you've most likely just killed one of them."
A Parks Department spokesman noted Monday that it's still not known whether the father hawk died as a result of eating a rat poisoned by the Parks Department. The Parks Department is awaiting the results of a necropsy at the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Meanwhile, the Parks Department is taking alternative steps to reduce the rat population in an effort to cut down on their reliance on poison, the spokesman said in an email.
The department is cleaning up the Dumpster area behind the Boat Basin Cafe, posting signs at playgrounds to remind park-goers not to litter, and using more mechancial traps, the spokesman said.
