By Tom Liddy
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN - How tweet it is.
A baby red-tailed hawk defied the odds when it hatched this morning in a nest perched on an NYU building - days after the maximum incubation period reportedly expired.
One of the fledlings could be seen on a New York Times video feed from the 12th floor of the Bobst Library, on Washington Square South and Laguardia Place, emerging from its shell around 8:30 a.m.
A pair of hawks, Violet and Bobby, began caring for the eggs around March 24.
"Violet: it's about time. little ones! We have a hatchling," tweeted @NYURedtailhawks, which has been monitoring the eggs' progress.
The three speckled eggs had been all but written off after the usual incubation period of 35 days expired earlier this week, according to a report in the Times.
"No chance," breeder John Blakeman said at the time, according to the paper.
But Blakeman suggested Friday that the initial date that the eggs were spotted may have been wrong.
"It was an emotional moment because they had been written off for dead," said NYU spokesman Christopher James.
"This is totally exciting. When else do you get a chance to see this kind of nature up close?"
The school plans to hold a naming contest after all of the eggs hatch.
The good news comes days after a hawk in Riverside Park died. His death was linked to rat poison, according to early tests.
