EAST VILLAGE, NY — The next generation of red tailed hawks is filling city parks as a successful breeding season hatches dozens of chicks.

New York City's population of the raptors has grown steadily over the past decade – with a major boost in the past few years which experts say is down to an ample supply of food. Among this year's new parents include Christo and Dora, an East Village hawk couple that has lived in and around Tompkins Square Park since 2013. Their nest is in a tall tree near the center of the park, often surrounded by birdwatchers who document their lives.

Laura Goggin, an East Village resident and photographer, has been following Christo and Dora for years. "This is a real neighborhood park and the hawks are a part of that neighborhood," Goggin said recently as she watched Dora in her nest.

Christo prepares to bring food back to the nest after hunting in Tompkins Square Park. Across the city there are at least 20 nesting hawk couples this year, according to officials at the parks department. The offspring of nesting hawks in the city aren't tracked, but experts say the could remain in the city or travel to other parts of New York or New Jersey after leaving the nest. Richard Simon, the director of the department's wildlife unit, said that birds are doing so well because the city habitat provides ample food, tree cover, clean water and nesting options.

Pale Male, Manhattan's most famous bird of prey who has perched on homes around Fifth Avenue at Central Park since the 1990s, is so beloved in the city that he's even been the subject of a children's book and movie. Pale Male is a testament to the healthy environment many hawks find in NYC; most hawks in the wild live about 10 or 12 years, but Pale Male is well into his 20s, Simon said.

But the population also faces distinctly urban problems, the most significant being rat poison. Eating just one poisoned rat can kill a hawk.



"It's definitely the biggest threat for red-tailed hawks and other raptors in New York City," said Debra Kriensky, a conversation biologist at the city's Audubon Society. The rodenticide used throughout the city is believed to poison at least two or three hawks each year, according to experts. Rodenticide poisoned Lima, one of Pale Male's mates, in 2012.