Red-Tailed Hawk/Illegal Drone Incident Highlights Concerns About Birds In Prospect Park
The Brooklyn Bird Club was founded in 1909, with a mission to encourage and promote birdwatching and conservation in Brooklyn and beyond.
The club is extremely active, with regularly scheduled walks in the park, and a sighting blog that provides details for the many birds that migrate through and live in Prospect Park.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Rob Bate — Brooklyn Bird Club’s President — was the one who witnessed two red-tailed hawks attack an illegally flying drone on Wednesday, November 18 in Prospect Park.
“They were really upset,” said Bate, in article about the incident reported by DNAinfo. “They see a drone in the air, they take it as a competitive predator, like another hawk that’s coming into their territory. And [the drone] doesn’t behave right and it doesn’t go away and they get more excited. And they were going after it.”
DNAinfo explains that “flying any unmanned aircraft is illegal in all Brooklyn parks except Calvert Vaux Park and Marine Park, according to the Prospect Park Alliance and the city Department of Parks.”
This particular incident — which calls significant attention to the conflicts that occur between nature and technology — is part of a series of other concerns that birders have with the protection of many varieties of birds that are present in the park.
“Prospect Park is an ecological gem and the restoration of the woodlands and wild spaces has been a great benefit to the many migrating songbirds who depend on this Important Bird Area (IBA) twice a year,” says Bate.
Bate explains that because of the great concentration of migrating songbirds, Prospect Park is becoming an international destination for birding enthusiasts. “We are at a crossroads of their migration. After passing through our area, birds will then fan out to northern New England and Canada.”
When asked about other incidents or concerns he and the birding community has, he brought up that there are some dogs that are let off-leash in areas where it is not allowed.
“New York City is right in the area of the Atlantic Flyway, a major area of migration on the Eastern seaboard,” says Bate. “The birds are looking for a place to land and feed. And when they land, they are exhausted. Some can’t even hold their wings up. If they are harassed at this point, it is dangerous for them.”
Bate invites anyone with interest in learning about birds and conservation to visit their website. “We’re in the middle of updating it,” says Bate. “We have a number of walks that we do mostly during migration. We’ve been involved in the Christmas Bird Count for 116 years.”
Bate recommends the movie Birders: The Central Park Effect for those who want to learn about bird populations and migration in parks in New York City.
DNAinfo also points out that if a parkgoer witnesses a drone being flown in the park, the Prospect Park Alliance encourages them to report it to Brooklyn Parks Enforcement Patrol Office at 718-437-1350 or the NYPD.
Dogwalking rules are available on the Prospect Park website. In addition, FIDO has listed a breakdown of off-leash rules as well.