Update: Red-tailed hawk downed at City Hall is safe, but with some trauma

The red-tailed hawk stood between two tables in front of Dilworth Plaza Café like a broken sentinel.

One wing splayed awkwardly until the apparently injured bird managed to tuck it back into place.

A man with a phone crept to within a foot of the raptor, grinning as he snapped photo after photo. With lowered voices, people tried to encourage the man to move away to protect the bird.

The small avian drama unfolded Tuesday in front of Philadelphia’s City Hall, drawing the curious and spurring Center City District (CCD) workers to keep tabs on the bird during a bustling lunch hour. Demonstrators protesting budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency marched by, most unaware of the bird’s plight.

The hawk’s distress drew a small, concerned crowd. Other onlookers pulled out phones, but remained distant, taking photos or videos of the injured bird — a rare chance to get within feet of a raptor in the city.

Crystal Reev, of West Philly, and her son, EJ, were seated nearby in the sun.

“He might be thirsty,” Reev said. “We don’t know how long he’s been flying and maybe he’s crying out for help. Just like humans can cry out for help, animals can too, right?”

Reev thought someone should bring the bird water, but a worker from CCD, a business improvement district, urged people to keep their distance.

Joyce Howell, executive vice president of AFGE Council 238, which represents local EPA workers, was helping coordinate the protest when she too spotted the hawk. Howell dialed 911, which instructed her to call a rescue group.

Howell tried to call the rescue group, but could not get through. So she approached a CCD worker, who said he would attempt to contact a person trained in animal rescue.

“It’s such a beautiful animal,” Howell said.

The bird remained on the ground for about half an hour. The hawk then attempted to fly away. But as soon as he was aloft, he was attacked by other birds, including what appeared to be a falcon.

An aerial display of raptor might ensued. The injured hawk, unable to continue flying under bombardment, sought refuge atop the Dilworth Plaza Café where he remained, occasionally peeking over the edge.

CCD workers brought a ladder to climb to the roof of the café and check on the bird, which huddled just below.

The bird was rescued by John Crichton, manager of public safety operations for CCD, as well as Raymond Nardi, also with CCD.

The bird was removed by Barbara Miller, a volunteer with Wildlife In Need, a Pennsylvania-based animal rescue organization. At the time, she was also performing volunteer work for the nonprofit Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Miller drove the hawk to the center.

According to Mae Axelrod, a spokesperson for the center, the 1-year-old male raptor is being cared for at the wildlife clinic there.

“He sustained some minor head trauma and has some ocular damage and we’re treating those injuries,” Axelrod said.

Axelrod was told by Sydney Glisan, assistant director at the clinic, that the bird has a good chance of recovering. The hawk is getting eye drops and pain treatment at the center’s outdoor aviary where he can exercise his flight muscles. He’ll be released when staff thinks he’s ready.

Although the exact details of what happened to the hawk remain unknown, Axelrod said it is likely that the bird ventured too close to a peregrine falcon nest and suffered an attack.

“Red-tailed hawks are partial migrants,” Axelrod said. “So this hawk was probably flying through the wrong place at the wrong time.”