Westwood’s two newest residents never have to deal with
freeway traffic on the way home.
Two red-tailed hawks are starting to build a nest at the top of
the Fox Tower on Westwood’s Mann Village movie theater,
mirroring a worldwide trend of birds of prey migrating into urban
areas.
Viewing the nest up close is difficult because of the
tower’s height, but it appears to be similar to the one
constructed by hawks Pale Male and Lola above New York City’s
Central Park, which has been home to 23 hatchlings over 11
years.
The two Westwood hawks began constructing their new residence
about a week and a half ago, but no one knows where they came from
or why they decided to build a nest in the middle of urban
Westwood.
Mann Theatres, the owner of the building, is looking into the
situation to decide what to do.
“We’re going to respect what stage the nest is at
and are getting experts’ advice on the best course
forward,” said Peter Dobson, chief executive officer of Mann
Theatres.
Federal law and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act make it illegal to
move or disturb nests with young by birds protected under the act,
which includes the hawks.
“Because they’re federally protected, you
can’t touch them,” said Wendell Bowers, captain of
animal services for Los Angeles Animal Control. “You
can’t remove the nest until after the season when the young
have learned to fly.”
Experts say hawks are being sighted in cities increasingly in
recent years.
“In the last 20 to 30 years, many birds of prey have moved
into the suburbs and cities. It’s a national and global
trend,” said UCLA geography Professor Hartmut Walter.
The hawks are moving into urban areas because cities provide
everything they need to live and survive, he said.
“In West Los Angeles we have a lot of trees and backyards,
and in Westwood there’s the cemetery, which is a good hunting
ground. There’s plenty of food for birds in the urban
environment,” Walter said.
The Central Park hawks’ success of raising 23 chicks
within 11 years is unusual, and it isn’t likely for the
Westwood hawks to have so many fledglings, he said.
“It would be impressive if they can fledge more than one
of the young,” Walter said, explaining that not all the eggs
hatch, the runts generally don’t survive, and many fall out
of the nest.
Dobson said that Mann Theatres was doing its best in the current
situation.
“We’re going to make sure the babies are OK,”
he said.
The New York Central Park nest was removed in December 2004 for
reasons that are unclear, but one possible reason comes from
complaints New York residents had voiced about hawk droppings.
City officials and naturalists were angered upon the removal of
the nest, and the metal spikes that housed the nest were quickly
replaced to encourage the two hawks to rebuild their home.
Westwood patrons say they don’t anticipate the hawks
causing a problem.
Third-year political science UCLA Extension student Nic
McConnell said he had come to study in the area beneath Fox Tower
almost every day in the past week and had not been hit with any
bird droppings.
Others were entirely oblivious to their avian neighbors’
presence, but welcomed the feathered newcomers.
“The tower is such an old structure with lots of history,
and it’s neat that the hawks are living up there,” said
Lynn North, a visitor passing through Westwood Village.
McConnell said the uncommon company of hawks “adds a lot
of character” to the area around the Fox Tower.
“It’s been forever since I’ve seen any
wildlife here,” he said.
Since the hawks’ nest was being built at the top of the
tower, North said that the hawks would be unlikely to intrude on
people’s space and could enjoy Westwood’s events from a
bird’s-eye view.
“They’re far enough away from people, and they can
watch all the (movie) premieres from up there,” she said.