Camera captures birth of red-tailed hawks on window ledge

It’s a New York City “preyer” sanctuary.

A Manhattan-based photographer planted a remote-controlled GoPro in a seventh-floor apartment in the Christodora House on Avenue B overlooking the Tompkins Square Park, and wound up with priceless footage of three baby red-tailed hawks.

François Portmann, a Swiss native who moved to the city in 1986, said he first noticed two adult hawks flying together outside the apartment in November. By March, they were building their nest, Portmann said.

“It looked like they were going to start a nest because you could see some adult birds bonding. Usually, birds of prey are solitary,” said the avid birdwatcher.

The hawks built their new home on the apartment’s air conditioner and had three chicks, which hatched two weeks ago.

Portmann is now working on creating a time-lapse video of the chicks’ entire life, from when the eggs were laid in April to when they leave the nest, possibly in late June.