About
It all started in 2011 when two hawks decided to build their nest on the 12th floor of Bobst Library, right outside the window of the NYU president at the time, John Sexton. The male hawk was named Bobby (after Bobst Library) and the female hawk was named Violet (after NYU's school color). They attracted a lot of attention and drew in many viewers after the New York Times' City Room set up a webcam, with NYU's permission, to livestream the events at the nest.
Violet had laid three eggs, but when the eggs didn't hatch after a certain amount of days, experts began to think that the eggs were unviable. Then, the unexpected happened when one day, one of them had hatched despite what the experts said. The little baby hawk was named Pip. The other two eggs never hatched.
Amidst the excitement surrounding Pip's arrival to the world, there was something wrong with Violet's leg, which had become swollen. She was having trouble walking around and a metal bird band that was on her leg didn't help with that. There was talk about a plan for wildlife rehabilitators to capture her, treat her injuries, and return her to the nest as fast as possible, but NYU decided not to go through with the plan, which caused a lot of controversy among viewers.
Bobby and Violet successfully raised Pip from an eyass to a fledging juvenile hawk. However, Violet was still having problems with her leg, which had become practically useless. On Christmas Eve, wildlife rehabilitators captured Violet in an attempt to try to treat her. At this point, because Bobby no longer saw Violet around anymore and the nesting season was coming up, he ended up finding a new mate, who was named Rosie (because of her distinctive red markings).
The wildlife rehabilitators did what they could to help Violet, but she ended up having a heart attack and passed away.
The hawk cam returned for 2012. Rosie laid two eggs. They both hatched and they both fledged successfully.
Once again, the hawk cam returned for 2013. Rosie laid three eggs. All of them hatched and all of them fledged successfully.
For 2014, NYU decided to take the hawk cam down. They had put modifications on the window so that the hawks wouldn't be disturbed when there were people in the office near the window. However, because of the modifications, the camera couldn't produce a clear image.
With no webcam, it was harder for people to tell what was going on at the nest. The thought is that Rosie laid two eggs, both of which hatched and fledged successfully. However, there was a minor incident in which one of the fledglings got into an empty classroom in Goddard Hall. The same wildlife habilitators that cared for Violet rescued the fledgling and after making sure it was okay, released him back into the park a few days later.
In November, hawk watchers noticed that they hadn't seen Rosie in quite some time. She had suddenly disappeared and no one knows for sure what happened to her. In February, Bobby found a new mate, who was named Aurora (she is named Sadie on Roger_Paw's blog).
For 2015, NYU confirmed that Aurora had laid three eggs, but only two of them hatched. Both of them fledged successfully.
For 2016, Aurora laid three eggs, but only one of them had hatched. It was able to fledge successfully.
A few months before the 2017 nesting season, with Andrew Hamilton as the new NYU President, there were plans to bring back the hawk cam. The cameras were set up on the wall opposite the nest and were up and running by February. The new NYU hawk cam was livestreamed on its own Ustream channel.
In 2017, Aurora laid three eggs and two of them hatched. However, the younger eyass of the two passed away in the nest about six days later. Some viewers noticed that it wasn't looking well, but the cause of its passing is unknown. The remaining eyass was able to fledge successfully.
Unlike the previous hawk cam, the new hawk cam stayed live year-round even after the eyass had fledged.
In 2018, Aurora laid three eggs. All three of them hatched and fledged successfully.