Upper East Side Woman Helps Save Injured Hawk

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An Upper East Side resident made it her mission Monday to help save a red-tailed hawk that crashed into a window at her high-rise apartment building.

The bird swooped into the building's 41st floor through a retractable sunroof over the rooftop pool, said Ellen Kessler, who learned about the dazed bird from a doorman.

Knowing the 22-inch hawk was in dire need of care, Kessler called the city's 311 help line, but couldn't get through. She then called CBS 2.

"It was soaring, went full speed into the window and then went down to the ground and was literally splayed out," Kessler told CBS 2's Emily Smith.

"It looked to us like it was a falcon," Kessler added. "It was just majestic like you would think a falcon was. We later learned that it was a red-tailed hawk."

While waiting for help, Stephen Benner, a building superintendent, wrapped the hawk in a towel and brought it outside to a rooftop terrace.

"I thought the only chance it had was for me to get the bird out of the pool, on to the roof, where it could hopefully regain some of its strength and fly off," said Benner, adding that he believed the bird's mother was circling above the building for about an hour.

An animal control worker later arrived and brought the hawk to a facility for treatment.

The hawk is expected to be freed within the next two weeks.

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