Baby Falcon Rescued Outside Bed-Stuy Cafe

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Layla Chen was about to open her Bed-Stuy cafe Thursday morning when something soft, brown and frightened caught her eye next to the front door.

It was a baby falcon huddled in the corner.

Chen, the owner of Bed-Stuy Provisions at Gates and Tompkins avenues, dashed into the store for a basket and a quick online search on how best to care for the small bird, she said.

"It looked really frightened," Chen said. "So I talked to him a bit, told him not to worry, that it'd be okay."

Chen quickly scooped up the small bird, who looked like it had crash landed and hurt its wing, and kept it in a basket with a damp towel and tried to figure out what to do next.

The bird appears to be an immature male kestrel, which is a petite falcon about the same size of a mourning dove, according to an expert from the New York City Audubon.

"It was so endearing and wonderful," said Chen. "We don't always get to see nature this up close!"

She tried calling numerous wildlife centers and finally reached the city's Urban Park Rangers, who told her to drop it off at the 79th Police Precinct.

Chen also spoke to Robert Spragg of the New York City Audubon, who said the small bird was probably in the process of learning how to fly and had gotten lost.

He assured Chen that the falcon's parents would be searching for it across Bed-Stuy. He suggested waiting until the little bird had recuperated, then putting it out on a fire escape where his chirps would reach his parents' ears.

"They're always looking for their babies," Spragg told her.

As the day went on, the falcon seemed to relax and even hopped around Chen's home a bit, taking a break to perch on some toys.

"It seemed much more calm," Chen said. "It was just kind of hanging out."

Chen admitted she didn't go to the police right away because she wanted her soon-to-be-two-year-old daughter Maya to get a glimpse of the small creature.

But the little girl took just one look at the small bird and proclaimed, "No, scary."

It was outside the precinct, just two blocks away from the cafe on Lexington Avenue, that the falcon decided it was ready to fly. It swooped out the car's open window and up into the sky.

"I really think it needed a little bit of time to recuperate," said Chen. "I think it maybe healed and was trying to fly off."

Chen said she loved spending the day with the bird and will definitely be keeping an eye out for it in the skies above.

"Oh my gosh, it's just so beautiful," she said. "You can't imagine."

"I already miss the bird."

Note: The Wild Bird Fund advises that healthy fledglings should always be left alone. Action should only be taken if the bird is clearly injured or in imminent danger.

More information is available here.