The bird is the word: Firefighters rescue hawk trapped in Bed-Stuy netting

January 2, 2019 By Raanan Geberer Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Woodhull Medical Center. ©2018 Google Maps photo

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Firefighters used their skills to save a red-tailed hawk that had been stuck in netting at Woodhull Hospital in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Members of FDNY’s Ladder 146, along with a firefighter licensed in wildlife rehabilitation, rescued the hawk last week, according to Patch. It had been stuck there for three days.

#FDNY Firefighter and Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator Robert Horvath and members of #Ladder146 rescued a hawk this afternoon. Read more: https://t.co/goRVDHmZOx pic.twitter.com/ZGuRj3FZE1

— FDNY (@FDNY) December 26, 2018

“We cut a small slice in the netting, and after about 10 minutes, I was able to get the bird safely into my hands,” firefighter Robert Horvath, the licensed wildlife rehabilitator, told Patch.

Because the hawk was stressed out, he brought it home with him for a few days. He and his wife Cathy Horvath run a nonprofit animal rescue agency called Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation.

Red-tailed hawks are common at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and in Prospect Park, Patch said.