Park Slope Church Wants You To Name Its New Red-Tail Hawks

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A Park Slope church is asking the community's help to name a family of red-tailed hawks who have taken up residents in its bell tower.

The staff at Saint Francis Xavier, on 6th Avenue and Carroll Street, noticed the birds last month. Now they're having a naming contest.

"We have a pair of Hawks nesting in our church tower!" a message on the church's website from Father Bill Ruger says. "So it is only fitting that we name them. Let's have a contest: name the parent Hawks, and their babies. The winner of the contest will receive free tickets to the Prospect Park Zoo, and of course will be revered by the Hawks for years to come. Submit your names — mother, father, son, daughter. Good luck, the Hawks are depending on you."

(Patch couldn't get through to the church via a phone call Monday; a message said its offices were closed for the day.)

Our phone camera couldn't exactly capture the birds in all their glory, but New York 1 got some great shots of the newest Park Slope residents.

Anyone with suggestions can email them to hawknames@stfxbrooklyn.org.

Image via Marc Torrence