Pale Male
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Pale Male is a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) who is beloved by New York City birders and who has attracted widespread notice in the press. He was named by the birdwatcher and author Marie Winn, due to his unusually light coloring. The first Red-tailed Hawk known to have nested on a building (rather than in a tree), he was the subject of an episode of the PBS series Nature. You can buy this film on DVD at the Central Park Zoo for 20$. [1]. Pale Male is fourteen years old (as of 2006) and is known to have sired 26 chicks with four mates.
When he first arrived in Central Park, Pale Male tried to nest in a tree, but he was attacked by pigeons and driven off. He later roosted on a building across the street fron the park, with better results. In time, he found a mate, and they raised chicks.
Pale Male's current mate is Lola, and they raised 7 chicks between 2002 and 2004. Prior to 2006, the hawks' nest was located on ornamental stonework above a top-story window on a very upscale residential housing cooperative at 927 Fifth Avenue (at East 74th Street) on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. In December 2004, the hawks' nest and the anti-pigeon spikes that had long anchored it were removed by the board of the co-op after the United States Fish and Wildlife Service opined that removing it would not violate any laws. Richard Cohen, at the time the President of the co-op (and husband of Paula Zahn), signed off on the destruction of the nest. The removal caused an international outcry (with articles published not only in New York City but also Tokyo, London, and many other cities) and a series of impassioned protests organized by New York City Audubon that included Mary Tyler Moore, who at that time was a resident of the building.
On December 14, 2004, the building, various city agencies, and the Audubon Society, coordinated by New York City Audubon, came to an agreement to replace the spikes and to install a new "cradle" for the nest. On the same day, Lincoln Karim, one of the leading protestors, was arrested for allegedly harassing the family of Richard Cohen and Paula Zahn (these charges were subsequently dismissed). By December 28, 2004, the scaffolding had been removed and the hawks started bringing twigs to the nest site. However, eggs laid in March 2005 by the female hawk, "Lola," did not hatch; it is likely that the new nesting material was too thin. Since then, Pale Male and Lola have built up the nest considerably. In March 2006, Lola began sitting on a new clutch of eggs, and it was hoped they would hatch sometime in mid-April. By early May of that year, it became apparent that none of the eggs had hatched, much to the disappointment of New York City's bird-watching community.
Media accounts in early summer 2006 reported that Pale Male and Lola had relocated to the The Beresford apartments on the Upper West Side, but these stories were greatly overblown. The hawks have frequently visited that location in previous years, apparently enjoying a perch there which receives good late afternoon light.
Pale Male's original mate, First Love, ate a pigeon that she found dead in the park and sadly died of food poisoning. Pale Male had also eaten a previously dead pigeon but not enough of it to die from poisoning. (see PBS Nature series)
With his original mate, First Love, Pale Male had three chicks. Two chicks hatched on the same day and the third hatched the next week. When the were almost ready to fly, they practiced flapping their wings every day in order to fly. One day, when one chick was flapping but not taking off, a gust of wind blew it from the nest. It flew swiftly and without much struggle. The second one was also blown off. Then it hit a tree, took a blow to its leg and fell. Birdwatchers who saw this called a vet who said it should be okay. The last one first flew a week later with much flapping before takeoff. Local birdwatchers who were watching from the model boat lake in Central Park were quite excited. (see PBS Nature series)
Other red-tailed hawks besides Pale Male and Lola may be seen in Central Park, and during 2006 two other pairs claimed parts of the park as their hunting territories. At the south end of the park, a hawk couple dubbed Pale Male Junior (or just Junior) and Charlotte have nested on the Trump Parc hotel on Central Park South and have, as of December 2006, successfully raised two chicks. Junior's first attempt at nesting on Trump Parc was in March of 2002. This was with a different female and all attempts at the site failed until his success in 2005. A hawk couple known as Tristan and Isolde claim the park's Great Hill and North Wood as their territory, but their nest is located on the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; they successfully raised two chicks in 2006. The Central Park Christmas Bird Count held December 17, 2006, determined that there were probably ten red-tailed hawks in the park that day, but it was expected that the extra four hawks would be driven off once the 2007 mating season began.
A good spot to see Pale Male would be by the model boat lake in Central Park.
[edit] References
- Thomas J. Lueck. "New York Celebrities Evicted on Fifth Ave., Feathers and All". The New York Times. December 8, 2004.
- Thomas J. Lueck and Jennifer 8. Lee. "No Fighting the Co-op Board, Even With Talons". The New York Times. December 11, 2004.
- Jennifer 8. Lee. "As Hawks Circle, All Sides Seek Compromise". The New York Times. December 12, 2004.
- Thomas J. Lueck. "Birds' Nest Will Be Saved, if Co-op Architect Says Yes". The New York Times. December 14, 2004.
- Thomas J. Lueck. "Co-op to Help Hawks Rebuild, but the Street Is Still Restless". The New York Times. December 15, 2004.
- Peri McQuay. A Wing in the Door: Life With A Red-tailed Hawk. New York: Milkweed, 2001. ISBN 1-57131-239-0
- Marie Winn. Red-tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama in New York. New York: Vintage, 1999. ISBN 0-679-75846-1.
