Pale Male (born 1991) is a male Red-tailed Hawk who has made his home since the early 1990s in New York City, where he has attracted the widespread attention of birders and the press. Birdwatcher and author Marie Winn gave him his name because of his unusually light coloring. He is the first red-tailed hawk known to have nested on a building rather than in a tree and is famous for establishing a dynasty of urban-dwelling raptors (he is known to have sired at least 26 chicks, many of whom are assumed to have produced city offspring of their own).

When he first arrived in Central Park in 1991, Pale Male tried to nest in a tree, but he was driven off by crows. He later roosted on a building on Fifth Avenue across the street from the park. In early 1992, he found a mate, dubbed First Love. First Love was injured later that year and removed to the Raptor Trust in New Jersey. During her absence, Pale Male took another mate, called Chocolate by birdwatchers. After several unsuccessful nests, Pale Male and a mate, possibly Chocolate, hatched 3 chicks in 1995. The chicks survived to young adulthood and took up residence in Central Park. Chocolate died later that year of unknown causes. First Love returned to Central Park after being banded and released from the Raptor Trust. She and Pale Male reunited and raised several chicks. In 1997, First Love died after eating a poisoned pigeon in Central Park. Pale Male’s mate from 1998 to 2001 was a hawk known as Blue. The pair were observed to hatch about 11 chicks together. Blue is presumed to have died in the summer of 2001. In early 2002, Pale Male was first observed with his current mate, Lola. They raised 7 chicks between 2002 and 2004, building a nest 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.

Pale Male Nest Controversy

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. The removal caused an international outcry and a series of impassioned protests organized by New York City Audubon and the Central Park birding community. Mary Tyler Moore, a resident of the building, also participated in the protests. 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 protesters, was arrested for allegedly harassing the family of Richard Cohen, including his wife, CNN news anchor 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 by Lola in March 2005 did not hatch, and in fact Pale Male and Lola have not hatched any new chicks since the disturbance of their original nest. A panel of experts assembled by the New York City Audubon reviewed the photos taken of the interior of the nest on January 4, 2008, and recommended the removal of stainless steel spikes seen protruding through the bowl of the nest. The spikes impede the rolling of the eggs by the female during incubation. NYC Audubon obtained the support and approvals of municipal agencies and property owners to have the 92 spikes removed from the cradle supporting the nest.
Although news reports in early summer 2006 suggested that Pale Male and Lola had given up on their Fifth Avenue nest in favor of a location on the The Beresford apartments across the park on Central Park West, this was not the case. The hawks regularly perch on the Beresford and may roost there at night, but they have continued to return to the Fifth Avenue location during nesting season.

MORE Red-Tailed Hawks, Pale Male & NYC Wildlife

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