City Bird: The Story of Pale Male

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New York City
CITY BIRD—
THE STORY OF PALE MALE
Since 1991 people have flocked to Central Park
to watch New York’s resident red-tailed hawk, Pale Male. Pale Male
and his first mate constructed their nest on a Fifth Avenue building
because the crows in Central Park would not let them nest in trees.
It was the first time that a red-tailed hawk had chosen a building
as its nesting place. Over these years, bird lovers used cameras,
binoculars, and telescopes to LOOK AT the goings-on of Pale Male,
his mate and each year’s chicks.
On December 7th 2004 Pale Male’s nest was removed from the
building. The building’s co-op board had decided to remove the nest
because waste from the hawks would often land on the sidewalk below,
creating an unsightly mess. Birders and nature lovers from all over the
city reacted to this removal.
New York City Audubon quickly set up vigils calling for the return of
Pale Male’s nest. They wanted people to know that the co-op board had
done something wrong. For two weeks, supporters stood outside of the
building. They carried candles and signs.
During one vigil, both Lola (Pale Male’s current mate) and Pale Male
soared overhead, as if to give support to the people below who shouted,
“Bring Back the Nest!!” Vigils were held each day until the dispute was
finally resolved.
The co-op board, and NYC Audubon all worked together to come
up with a solution. After a week’s worth of meetings, they decided
that the nest would be returned with a new platform added to
prevent twigs and waste from falling to the ground.
On December 23, 2004, a celebration vigil was held for the return of
the nest! E.J. McAdams, New York City Audubon’s Executive Director,
says he was impressed by everyone who turned out in support of Pale
Male, “especially the kids who devoted so much time working to bring
the nest back.” He says that he is confident that “Pale Male and Lola will
be secure and happy in their new cradle. I look forward to seeing their
chicks flying over Central Park next year.” –RMcC & AD
LOOK IT UP ON THE WEB: WWW.DESERTUSA.COM/AUG96/DU_HAWK.HTML
New York City Audubon
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Pale Male and Lola on their new nest
in Spring 2005. Photo © Rik Davis
INTERESTING
FACTS ABOUT
RED-TAILED
HAWKS
Gathered by
4th Grade Students at
St. Bernard’s School
FACT#1
FACT#2
The red-tailed hawks are carnivores.
They eat small to medium mammals
such as mice, squirrels and rabbits.
They also eat other birds, fish, frogs,
and snakes. In New York City they
mostly eat pigeons and rats. They
also eat dead animals.
Red-tailed hawks are mostly brown.
Their wingspan is 43-56 inches wide
and their normal weight is one to
three pounds. They live in almost
every place in the United States. Redtailed hawks can live to be twenty
years old!
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE LIFE OF PALE MALE LOOK UP WWW.MARIEWINN.COM
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FACT#
The red-tailed hawk has a distinctive
call. It is a rough, crackling sound.
The babies make a sound like “Kleuk,”
which means, “FEED ME!” You can
hear their calls in breeding season.
FACT#
When a hawk eats, it puts some food
in a crop. Birds have crops; people
don’t. The crop is located between the
mouth and the stomach. After the bird
fills its crop up, it doesn’t have to hunt
for days. When it gets hungry, food
gets sent to its stomach!
FACT#
Identifying a red-tailed hawk is
easiest when it is flying. You can
identify it by LOOKING AT its
patagial marks. A patagial mark
is the dark line on the front of the
wing.
AND CLICK ON “CURRENT HAWK AND NATURE NEWS” AS WELL AS “ARCHIVES.”
New York City Audubon
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CROSSWORD
You can find some of the answers to this crossword puzzle
in the articles. Ask your teacher where you should LOOK
UP the answers to the others.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
11
9
10
13
12
14
15
16
17
See the bottom of the page for the answers.
ACROSS
1. The red-tailed hawk has
one that spans 43-56
inches from tip to tip.
3. New York’s most famous
red-tailed hawk.
5. Where Pale Male’s nest is
located.
6. The red-tailed hawk is a
____________; it preys on
other animals.
9. Red-tailed hawks can
be found as far south as
____________ (a country
in Central America).
10. Predator birds are often
referred to as these.
11. Animals that remain at a
constant body temperature
are called ____________.
12. Prospect Park is located
here.
15. Animals whose body
temperature changes
depending on the
temperature of the
environment are called
_________ blooded.
2. Red-tailed hawks hold food
in their __________ before
it reaches their stomach.
4. A main part of a red-tailed
hawk’s diet.
5. Another name for a redtailed hawk.
7. Mice, squirrels, rabbits,
and hamsters are ______.
8. Pale Male is a _________.
9. Lines on the front of a
bird’s wings that are used
for identification purposes.
13. A food______ connects all
of the plants and animals in
an ecosystem.
14. An animal that only eats
meat is one.
16. Plants make sugar using
the sun’s light. That is why
they are called ________.
17. An animal that eats both
plants and animals is called
an ____________.
–AD
OUR THAN K S T O :
G O W I T H A G R OW N U P
is a New York City Audubon member. Since
retiring from the New York City Board of Education, she gives courses
to teachers, watches birds and volunteers on various projects.
Central Park and Inwood Hill Park (Manhattan),
and Prospect Park (Brooklyn) are all good places
to LOOK FOR red-tailed hawks. Visit the Nature
Centers or ask an Urban Park Ranger where you
might find a nest.
REGINA MCCARTHY
is working on a Masters degree in Biology. She used to
be a math and science teacher in a New York City middle school.
ALEXIS DEAN
RIK DAVIS,
an advertising and wildlife
photographer, spends much of his time
in Central Park shooting Pale Male and
his family. His work is found in private
collections in North America and Europe.
is a New York City
Audubon member and an artist and
illustrator. His drawings are copyright
©1998–2005 and used by permission.
ALAN MESSER
[email protected]
www.nycaudubon.org
Naola Gersten-Woolf:
Publisher & Managing
Editor
Alexis Dean: Editor
Cecelia Rogers:
Art Director
E.J. McAdams:
Executive
Director
participate
in New York City Audubon’s Bird-AThon every May. NYC Audubon Board
member and science teacher PETER
JOOST assigned his 2004-5 fourth
graders to research red-tailed hawks for
this issue. NYC Audubon regrets that we
could not print all their contributions.
ST. BERNARD’S STUDENTS
Funded by a generous donation from
the NEW YORK CITY RAPTOR FUND.
From March to June LOOK FOR Pale Male in person
at the Boat Pond in Central Park. Any person with
binoculars or a telescope can show you where to
look. –RMcC & AD
LOOK IT UP
Jonathan Latimer and Karen Stray Noltin, Birds of
Prey (Petersen Field Guides for Young Naturalists),
Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY, 1999.
Marie Winn, Red-tails in
Love: Updated Edition—
Ten Years Later, Vintage,
NY, April 2005.
–RMcC & AD
Crossword puzzle answers: Down: 1. Wingspan, 3. Pale Male, 5. Building,
6. Predator, 9. Panama, 10. Raptors, 11. Warm-blooded, 12. Brooklyn, 15. Cold
Across: 2. Crop, 4. Squirrels, 5. Buzzard, 7. Rodents, 8. Red-tailed hawk,
9. Patagial marks, 13. Web, 14. Carnivore, 16. Producers, 17. Omnivore
Copyright © 2005
New York City Audubon
71 West 23 Street
New York, NY 10010
212-691-7483
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