Pale Male’s Legacy
In 2004, a decision that forever affected the entire red hawk population in New York City’s Central Park was made. Almost for twenty years, New Yorkers and visitors to the city alike had been watching Pale Male, a red hawk that moved to the park in 1991 and after being evicted from the park by crows, made his home on the ridge of a Fifth Avenue high rise apartment building. In 2004, the spikes designed to deter pigeons along the ledge were removed. These spikes also served as a support structure in which the hawk’s nest was set for close to 15 years. The removal of the spikes in turn also destroyed the hawk’s nest. The Audubon Society, including building resident Mary Tyler Moore, were outraged by this turn of events. The spikes were eventually re-installed but since that time, unfortunately, no new hawks have hatched.
Prior to the removal of the spikes, Pale Male’s life was well documented by people either watching from the windows of the New York business hotels, or by others in Central Park, via binoculars, every day during spring. Not too long after moving in Pale Male became an global attraction as visitors and bird enthusiasts from all over the world began to vacation in the city for the purpose of viewing the birds. Despite the obvious differences between a vast metropolitan city like New York and open nature Pale Male seems to like it in the city just fine. His nest overlooks the Metropolitan Museum, Central Park, Sheep’s Meadow and the lake. Pale Male has fathered over 25 young hawks that now inhabit Central Park and the surrounding neighborhoods and continue to proliferate.
Related posts: