New York Bird Lovers Want Pale Male's Nest Restored
 

By Nicole Maestri

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The abrupt removal of the nest belonging to Pale Male, a famous red-tailed hawk who lived on a tony Manhattan apartment building, had bird lovers up in arms on Thursday and demanding his home be restored. _

Pale Male, once the topic of a documentary, is said to have been evicted for defecating on his doorstep and dropping the gnarled remains of pigeons outside the building entrance.

Supporters rallied for a second day on Thursday outside the apartment building overlooking Central Park, saying he gives a rare glimpse of wildlife to hardened city dwellers.

"We're just incensed by the disregard for New York City wildlife," said Stephanie Blackwood, who protested in front of the building on Thursday.

Her colleague, Jan-Peter Daniels, held a sign that read: "Successful, rich and mean. Give Pale Male his home back."

The bird gets his name from his unusually washed-out color. His unusual nest, built 12 stories above the park, inspired a book, a movie and a cult following. Bird lovers gathered there to observe the hawk and his mates, who raised more than 20 chicks in the nest since building it in 1993.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...life_hawk_dc_2

Pictures of Pale Male
 

http://tinypic.com/wtg05

http://tinypic.com/wtg10

http://tinypic.com/wtg1h

http://tinypic.com/wtg1z

What kind of asshole would object to a bird living on his or her building?

Maybe the superintendent or a doorman. Some people have complained about the pigeon and rat carcasses that the hawks occasionally deposit on the sidewalk. This neighborhood is really freaking rich. The elevators in these buildings have elevator operators, even though they aren't needed. The sidewalks are immaculate. If anything happens to make the sidewalks dirty, it gets cleaned pronto, but not by the residents. An employee of the building is out cleaning right away.

One of this building's residents, Mary Tyler Moore, spoke to the press the other day to say that she wants the nest back.

This story has an unknown time factor. The hawks will eventually give up on rebuilding their nest. No one knows when, so people want this taken care of yesterday.

They could seriously just hire someone to do Carcass Patrol! ;)

Awww!

Now back to reality.

This isn't a zoo.

-Rudey

Pale Male sounds like the microbrew version of Schmitt's Gay.

http://adamsandler.jt.org/andrea/SNL/gay/schmitt4.jpg

Paula Zahn from CNN. She lives in the building and her husband, real-estate developer Richard Cohen, is on the co-op board that voted to evict Pale Male.
"Flip the bird to Paula and the rest of those hoity-toity residents." was in the New York Post last week under a picture of her.

I wouldn't want a hawk living on my building if the sidewalk would be littered with dead pigeons and rats and bird droppings as a result. Russ is right; these people are ridiculously rich and have paid millions of dollars for their co-ops. They are usually the type who shy away from media attention. Those Fifth and Park Avenue Co-op Boards can be brutally selective so I am surprised that Mary Tyler Moore and Paula Zahn live there since celebrities are usually turned down.

I think Richard Cohen is the President of the Co-op Board.

They complained about the occasional dead pigeon/rat... Meanwhile, the hawk was preventing TONS of pigeon droppings. And pigeons/ rats (well, actually, IMHO piegeons are rats with wings) are a serious health problem. Pale Male did more to help protect that building that any of the people ever realized.

Here is an update to the story: The building is replacing the metal structure (pigeon spikes) on which the hawk built its nest. The pigeon spikes prevented the pigeons from landing on the building which prevented the pigeon droppings. They are also building a guardrail to catch any falling debris. It should be completed by Monday. This seems like a good compromise and solution. The hawk has a home and the sidewalk will not be littered with pigeon and rat carcasses.
http://cbsnewyork.com/siteSearch/top...350162124.html

They should move it to Central Park or to a zoo. Why compromise when you are in the right? For "ooohs" and "aaahs" and "awws"?

-Rudey

I think the building got sick of all the media attention. This story has been one of the first three or four stories on the local news for almost a week. The first night the anchor said "Longtime resident evicted from posh Fifth Avenue co-op."

When I first heard about it, I wondered why the thousands of homeless people living on the streets of New York didn't receive this type of attention. Where's the outrage there?

They should cook the hawk, put a nice little reduction sauce on it, and serve it with mushrooms, potatoes, and garlic and serve it to a lucky homeless man.

-Rudey

The Poo Factor
 

DolphinChicaDDD is so right on this one. I don't have actual numbers to support this argument, but it should be pretty obvious.

It works out to something like this:
HawkPoo < potential of PigeonPoo from killed pigeonsThere you have it. Much less bird poo, and no "road kill" falling from the sky.

Everyone wins.

Also, the ad hoc community of hawk lovers wins too. I saw an interview with one of them. He talked about how he thought that all of those people were really strange. One day, he stopped to look for a while, and he got sucked in. Now he brings a (rather large) telescope to the park to watch the hawks, and he shares in this community.

This is not just about the birds. These birds have made this city a little smaller, and a little bit more personal for many.

I find these hawks to be amazing. They don't belong here. They won't build nests in Central Park's trees, or other natural elements of most of Manhattan. Somehow, they found their niche here. As a building gets taller, it moves its occupants away from nature in so many ways. This symbol of society's gentry, where the residents' lifestyle is so far beyond mere survival, became a perfectly safe cliff side to the instincts of one of nature's great survivors.

The contrast amazes me.

A re-broadcast of the Nature epsiode that features Pale Male & Co. will happen today @ 4:00pm on Channel 13. Other areas might also show this documentary. If your local station isn't, give them a call.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/palem...male_small.jpg

hopefully they will get their home back soon.
they seem like very intellectual birds.

New Aerie Is Readied for Fifth Avenue Hawks
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/22/ny...2platform.html

December 22, 2004

New Aerie Is Readied for Fifth Avenue Hawks
By THOMAS J. LUECK

stainless steel cradle designed to support a new nest for Pale Male and Lola, the red-tailed hawks of Fifth Avenue, is to be installed tomorrow on the co-op building where the hawks' former nest was removed on Dec. 7, according to the co-op's board and architect.

Naturalists and city officials yesterday praised the architect's design, and the co-op's timing, saying the cradle could resolve a dispute that has captivated bird lovers across the nation, while providing Pale Male and Lola with a safe roost from which to hatch fledglings next year.

"It perfectly melds our concerns for Pale Male with the concerns of the building," said E. J. McAdams, the executive director of New York City Audubon, who joined the architect, Dan Ionescu, on a visit to a Long Island machine shop where the framework was nearing completion late yesterday.

"We are all looking for Pale Male to come home for the holidays," Mr. McAdams said.

The new structure will incorporate steel pigeon spikes that were removed with the old nest when it was hauled down from a 12th floor cornice of the building, which is at 927 Fifth Avenue and overlooks Central Park at 74th Street. The spikes had prevented the hawks' nest, which grew over a decade to a width of eight feet across and to 400 pounds, from blowing away.

But the cradle also includes a guard rail and platform to prevent sticks and branches from falling to the sidewalk, a hazard posed by the old nest, according to some residents.

Mr. Ionescu, whose Manhattan firm was assisted by Beyer Blinder Belle, the architectural firm responsible for restoration projects at Ellis Island and Grand Central Terminal, said he and his staff had been working almost without interruption since last Friday.

"We had to make sure the end result would be a cradle where Pale Male would rebuild a nest, and that would assure the integrity of a landmark," he said. The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission has already approved the design.

Mr. Ionescu said Audubon officials and naturalists had insisted that the protective guard rails not prevent Pale Male and Lola from fully extending their wings, which in Pale Male's case are more than four feet from tip to tip. That is why the rails will be contoured along the arch of the 12th-floor cornice.

Adrian Benepe, the city's parks commissioner, also remarked on the timing of the installation.

"I've been referring to it as a crèche," Mr. Benepe said.

But there is no assurance that Pale and Lola will immediately adopt the cradle as a new home, Mr. McAdams said.

Nonetheless, both hawks have been sighted flying over Central Park, and they show no inclination to go away. Mr. McAdams said they would have plenty of time to rebuild before their annual courtship rituals, usually in February. Lola typically lays her eggs in early March.

"We think the timing is perfect," Mr. McAdams said.

Pale Male & Lola Seem To Be Doing Well
 

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/38461.htm

By HEIDI SINGER

Hawk-watchers are searching in vain for signs that the city's most famous lover-birds are rebuilding their Fifth Avenue nest — but it's not time to worry yet, experts say.

"It's the dead of winter," said John Blakeman, an Ohio hawk expert. "They've got to spend energy getting food and keeping warm at night. They can't be messing around with the nest when they have to worry about surviving."

Pale Male and mate Lola have been spotted regularly landing on the site of their former nest, at 927 Fifth Ave., ever since the 300-pound pillow of twigs was destroyed by the building's co-op board last month.

"They're definitely around," said filmmaker Frederic Lilien, who made a documentary about the romantic raptors.

Hawk fans are posting any sightings on a network of Web sites devoted to Pale Male, but in the past few weeks the bird has been spotted only bringing a few twigs to his former home of 10 years.

The fact that the birds are sticking around is an encouraging sign, said Blakeman, because it shows they haven't abandoned their territory. Although people might assume the nest is their home, the birds don't live there, he said. They use it only to raise babies.

"Their home is that end of Central Park," he said.

I agree 100%!! I understand why animal habitats should be protected but I am just disgusted by the response animal rights issues get over human rights issues. There are so many problems involving people especially children that deserve our attention so much more.

a bird that kills the new york city rats and pigeons? Why the hell aren't these things required on each building in manhattan?!?! What a perfect solution to the rodent problem :D