CHRISTO MEETS PALE MALE & LOLA

2/13/05 -CHRISTO MEETS PALE MALE & LOLA
*********Great letter from Katherine Herzog*******

Dear Marie,

......After much inner debate I went to the park yesterday and was happy to see those Anti-Christos... PaleMale, Lola and Lincoln stealing the spotlight from the Gates project. In my two hours in the Park I came upon two large groups of people entralled with what? One group was watching the Pale Male documentary being shown by Lincoln during hawk downtime and the other group was crowded around the entrance at E 76th Street. I thought Christo or a celeb must have been spotted. Indeed, two celebs, Pale Male and Lola sitting on low branches close to each other. In contrast, no one was looking at the Gates, I mean, you see one, you've seen them all. So, with Lincoln confirming the first observed mating.***..and the enthusiastic response of the crowds of Gates-people to the Hawk Drama....it was a Great/Gate Day.

Katherine

PS from MW
***Yes! It happened yesterday, at about 1:45 p.m. As for the way we describe the act : John Blakeman once requested that we avoid confusion by using the scientifically accurate term "copulating" instead of "mating". I must say that I find this a bit difficult. I'd almost prefer the "F" word. Something about the word "copulating" sounds so...well, so unpleasant. Guess I flunk out as a scientist.


2/12/05 -- JOHN BLAKEMAN'S NOT WORRIED ABOUT CHRISTO'S IMPACT ON REDTAILS

I sent John Blakeman a note this morning, asking about the possible impact of the Christo project on the CP redtail pairs. Here is his comforting response
Marie,

... I've followed the Christo (and Jean Claude) project, mostly because it's in CP. It's well reported in a number of media. It was just featured on the NBC national evening news. So I've seen the spectacle of the thing.

I have no concerns regarding its untoward effects on our raptors. They doubtless see the colors so much differently from us, but I'm certain that it will have no lasting effects. Once again, the only matter of consideration for the red-tails is the availability of prey. It will take them just a few minutes to begin to look beyond and beside the flapping nylon (or whatever it is) for their preferred prey. Since it won't deter the activities of rats and pigeons, it won't disrupt the red-tails.

I find the "art work" a peculiar curiosity. Only in New York. (Fortunately, it appears that few, if any, public funds were expended on the event.)

There is an interesting color perception question for red-tails. It is now known that European kestrels, and therefore almost surely American kestrels, too, can detect ultraviolet wavelengths well beyond spectra that mammals and probably other birds can see. We have some evidence that peregrines, also, can see well into the ultraviolet. The question is, can buteonine raptors such as the red-tail also detect broader wavelengths? I don't have any evidence that they do or don't, but it's quite possible. Their brains (as we now know so much better) are arranged so very differently from mammals. Consequently, their vision is probably also very different. They don't think like mammals, and they probably don't see like we do either.

And what if the flags event rather markedly disrupted their hunting? What if food became very difficult to capture while the saffron drapes waft in the wind? The ability of red-tails to endure lengthy periods of famine is quite remarkable. Right now, all of the CP red-tails are quite fit and fat. If any were to be trapped and their chests were to be felt beneath the breast feathers, the keel or breastbone would be hard to feel. In their high condition, a result of ample food, they carry around a remarkable supply of body fat and muscle. There is no doubt each bird could easily go 10 days without a meal, and still be able to fly and hunt. Only after 14 days or so would the un-fed bird begin to be in trouble. This ability to weather week-long episodes of no food actually determines where red-tails are required to migrate from in winter. In Michigan, and most of upstate New York, red-tails tend to leave the northern parts of these states each winter. In the southern tiers of counties, the hawks can always thrive in the winter. This is because in the northern regions deep snow tends to lay on the land for weeks. In the southern parts, snows are not as deep nor long-lasting. This allows the southern hawks to hunt winter voles in snow-free areas.

So, even if the Christo project keep our hawks from hunting as they'd like, the project will be taken down before any real harm could happen. Our birds can handle this, I'm sure. Thankfully, it's not happening during incubation or eyass-feeding periods, when food procurement is crucial



Photo by LINCOLN KARIM
2/12/05 --- ANOTHER GREAT PALE MALE & LOLA REPORT FROM DONNA BROWNE
[Reporting on nest activity of 2/11]


Hello All,

Busy morning for the hawks. Lots of kite-ing in the
wind. Pale Male brought more twigs. Rik reported the
stashing of prey, including a mouse, by Pale Male
behind the first southwest angle of the lowest black
roof of the white structure atop the Green Awning
building. (In future to be called prey stash area
atop Green Awning Building.)

2:55PM Pale Male seen hunting pigeons near Bethesda
Fountain.

3:08 Lola perches on left of railing, third down,
northwest terrace of Ship shape building.

3:10 Pale Male perches Linda 6 with obviously bulging
crop.
3:15 Pale Male flies SW and circling
3:17 Lola kites with talons down
3:31 Pale Male and Lola do aerials with talons down
for about two minutes. Lola flies to southern most
chimney of Green Awning and perches, Pale Male flies
towards her, we think this may be the moment but
no...he banks off. For the next few minutes Lola
changes to a number of different perches.
3:41 Lola back to Chimney on Green Awning
3:42 Lola takes off
3:52 Pale Male and Lola circle up to 78th St.
4:39 Three hawks appear out of the south high and
circling. They travel to the north past the boat
pond.
4:45 Lola dives at the visitor sending him west with
her in soft pursuit.
4:46 Pale Male banks off and perches on Linda 2.
4:50 Lola returns down fifth Avenue and lands on
railing of prey stash area, disappearing around the
blind corner into prey stash area on Green Awning.
Lola reappears in a few minutes with what looks like
blood on right foot. Eating the stash? She takes off
and rides the wind disappearing behind buildings.
4:56 Lola perches Linda 1
4:57 Pale Male leaves Linda 2 flies N up fifth then S
then lands on nest site.
5:00 Pale Male and Lola both fly west. Lola towards
the Ramble. Pale Male breaks off and passes S over the
bench, then circles N and disappears.
5:02 all hawks out of sight
5:08 Lola comes from the south, Pale Male from the
north circling.
5:10 Lola perches on Linda 1, PM flies north tree line
of Fifth Ave.
5:15 Lola up goes south then north on Fifth. Visitor
hawk appears from west treeline
5:20 all hawks disappear into trees going northeast.
5:25 Three hawks circling around building whose top
has porthole and long oval windows near 78th and
fifth.
5:30 Pale Male flies south, Visitor goes west with
Lola in faster pursuit than before.
Sorry no roost information.
Sunset was at 5:27PM Temperature 35F
Donna



2/11/05 -- Received the following very gracious response to my Christo letter, from one of the party-givers. This is the sort of opportunity for real dialogue I welcome.

Marie,
I'm going to share your comments with everyone at my party and at a party I'm attending. And I've sent it to our environmental book group, with whom you met at the Harvard club (Wendy Paulson, etc. ).
The Gates are worth watching and evaluating after the fact. Until then.....


A preliminary sketch of the Christo Gates project. On Saturday it will be a reality.
2/10/05 -- I've been receiving various invitations from people, some of them friends, who live on Fifth Avenue and on Central Park West, to come to parties offering a view of Christo's The Gates. Here is the letter I am sending them. [I hope they remain friends!]

Dear XYZ

Sorry to have to decline your kind invitation. Though the Gates is an event that has captured many people's imagination, the Central Park nature and birdwatching community is pretty solidly unhappy about it.
I know the project is ephemeral, and it may certainly be a work of art, but in my estimation the Gates don't belong in Central Park.

Let me give you my reasons. First, it violates Vaux and Olmsted's powerful mandate, that the park be a peaceful refuge for city-dwellers, a place where people who don't have lovely country homes may go at any time to enjoy the beauties of nature. However aesthetically pleasing the Gates may prove to be, the project is certainly not a part of V & O's concept of rus in urbe.

My second reservation about this project has to do with its commercial aspects. What the Christos end up doing with the large sums of money the Gates is generating and will generate [including T-shirt stands throughout the park] is their choice. It is still a commercial venture, not a public project with public oversight, and as such should not take over and dominate a public park. The Gates has taken over Central Park for almost a month now, and will be doing so for quite some time after the orange flags are down.

There is a third reason that I mention diffidently, since there's no way of proving its validity. Central Park is a haven for many wild creatures, not only our celebrated red-tailed hawks. There are many other resident and migrant birds [Woodcock migration begins at the beginning of February], as well as the various mammals, amphibians, and invertebrates that find respite in the park. I don't know what effect this spectacular introduction of metal gates with orange flags will have on these creatures, but even though the Christos have not installed the gates in the two major woodland areas, I can't help thinking the project will have some impact on wildlife. It doesn't seem likely that the impact will be a favorable one. For example, the three pairs of resident Central Park hawks hunt mainly around the park's meadows, not in the woodlands. Will a sea of orange flags surrounding their habitual hunting areas make it easier to spot small rodents on the ground? I wouldn't think so.

Warm regards,
Marie

PS I'm sending this same letter to several people on the park's periphery who have invited me to view the Gates from their windows.





PHOTO BY LINCOLN KARIM
2/10/05

Now you can see why the building at 73rd and 5th is called the LION BUILDING. [You can only see the lion heads with binoculars. Of course Lincoln's super-scope makes it crystal clear.]

2/11/05 --A REPORT BY KATHERINE HERZOG
Including
A TRIUMPH OVER CHRISTO!

Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 (2:00 to 4:00pm, then 4:30 to 5:00pm): Both Pale Male and Lola visiting the nest and nearby buildings before I arrived, but light hawk activity from 2:30 to 4:00pm. However, when I returned from the Boathouse at 4:30 saw an exhilerating aerial courtship ballet...soaring and circling around each other which lasted several minutes...then they flew to the nest and stayed there for about 10 minutes. They were very active in the nest. They may have copulated at the nest but unfortunately cannot confirm since I could not get a good enough view. PaleMale then flew to Linda and Lola to a tree on near the 72nd Street Transverse.
By the way a "gate" was put up exactly where Lincoln puts his wonderful mega-Meade telescope. Estella spoke with the Gates assemblers and asked them to remove or relocate the gate. They come back and took down the offending Gate and carted it away. Way to go Estella!


Report from the Bench 2/9/2005

According to the AM crew, it was a very busy morning
for work on the nest. Both hawks made multiple trips
with twigs. Including numerous short trips to the
small tree on the top terrace of Woody.
1:37PM Lola was perched on the antenna of the Oreo.
Light rain begins.
2:40 Pale Male arrived and perched on the 3rd railing
down on the left of Green Shade building.
3:00 Sun came out.
3:03 Pale Male flew south.
3:04 Lola flew south.
3:15-3:23 Sharp-shinned hawk in tree above bench and
bench environs.
4:13 Sharp-shinned pair did small circles with each
other for 9 minutes over the southern section of Model
Boat Pond.
Christo uprights complete on westside of boat pond,
circumference of Pilgrim Hill and paths.
(Jean reports three Red-tails sitting in trees south
of Turtle Pond, none PM or L.)
5:48 Twelve paired Mallards flew over the bench,
landed on the ice of the Model Boat Pond and padded
around in the twilight. (?)
6:10PM Pale Male had not returned to the pin oak at
the foot of Pilgrim Hill nor had Lola returned to the
oak adjacent to light pole 159, their preferred roosts
since 2/3.
Best, Donna

2/10/05 A note from Patricia, the person with the troublesome redtail near her feeder
&
A note from a reader offering more advice about the problem:


Hi Marie,
I just read your posting of my letter to John on your website and would like to correct your impression of my letter. I was not trying to drive the RT or any other Hawk away from the area permanately, just not to have it as a long term resident in the area.
Thanks,
Patti

Here is a copy of an e-mail I sent to John regarding what has transpired here.

Hi John,
I tried your advice about going out when I observed the RT in the tree and as I approached it would take flight. This was continued for 2 days and on the third day no RT was seen all day. On the 4th day the RT returned but did not stay for over an hour and the activity has markedley increased by the ground dwellers. I dont wish to drive the RT off entirely and can live with ocassional visits which seem to be the case now. As a side note on the second day a Sharped Shinned hawk was observed hunting in the area but left after about an hour and I assume it made a catch. I will keep monitoring the situation and keep you informed. Thanks again for your help and I hope the RT and other hawks and I can all enjoy the area as it greens up.
Yours,
Patti

And more advice

Marie,

Patricia may also find the following advice from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology useful (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/OtherVisitors.htm):

"At some point you can expect a visit from a hawk, usually a Sharp-shinned Hawk or a Cooper's Hawk. At first you'll probably welcome the close-up view but if your hawk stays around and scares your feeder birds away, what can you do? The best solution is to take your feeders down for a few days. The hawk will get hungry and move on. "

The Lab's Project FeederWatch site has lots of information about birds and birdfeeding: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/abtbirds_index.html.

And their "All About Birds" site can't be beat for identification, birding how-to, attracting birds, etc.: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds

Liz


*****************************************************************************

2/9/05 -- JOHN BLAKEMAN ANSWERS SOMEONE WITH A DIFFERENT PROBLEM and added since this morning, a CODA.

Last December we worked so hard to bring our redtail pair back to its usual place. And so when I received the letter you are about to read, from Patricia Varner in Troy, NY, I was taken aback. Someone trying to GET RID of a Red-tailed hawk! However I promised to forward her letter to John Blakeman and I did...with a little trepidation.

Below you will find Patricia's letter, and Blakeman's perfect response. Boy do I admire that guy! And I did end up sympathizing with Patricia when I clicked on the URL she provides and saw her beautiful backyard.


Here is my problem. I live outside the City of Troy NY. just NE of Albany and have a backyard garden and habitat along side a river with a variety of wild life in residence. About the end of December 04 I observed a hawk in the trees out back and welcomed it as a visitor. This was the first RT to be seen here but I have had many visits by a shaprshinned hawk which came and went and has returned numerous times but never stayed long. As I observed the RT it has retuned every day and perched in an area of about 500 yards around the garden and remains there from sun up to dusk moving around on ocassion. I have observed it is not interested in the numerous pigeons that come to feed (aprox 31) but is focused on the squirrels and other ground dwellers and has turned what was an active area into one of limited activity. I would not be upset if the RT was a visitor but it seems to be constantly here. I would like to know if there is anything I can do legaly to discourage the RT from being around all the time. I feel cheated as i feed all the wildlife and enjoyed seeing them scamper and play which has ceased with the RT in the trees so close. To get a better idea of the area please go to my webshots page at http://community.webshots.com/user/patti12180 and see the variety and location I am talking about.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Patricia



Patricia,

Marie Winn kindly forwarded your email to me. I hope I can be of help.

First, as a professional landscape designer (specializing in native prairies and savannas), I note the quality of your garden. Very nice work.

I wish I had some good news regarding the red-tail. Unfortunately, I do not. As you know, red-tails are protected along with most other birds, so they can't be shot at or trapped. You are certainly free to walk out under the hawk's tree and try to cause it to decide to perch elsewhere. That, of course, could get tiresome, and there's no telling how long it would take for the bird to learn that it's not welcome. In just two or three rousings it might decide to perch and hunt elsewhere. On the other hand, it could easily learn that you won't spend any great part of the day out there and it might come right back an hour after you leave. Red-tails are exceedingly smart hunters. They can be very hard to fool.

You have certainly gone to great lengths to provide food and habitat for the animals you feed, and their dispersal upon the appearance of a red-tailed hawk is certainly not a part of your wildlife feeding plan. But the wild red-tail sees things differently, as only a wild animal can. It sees the cavorting squirrels as very available food sources, sitting on the ground ready for taking. Unless concentrated by human feeding, squirrels in the wild seldom come together on the ground in multiple numbers. In the wild, the red-tail has to pick its prey very carefully. But at your feeding station, the hawk's food has been concentrated. The hawk is just as much a valued wild animal as the squirrels, and it has discovered a new source of food, the congregated squirrels. The laws of nature apply to all animals, not just the ones we personally prefer.

I wish I had a solution or better news, but wild red-tails will do what they are genetically programmed to do, search for and take food. When the snow melts and voles (meadow mice) are more easily seen, the hawk is more likely to spend her time peering out over meadows for these prey animals. Until then, the squirrels are simply very enticing.

I frequently get similar complaints from people whose bird feeders attract Cooper's hawks. They kill song birds at feeders rather profligately. They only eat song birds, and they find cardinals and mourning doves at feeders easy pickings.

Nature is filled with predators. The red-tail is one of them. I wish I were able to solve your problem, but I can't.

My best wishes, nonetheless.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman


Before I posted this correspondence I asked Patricia Varner if it would be all right to include her letter and her name. She sent the following response, which may serve as a coda to the little drama you have just read.

Hi Marie,
Yes you may use my name and letter either in full or paraphrased and as for a picture you may download anyone you wish from my webshots site. For your information I am trying what he suggested and going out into the garden and the hawk leaves. Today it flew to the other side of the river and perched only to be harrased by a small flock of crows which hang out in the area forcing it to leave the area entirely. I did return several hours later and I just walked to the tree area and it left. I must admit I find this magnificent bird a wonder to see. John also sent me another letter explaining why the hawk was not attacking the pigeons. Will close for now if there is anything else you need from me don't hesitate to ask.
Birdingly Yours,



2/8/05 -- NEST-BUILDING REPORT

Mon, Feb 7th--2:30 to 4:30pm--Observed Pale Male and Lola at the nest, both separately and together...flying in with twigs. Lola spending more time on the nest fastidiously rearranging the twig structure to suit her requirements. They were on many of the surrounding buildings often sitting close together but no mating activity that I or the Hawk Regulars who had been there from early a.m. saw to report. But, Valentine's Day is just around the corner!
Leaving at 4:30pm, a lovely immature Cooper's Hawk (almost identical to the Sharp-Shinned except the Cooper's is a bit larger and has rounded tail feathers) flew to a London Plane tree near the Hans C. Anderson sculpture clutching some small prey in his/her talons.

Katherine Herzog

BLAKEMAN VS. MW ON BIRD BRAINS

When I received John Blakeman's latest essay, responding to Donna Browne's observation of a puzzling aspect of Pale Male's nest-building technique, [see below - 2/5/05] I was taken aback. "Merely feathered flying dinosaurs" ? "Meager mind"?? Our hawks???

I remembered last week's article in the NY Times Science section about the avian brain, the one with the headline "Minds of Their Own: Birds Gain Respect." I wondered if John Blakeman reads our local daily in Huron Ohio. So I e-mailed him the article [with a respectful though challenging note.].

Within a few hours I received an answer. Not surprisingly, he HAD read the NY Times article. And he stood by his guns nonetheless.

Re-reading the article in light of John Blakeman's reply, and re-reading his first letter, I decided that indeed, he was right. My bristling at the "meager brain" assessment was certainly anthropomorphism on my part. I had always known that the corvid family were the Einsteins of the avian class. I just didn't want OUR BELOVED HAWKS to be relegated to the dunces' corner.

But really, Blakeman wasn't doing that. He was separating emotions from facts. I felt a bit sheepish, Then I began to think about Blakeman's various descriptions of his relationship with his trained redtail, Savanna. Don't I detect quite a bit of emotion in those passages? This made me feel a bit better about my quite unscientific reaction, though in truth his emotion doesn't ever seem to temper his scientific conclusions.

I hope this note makes a difference for those of you who find you have the same first reaction that I did.

You'll find below, Blakeman's first letter, and then his second letter, written after I sent him the NY Times article.


FIRST LETTER BY JOHN BLAKEMAN, RECEIVED AROUND 3 P.M ON 2/7/05

Marie,

A quick comment on Donna Browne's delightful nest activity observations.

She noted, “By 3:10 Lola was sitting on the center light of the Carlyle and Pale Male made trip after trip bringing twigs. Upon bringing one multi branched twig to the nest and working to adjust it for six minutes, Pale Male took it in his beak once again, left the nest circled, came back with the same twig and then placed it. (?)

Her question mark is reasonable. Why would the bird spend six minutes trying to get it placed or adjusted “just right,” and then fly off and return with the same twig and casually place it in the nest again? This didn't look sensible to Donna, and she questioned it, as she should have.

This kind of unreasonableness will be commonly seen when watching red-tails at length. The bird was deeply involved in trying to get the stick right where he wanted it for six minutes. Then, for no apparent reason he flew off with it, returned, and just put the stick in the nest with no concern. What gives?

It’s this. The cerebrum of red-tailed hawks isn't too large. Their brains are rather small, and a great deal of neural capacity must be devoted to the processing of visual images and remembering successful hunting experiences. If you can't see nor capture your daily food, you are a soon-dead hawk. Other things can happen somewhat crudely. Hunting and flying can't.

Consequently, a number of hawk neuromuscular behaviors are rather ritualized, roughly programmatic, not thought out nor reasoned. Nest building, especially the insertion and placement of sticks is one of these behaviors. As intent as the bird might have appeared in its stick-placing deliberations, its meager mind was really not paying much attention at all. The bird was merely going through the motions (seemingly like a number of students I once taught, and much like myself when I'm assigned undesirable and menial tasks). The bird got bored, so it decided to fly off with the stick and come back with it from, perhaps, another angle.

Don't read much into this. The bird thinks hard about hunting. It thinks very little about putting sticks together to make a nest. The bird really has no understanding or comprehension of what it’s doing. It just goes through the genetically programmed motions. If it looks indeliberate and unconsidered to us, it is. Don't presume that these birds have mammalian minds. The don't. They have bird brains, and those small collections of neurons work in only limited ways.

Don't make the mistake of presuming or assigning normal human thought patterns to red-tailed hawks. You can do that to your dog, who you know thinks so much like a human. Their brains are very similar to ours, in general arrangement and organization. Dogs, like us, are very social, so we can easily identify with them, even assign them very human personalities. But don't do that with the hawks. Remember, birds are in some respects merely feathered, flying modern dinosaurs. They can't and don't act or think like mammals. Don't try to make them do any of that.

I still smile in moderate frustration when I see such ritualized neuromuscular behaviors when Savanna, my adult falconry red-tail eats a provided meal on my gloved fist. She particularly likes turkey poults (young hatchlings). I have a freezer full of these and other similar hawk food delights. Savanna will step onto the poult and pull off a wing, the head, or just some general body part. Anyone who’s watched Pale Male or Lola eat up close knows the scenario. In watching the feast, the bird often grabs the food inefficiently, even missing some very obvious (to us) exposed tidbit of food.

For a bird that can so adroitly grab fleeing prey with its feet, to watch it so clumsily use its feet and beak in the rather random tearing apart of its food causes one to wonder if the bird is in good health. There is little that is delicate when a red-tail steps on to a dead prey animal and starts to rip it apart. It’s not unlike watching a two-year old try to feed himself.

So expect to see such going-through-the-motions behaviors. That’s all they are. In the end, they always work out, as crude and random as they so often appear.

Contrast those behaviors with what the bird does so expertly; that is, to fly and hunt. Nothing random or clumsy there. It’s expertise that surpasses any ballerina or professional athlete. No question marks needed.

JOHN BLAKEMAN'S SECOND LETTER, RECEIVED AROUND 7:30 ON 2/7/05, AFTER I SENT HIM THE NY TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT AVIAN BRAINS.

Marie,

You are astute. I read this information a week or so ago, and rather dismissed it for my raptors, and still do. The need for a major reconsideration of the unique organization of the avian brain, distinctly separating it from the mammalian one, is long overdue. I have no issue with that. I recall from basic ornithology class many years ago reading about how different bird brains are. The authors of the new study are correct. The old perspectives must be thrown out.

But in the larger picture, those relate primarily to tissues and structures, not to a universal, elevated bird mentality. Note that the birds used to illustrate this contention were all corvids: crows, jays, and ravens. The intellect of these birds has been noted for centuries, and the newer understandings of avian brain tissues helps to elucidate the brilliance of these birds.

Hawks however, have never been known for their intellects. And neither have most bird groups. I believe the study's authors used corvid intellect only to substantiate their more general claim that bird brains are decidedly different from mammals. If a crow is so smart, it therefore has to have a brain different from a lab mouse or rat.

I stand by the contentions of my note. In fact, I clearly stated that red-tails don't think like either humans or dogs. They think like raptors, not mammals. So, is the question a matter of degrees of intellect (as with the corvids), or is it with the very different arrangements of brain tissues? I think the greater story is the latter. And that helps explain the "un-thoughtful" behaviors people will see red-tails engage in, such as messing with a stick for six minutes, only to fly off with it and then return and leave it.

Yours is a very good question, one that I didn't address except here. Others, too, wondered, I'm sure.

Whatever the perspective, the more important understanding is that hawk watchers need to refrain from anthropomorphizing the hawks. However their brains work or are arranged, they are real bird brains, not mammal brains. That can help account for some otherwise strange hawk behaviors.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman

2/7/05--An amusing note about Pale Male and Lola from a former NYC resident who now lives in Florida:

Amazing info on your web site. From John Blakeman's scholarly research, it seems that PM & Lola are living in territory MUCH MUCH smaller than a RTH normally would. Being that humans in NYC live in quarters much much smaller than humans do in most places, it would seem to be acceptable to conclude that PM & Lola are living like REAL New Yorkers! They've already had to deal with a lousy coop board, and now it turns out they're living in cramped quarters too! If they start riding the subway I'll eat my hat.

Sincerely,

Lisa Ivers

2/7/05 -- WHY SO MANY REDTAILS IN NYC?
AN EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION BETWEEN MW AND JOHN BLAKEMAN


Yesterday I sent John Blakeman the map of Central Park with the redtail nesting sites marked that I also posted on this website. It was annotated [baed on my info] and sent to me by Karen Anne Kolling. I added a few observations of my own and some questions. Below is what I wrote to him and his amazing answer:

FROM MW:
John: Below, a map that might be useful to your understanding of the Central park redtail situation.

In summary: we have solid evidence for three breeding pairs: 1. Pale Male, 2. The North Meadow pair [both these pairs had young that fledged], and 3. The failed nesting attempt of the Hecksher Ballfield [formerly CPS] Hawks. The male of that pair is very light-colored and is often called Pale Male Jr. There is another possible nesting pair at the park's north end.

PS Someone has sent me a note reminding me to mention to you that the Central Park hawks do not feed exclusively IN the park. [There are pigeons and rats everywhere in the city, after all.] Pale Male and Lola, for instance, have been sighted on various occasions perching considerably further east than Fifth Avenue-- on Lexington Ave, or even 2nd Ave -- almost to the East River. This would considerably extend the actual size of their territories, perhaps making them conform more closely with the square mile you noted was the usual territorial size.

I might mention one more observation: I live on Riverside Drive, the western-most part of Manhattan. Our apartment overlooks Riverside Park, a narrow strip between Riverside Drive and the river,. We look out on New Jersey. What I'm about to say is VERY impressionistic, but I don't think I started regularly seeing Red-tailed Hawks out our windows facing the river until about ten years ago. Now I and many others see redtails in and around Riverside Park very, very frequently. I am almost certain there is a breeding pair somewhere near my building, though I've never succeeded in finding a nest. Put that together with the fact that before Pale Male arrived in Central Park in November, 1991 [probably on or around Nov. 10th] a redtail sighting in Central Park was a very rare event, something to write in BIG LETTERS in the Bird Register, while today they are as common as robins, practically, and you'll begin to see what an odd situation this is. It looks like a sudden redtail population explosion occurred during quite a short time period.

Cheers
Marie

RESPONSE FROM JOHN BLAKEMAN:

Marie,

Once again, I'm knocked over with your important, new information. You have broached a question that I've pondered but didn't dare raise. Are any of the CP red-tails hunting beyond Central Park proper? Might there even be nesting red-tails elsewhere on Manhattan. If so, and from what you described it sure seems likely, then everything -- I mean everything -- is changed. Could the wild, rural red-tail adapt to a hard-surfaced urban environment that lacks any significant vegetated landscape? The little falcon, the American kestrel did this in the 19th century. But I know of no studies describing this for the red-tail.

Once again, it doesn't make sense. The RT is a big, muscular raptor that so much prefers meadow voles. This prey species may be only marginally present in Central Park, if at all. But it is absolutely absent in the streets and alleys of the rest of constructed Manhattan Island. The incidental perching of red-tails on the edges of back street rooftops in search of rats, mice, and pigeons is moderately reasonable. But how does this giant bird then swoop down and take a rat or pigeon as it darts between pedestrians, taxis, trucks, overhead wires, and all of the other airspace impediments of any modern big city. Red-tails have great difficulty successfully hunting in forests, for this same reason. They can't easily maneuver around tree branches, shrubs, and other vegetational obstructions. That's why red-tails are seldom seen in densely forested areas. When they are, the birds are always perched on the edge of the great forests looking out on to an open forest clearing.

The phenomenon of the Manhattan red-tails is now far more complicated and developed than just Pale Male and Lola. They might actually be the odd couple out, because unlike the others, they don't nest in trees. The other, less-observed pairs may be actually more representative of the red-tail expansion into city centers. The reasons why this is happening needs study and explanation.

Conservationists have lamented the multiple pressures modern industrial society brought against raptors. For decades, in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, raptors where almost universally regarded as vermin. How could a species that rapaciously kills and eats "good" species such as squirrels and cardinals be worthy of respect and protection. Depending on one's view, either God or evolution had made egregious mistakes in allowing the proliferation of these flying criminals. A shotgun could reverse some of that.

But things have changed dramatically, so much so that common raptors have now probably reached territorial saturation, which provides for me the only explanation of the recent incursion of red-tails into NYC. Remember, no one was shooting New York City red-tails in previous decades. Whatever has caused the birds to invade the city, it must certainly have something to do with changed conditions in their normal rural areas. Central Park has always had rats and pigeons and squirrels. It has had mature nest trees for a century. Nothing in either Central Park, nor on greater Manhattan Island has changed as quickly has the red-tail population there. Whatever is causing this new phenomenon, it's something out in the countryside, not in the city. The city has been the same for decades.

What, then, has changed in rural areas? What out there could possibly have prompted red-tails to so dramatically change their natural history? Here's the way I see it And of course, good population studies are needed to authenticate this with hard data -- these are merely my own personal prognostications. (Some of my professional colleagues might object to the public appearance of these here, as they are only private thoughts. But it's good for everyone to form their own thoughts on observed natural history phenomena. I hope these conjectures might prompt others to engage in good, evidence-based thinking.)

First, you are correct in surmising that the many hawks you have been seeing on Manhattan are a very recent occurrence. If any had taken residence years ago, people would have recorded it, with the same excitement you have presented in your wonderful book. A nesting red-tail pair simply can't go unnoticed. Resident NYC red-tails are new. Why?

As a retired high school biology teacher, I recall fond memories of my career, especially the wonderful kids I was privileged to teach. I taught in a school district composed of both rural farm families and conventional suburban housing developments. In the early years of my career, in the 1970s and '80s, virtually all the farm boys had 12-gauge shotguns and .22-caliber rifles. These boys engaged in a great deal of legal hunting and trapping in the Lake Erie marshes. They were as close to the wild as most anyone in the 19th century. These kids would often share hunting and trapping stories with me, asking intelligent biological questions.

Whatever could that have to do with modern NYC red-tails? Everything, I think. Today, virtually no farm kids (what few are left) or other students have the slightest idea on how to hunt or shoot a firearm. In twenty years there has been a major turn of life styles. Formerly, kids spent a great deal of time out in the local woodlots and marshes. From time to time, a few of these boys could not resist the temptation of taking an illegal pot-shot at a passing red-tail. They never killed enough to reduce the population in any detectable number. But they did reduce the average age of the mature breeding pairs of red-tailed hawks. The number of red-tails today in Ohio (and New York and New Jersey) is probably close to what it was after WWII. Before the War, all raptors were shot without restraint. Their populations were decidedly reduced by human predation. With raptor protection laws and enforcement after the War, those pressures were reduced. So the red-tail pretty much saturated all available habitats.

The infrequent killing of red-tails didn't reduce the population, as there was always a large "floater" population of young, unmated birds awaiting a new pair-bonding and breeding opportunity. Every time a red-tail was shot, a new floater quickly filled the ecological void. Remember, all successful species must produce more offspring than can possibly survive. That was a major element of Darwin's explanation ("theory") of evolution. That's exactly why about only one fledged red-tail in four or five ever survives to adulthood. Sadly, most of those wonderful new eyasses that come off the Central Park nests will never survive their first year. Most will drift off and starve. They will never find an un-occupied habitat with sufficient prey for their inexperienced, even meager hunting skills. Old adults have learned all the tricks in capturing a hundred grams of living flesh each day. Young birds have everything stacked against them in this vital quest. Most of the hawks fail.

So, what might occur if very few wild hawks are now being shot, or killed by leg-hold traps? My personal experiences with rural school boys, farm organizations, and others (where I commonly give my hawk protection slide shows) show that this is really the case. Very few hawks are now being killed by humans, and that changes everything.

Formerly, a young red-tail that had learned how to make it through its first winter could merely float around the countryside after its first molt (when it got the red tail and was sexually mature) and try to find an adult that had somehow lost its mate. Because a moderate number of red-tails were being killed by humans, there were a good number of potential new mates for both the rising young adults and the older breeding birds who had lost mates. Raptor biologists are always amazed at the speed with which a new replacement mate appears. How many mates has Pale Male had? How many seasons did he go without a mate? There has always been a new mate waiting for him.

Presently, there are many fewer new-mate openings. Few hawks are being shot. Mated pairs can now grow old gracefully, at age. Red-tails can easily breed successfully for a decade, and some approach 15 years or more. That then (as I see it) is the explanation of the new NYC red-tails. Lots of young red-tails are coming off wild nests every spring. In my state of Ohio, there is likely to be as many as 5000 active, productive nests each spring. With an average of 1.5 fledged eyasses for each nest, that's over 7000 new birds each year. Yes, most of these are going to starve before their first hard winter sets in. But what an abundance of surviving, unmated "floaters" must still populate the wilds of Ohio each year. Where are these birds going to spend their adult years? It can't be out in the countryside, as all available good territories with ample prey are already occupied by experienced adults.

I believe that the red-tails that have recently taken up residence in NYC have come from this saturated floater population. These birds are famous for "floating," drifting around the landscape, looking for something promising. Surely, some of these birds could drift over from New Jersey or down the Hudson and pass over Manhattan. At a nice soaring height of 2000 ft, the trees and "meadows" of Central Park would be easily seen. The abundant prey in the park would also be easily detected.

Why, then, didn't this happen before? Red-tails have always been seen drifting through the park, especially in migration seasons. The major change has been this. Formerly, most self-respecting red-tails simply would not compromise their innate fear of inordinate numbers of 150 lb bipeds strutting about below. Red-tails have enough innate good sense to stay away from the proximity of humans. A transient Central Park hawk visitor soon decided to head back up the Hudson, hoping to find some territorial opening in the landscape. Until recently, these birds could eventually do this. They had no ultimate imperative to try to make it in The City.

But today, they do. Frankly, it's tough out there in countryside. If you thought getting a nice, inexpensive, well-located Manhattan apartment was nearly impossible, the finding of an unoccupied nesting territory may be equally difficult for young adult red-tails. And as so many women know, most of the good men are already married. All the good hawks are already mated out there in the countryside. For a newly-graduated red-tail (meaning that it survived the first winter), there simply aren't many potential mates nor open territories. Therefore, in instinct-denying desperation, a few red-tails have elected to come into the city and see if a life could be made there. And a few of these birds have learned to adapt, to truly make it in The City. Pale Male may have been the vanguard of this new dimension of red-tail life history.

Just as I mentioned in one of my very early essays here, Pale Male has come to New York City and made a success in exactly the manner of hundreds of thousands of human immigrants -- learn the way of the new country, work hard, adapt, and make a new life. Pale Male did it. And now a few other red-tailed hawks are doing it. What a better characterization of one of the great features of New York City?

Please continue to keep me posted on the greater red-tailed hawk population of Manhattan. If this is happening in New York City, it's likely to be happening elsewhere. Most large American cities have central open greenspaces that adaptive red-tails could colonize just as they have done in Manhattan. The text and reference books on American raptors must be re-written again. The first revision was the urban success of the peregrine falcon. Next was the continuing expansion of the bald eagle. Now, it's the urban red-tail. I'm so glad it's happening in New York City -- and that there are so many wonderful people to watch and monitor it. Without your book, this entire matter might have passed unnoticed. Again, thanks so much.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman


**********************************************************************************

REQUEST FOR DATA
and
A DETAILED HAWKWATCHING REPORT from 2/5/05

DONNA BROWNE WRITES: In accordance with John Blakeman's request for data about Pale Male and Lola's various activities, I'm attempting to quantify and identify Red-tail prey in Central Park. Any sightings of Red-tail meals to be noted for time, location, prey, Red-tail ID if possible, and sent to

quicksilverparrot@yahoo.com

or for those without email to be noted in the Central Park Log Book, would be most appreciated.


Here's Donna Browne's very detailed report of day before yesterday's nest happenings. Note that on that day the sun set at 5:19 pm, so some of the activity she describes occurred under twilight conditions:

2/5/2004

Very active day for the nest. Many twigs were gathered
and placed. Several instances of both birds on the
nest at the same time and Lola also ate on site.

By 3:10 Lola was sitting on the center light of the
Carlyle and Pale Male made trip after trip bringing
twigs. Upon bringing one multi branched twig to the
nest and working to adjust it for six minutes, Pale
Male took it in his beak once againm left the nest
circled, came back with the same twig and then placed
it. (?)

At 5:05 Lola left the Carlyle and perched on the
southern big square building. 5:06 Pale Male appears
from the SW with a twig. He takes it to the nest and
places it. Pale Male leaves the nest and perches on
the top corner of Linda. At 5:10 both birds leave for
the Ramble. The assumption was that the hawk day was
over. But at 5:18 Pale Male arrives with a twig from
the SW and places it on the nest. 5:21 Lola arrives
at the nest and arranges twigs. At 5:22 Pale Male
leaves and perchs on Linda 5. 5:30 Lola flies to a
Pin Oak just west of Pilgrim hill mound, east of the
transverse. She stays for a few minutes, many
squirrels are whining in the tree, there is a very
squeaky baby carriage on the sidewalk. Lola moves to
a different tree, still in the area but closer to the
Boat House where there is only one squirrel chattering
and running up the trunk within a few feet of her.
She ignores him.
By 5:45 Pale Male has taken up roost in the same Pin
Oak of the last few days.

2/6/05 -- HAWKWATCHER REPORT

AERIAL ATTACK

Marie,
Yesterday (Sat) Pale Male delivered some twigs to the nest after circling the pond two or three times. He then sat on the nest for between 5 and 10 minutes. Then the most incredible thing happened....he jumped off the nest and soared low across the pond, like a jet plane, wings back and went after some pigeons in the small grassy area behind the benches. He was no more than 5 feet above our heads. A spectacular aerial show. Somehow the pigeons all got away and Pale Male landed in a nearby tree empty handed. It must have taken about 5 or 6 seconds from beginning to end. What a thrill to have seen that.

Bob Brooks


Map Courtesy of http://www.kelley-graphics.com/centralpark/lrgview.html
and sent with annotations based on my info by Karen Anne Kolling
RED-TAILED HAWK TERRITORIES IN CENTRAL PARK


2/6/05 -- Get out your magnifying glasses. The lettering on this map of Central Park may be hard to read.

Each yellow rectangle on the map indicates a Red-tailed Hawk nest. Going from North to South, they are:
1. At the Harlem Meer and 110th St., a possible, but unconfirmed hawk pair.

2. The North Meadow pair: Last year, in a tree at the SE end of the North Meadow, this pair hatched three young, all of which fledged successfully.

3. Pale Male and Lola [Our celebrities]

4. The Hecksher Ballfield Pair. [The male has a light-colored head and is often called Pale Male Jr] This pair made an unsuccessful nesting attempt in a tree at the northwest end of the Heckshire Ballfield. They are almost certainly the same pair that has been trying to nest on a high ledge of a building on Central Park South for the last two or three years. Last year they were observed in territorial battles with a pair of Peregrine Falcons that are often seen at one of the high towers of the Sherry Netherland Hotel on Fifth Ave. and 59th St. [Though the falcons are consistently seen in the same location, year after year, no nest has ever been found]. The falcon encounters probably encouraged the redtail pair to move a bit north and west, into the park.


BLAKEMAN ON THE PROLIFERATION OF CP REDTAILS
and
BLAKEMAN ON PROGENY -- i.e. Are all those CP redtails Pale Male's kids?

followed by CORRECTION OF MY MISTAKE

Marie,

The plot thickens. In December, when I came upon the Central Park red-tails, I learned only of the famous 927 Park Ave pair. Then a bit later, I saw tangential references to another pair that attempted a nest in the Park proper. Now I learn that there have been a total of three pairs residing or hunting in the park recently. When will the surprises end? Back in the ‘90's I thought that any nesting RTs anywhere in NYC would be unlikely, and surely un-persisting. Red-tailed hawks just don't nest in major urban centers – period. At every turn, I've been wrong on virtually every initial understanding of things red-tail at Central Park. I'm pleased to admit my errors, especially when they are corrected by the observations of so many local hawk watchers. What they see is more significant that what I say. I'm merely prognosticating at a great distance based upon my rather different rural red-tail experiences. Hard field data can't be argued with.

I will have to pull up the map of Central Park and try to orient the locations of all three pairs now. Initially, I thought the presence of a single pair in such a small place to be unlikely. But three pairs live there. Utterly remarkable. This is likely to be the highest population density of the species anywhere in the East. In areas of the West with high ground squirrel populations, red-tails frequently occupy territories of about 0.5 sq. mi. Central Park is 800 and some acres, as I recall, and a square mile is 640 acres. Three pairs in approx. 800 acres yields a territory size of approx. 0.40 sq. mi. In the wild grasslands of the West virtually all of the open ground space is occupied by ground squirrels. But so much of Central Park has no hunting habitat. The actual prey habitat of the park is only a fraction of the total size. (There’s another master’s thesis, describing habitat and prey utilization by red-tails in central Park.) Any way it gets sliced, there must be a lot of continually available rats and pigeons. I'd still love to learn what all of these hawks are eating, and how they capture their prey. It’s not anything like rural birds. (Suet?)

What do I make of the territorial encounters? They are very important. They cause all the birds to understand where each is “allowed” to be. Keeps the peace. These events, as aggressive and disruptive as they might appear to be, are not at all. This is part of the fabric of red-tail social interactions, ever bit as much as any human choosing to open or close an apartment door after someone knocks. I liked the characterization of “being herded.” Although it appeared that physical contact almost occurred, this seldom happens. The entire business is wonderfully ritualized with the wheeling around, the screaming, the dives, and occasionally some real physical contact. But even that is usually ritualized, as both birds usually grasp opposing legs and talons for an instant before letting go.

Occasionally there will be a powerful attack on an intruder that blows off some feathers, causing the unresponsive bird to retreat in obvious distress. Such intruders are inevitably birds of the year that haven't yet learned the protocols of red-tail property rights. Just one or two of these incidents sets the youngster aright, and she then behaves herself appropriately. One of my falconry red-tails saw a new immature sitting in a field overlooking my bird’s frequent hunting area. Savanna wasted no time and flew over and knocked the youngster off her limb. She retreated quickly. The next day the same bird was sitting in the same tree. But just as soon as Savanna and I stepped into the field a quarter mile away, the youngster immediately flew off. She learned a lesson from my grand matriarch hunting companion. When required, the same lessons are taught to inattentive intruders by wild birds such as Pale Male and Lola. From the description of this territorial conflict, all parties behaved with appropriate deportment, as proper New Yorkers would, of course.

Again, a record of when and where and which birds are involved in these aerial displays would be invaluable in discerning habitat utilizations.

Now to the question everyone romantically ponders. Have any of the interlopers been sired by Pale Mare? Do the parents recognize their offspring and therefore accommodate their adjacent presence. It sure would make a better story if any of this were so. But it makes little biological sense. I'm guessing that few, if any, of the other RTs seen in Central Park are 927 offspring. Here’s why.

In virtually every case in rural areas, adult red-tails deliberately drive off the season’s young in July or August. When things start to get hot and there is no longer any hint of spring (meaning that prey animals also are getting harder to find and capture), parents stop feeding the fledged eyasses and actually drive them away, if required. Most of these youngsters have the same feelings toward mom and dad as we did when we were 18 or 19 and they are glad to fly off to new horizons, un-pestered by weird parents.

I am absolutely certain that neither parent is able to recognize its progeny in subsequent years. That happens in social mammals, of course. But none of this is in the limited behavioral abilities of these birds. Their brains aren't set up for such recognition. Sorry.

The summer’s “leave-the-house" behaviors persist throughout the year. The birds just don't have any genetic or behavioral compulsion to return to their natal territory. Why go back home? Mom and pop will come right out and give them “that look”. Red-tail populations that faithfully returned to natal territories to attempt to breed drastically limited their choices of mates. After a few years of this, the only potential mates were siblings and cousins. Biologically that makes everybody similar, and that becomes a genetic defeat. Biologically, it’s best to mate with someone reasonably unrelated, to minimize genetic deficiencies and maximize genetic variabilities and the consequent behavioral opportunities. Who wants to date his sister? Who wants to have mom and pop riding herd, or flying over them? Again, the compulsions to return to a red-tail’s growing-up neighborhood are pretty weak.

But of course, I admit to being initially wrong on so much of the Central Park red-tails. The fact remains that any of the other birds, could indeed, be Pale Male’s progeny. I can't deny that. Could be. Probably not, however.

For now, we have to guess. This is why it would be nice to get many of these birds banded. Because this is a special population worthy of special study, colored marker bands should be used, allowing easy identification with spotting scopes. The fact that Pale Male is so easy to identify has been crucial in understanding the entire population. How helpful it would be to have all six or so of the CP red-tails color-banded. And the progeny question would be answered immediately if all the eyasses were banded on the nest or soon after fledging. If the birds were banded, we'd really have a handle on so many questions.

I don't recommend that the 927 eyasses be banded on the nest. Getting to the nest would require the re-installation of the dangling structure (What was it, the swing platform, or something?). But in the wild, in open rural areas, the young could be easily trapped and banded when they start to hunt in June and July. (See my description elsewhere on how that is done, causing no harm whatsoever to the hawks.) I'm not sure this could be done in Central Park, however. The complications are multiple and I won't delineate them here.

As a biology major I tried (how mistakenly) to stay away from literature classes where I would have to figure out the ever-convoluting plots of the great novels. But that’s exactly what we have here. Our real-life novel now has some other personalities. I thought the story was to be only Pale Male, Lola, and their annually departing (I think) offspring.

But some more chapters are being written by our hawks. This is going to be a good tale.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman

Correction of facts in my reply to John Blakeman

Here's what I wrote:

One pair made a prolonged but unsuccessful nesing attempt last spring in a tree a little north of the Great Lawn They may have already begun to incubate eggs before the nest was somehow destroyed.[Let's call them the Great Lawn pair]. The male of that pair was exceptionally light in color and was popularly called Pale Male Jr.

Another pair hangs out at the southern-most border of the park,[59th St.] and is often seen perching on buildings on Central Park South: the Trump building, and the one with the green roof next to it especially. They have been seen bringing nesting materials to a building ledge last year and the year before that-- another prolonged nesting attempt.[Let's call these the CPS hawks] A birder named Ben Cacace who works in that neighborhood had very detailed observations of their activities.

Well, I didn't mean The Great Lawn. It was actually a tree a little North of the Heckscher Ballfield, and just a little south of the 66th Street Transverse. So let's call that pair the Heckscher Ballfield pair.

Now it appears that last year, the pair I referred to as the CPS pair was regularly pursued by a pair of peregrine falcons that hangs out near the top of a building at 5th and 59th St. It seems more than likely that the CPS pair simply moved into the park to get out of peregrine territory and made a nesting attempt near the Hecksher Ballfield. SO...scratch the CPS pair. They and the Hecksher Ballfield pair are one and the same.


Oh yes, another thing: There is probably yet another redtail pair at the northern-most part of the park, somewhere around 110th St. and the Harlem Meer.

GOOD NEWS: A hawkwatcher named Karen Anne Kolling is working on an e-mailable map of Central Park with all hawk territories marked on it. As soon as she sends it I'll post it on this site.

2/04/05--From Lincoln Karim's website www.palemale.com
The latest view of the growing nest, with Pale Male jumping to compress the twigs [My explanation].

2/4/05 --Two interesting reports from Donna Browne followed by JOHN BLAKEMAN'S RESPONSE and a public query from me to John Blakeman in return:


NO VISITORS PLEASE....
At approximately 1:45PM today [2/3/05], Pale Male and Lola
worked together to chase another Red-tail away before
she reached the the mid-Model Boat Pond/nest site
area. Initially all three birds came from the South.
PM and Lola managed by a kind of herding technique to
turn the visitor west. PM then came from above the
visitor and struck at him. Lola flew north, perched
on Woody, and PM continued to chase the visitor west
towards the Ramble.

New roosting habit...
At 5:30 PM, Pale Male, as he did yesterday (at 5:15),
came from the Ramble to roost in one of the trees just
south of the east/west path by the Hawk bench and
adjacent to the circular path around the model boat
pond. Lincoln said that this is unusual as in the
past Pale Male only roosted this close to the site
when there were eyasses in the nest.

Best, Donna


**************************************************************

Marie,

The posting this morning about an aerial territorial conflict is exactly what I anticipated from the other CP pair.

This is going to be interesting. More of these territorial interactions are likely to be seen in the next few weeks. The mutually-to-be-agreed upon border between the two pairs is now in decision.

It would be helpful for the Regulars (and others) to start mapping each of these encounters. Actually, both the perched and flying locations (and times) of every sighting should be mapped. From such a map, the territories become clear. It would be interesting to see how the borders might change or fluctuate during the pre-nesting period, on through fledging.

As I mentioned in yesterday's note, the appearance of another competitive Central Park pair could reduce the 927 pair's brood size. Given the small size of CP, I think this is very likely -- and not a bad thing, either. I'd very much prefer to have two pairs using CP. From this, the loss of either nest, or of a member of either pair, would not be so catastrophic. The alternate pair would continue a CP nesting legacy.

Red-tailed hawks haven't reached any Central Park ecological equilibrium yet. This is exciting.

Central Park is now a major red-tailed hawk natural history laboratory. There ought to be some college biology students at some NYC university who could undertake a proper field study of these birds. Significant things are happening. They need to be seriously studied. There are several master's theses awaiting. Wish I could be there.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman

***************************************************************

Dear John,

Thanks for your great letter.

When you assume that this territorial conflict between the 927 Fifth Ave hawks and another redtail involved "the other pair" -- presumably the successful nesters at 97th and the North Meadow-- [Let's call them the North Meadow pair], you may not be aware of two other redtail pairs that have been around for several years.

One pair made a prolonged but unsuccessful nesing attempt last spring in a tree a little north of the Great Lawn. They may have already begun to incubate eggs before the nest was somehow destroyed.[Let's call them the Great Lawn pair]. The male of that pair was exceptionally light in color and was popularly called Pale Male Jr.

Another pair hangs out at the southern-most border of the park,[59th St.] and is often seen perching on buildings on Central Park South: the Trump building, and the one with the green roof next to it especially. They have been seen bringing nesting materials to a building ledge last year and the year before that-- another prolonged nesting attempt.[Let's call these the CPS hawks] A birder named Ben Cacace who works in that neighborhood had very detailed observations of their activities.

Since the three birds yesterday were seen coming from the south, my own hunch would be that the intruder was either one of the Great Lawn hawks or one of the CPS hawks.

All these territories seem to me to be much smaller than what one reads about the size of redtail territories. Especially close are the Great Lawn pair and Pale Male and Lola. The Great Lawn nest was a bit west of Fifth Avenue, but less than 10 blocks south -- I'd say it was around 65th St. That's less than 1/2 a mile from 927 Fifth. Meanwhile, the North Meadow pair [the successful ones] nested a bit more than a mile to the north.

What do you make of this overabundance of redtails around here? There have been other territorial encounters in years past similar to the one Donna describes,[although it's never clear who the intruders are] but basically all these pairs seem to be co-existing fairly peacefully.

I know you wrote, in a previous letter, that there would be no "family feeling" between the Fifth Avenue pair and their offspring of past years. Nevertheless many of us have a vague sense that the other birds are being tolerated more than usual because they are offspring. Any even small possibility of that?

Cheers,
Marie

1/3/04 A CHALLENGE TO CENTRAL PARK HAWKWATCHERS
FROM JOHN BLAKEMAN: YOU TOO CAN BE FIELD SCIENTISTS!

I SENT JOHN BLAKEMAN THE LATEST OF LINCOLN'S PICTURES SHOWING THE NEST WITH A GROWING NUMBER OF TWIGS.[SEE BELOW] HE SENT THE FOLLOWING REPLY, FULL OF FASCINATING INFORMATION ABOUT REDTAIL NEST-BUILDING HABITS. HE ALSO INVITED CENTRAL PARK HAWKWATCHERS TO SEND IN SOME OF THEIR OBSERVATIONS. AN EXCITING CHALLENGE.


Marie,

Yes, I just checked out the new nest site image, with both birds on it, and I smiled again. These birds are doing just what most experienced, red-tailed pairs should be doing right now, on schedule. As you know, I've never much doubted the fidelity of this pair to this refurbished nest sub-structure, and now that extends to the emerging nest itself. All is well.

Let's watch and see what happens. The pair isn't going to waste any time or energy with any tentative alternate nests. That happens sometimes in the wild. This pair is now totally re-committed to 927 Fifth Ave.

But here's something to watch for. Nest construction is likely to proceed in one of two modes. Rural birds usually start selecting a nest site in earnest about now. That's what's happening with this pair. But many other pairs dawdle around with a meager pile of sticks for a week or so, then all of a sudden, in a day or two, they bring hundreds of sticks to the nest, causing it to pop up to full size rather instantly. I've been in the field on a late January day, discovered a new low nest like the 927 on one today, then came back a day or so later, and little more had transpired. Upon resumption of nest observations in February, still not much more.

But when I've skipped two days and come back, a full-sized nest is in place. Instant nest. Let's watch to see if Pale Male and Lola get into one of these "let's build the house in a day" modes. It's very likely they will.

Someone should be measuring (estimating) the height of the nest at the end of each day and creating a graph on this. If someone can email daily images, I can easily do this on my CAD program with an accuracy of an inch or less. If someone can measure a brick the same size as the one behind the bird, we can easily figure out the dimensions. From just looking at the bird itself, I can estimate dimensions. Such nest-building data would be really fine field observations. And if a day or so is missed, we can interpolate. I'd be glad to post the readings every four or five days.

The alternate, less exciting mode is the go-it-slow one, where the nest just gets put together at a leisurely, incremental pace. That can happen, also. Let's see which method the pair chooses (And they might do something I'm not familiar with, too. We can all learn.)

The other observation of the immature bird eating suet is plainly weird. If I offered a piece of suet to my red-tail, she'd give me that "How dumb do you think I am?" look, sneering in absolute repugnance. I can understand how the Park hawk might have taken its first bite of the suet. The suet was obviously placed in the Park for other birds, and as I always contend, red-tails sit around and see and contemplate everything. It saw a woodpecker on the suet, and noticed that it looked like the winter fat it consumes on the squirrels and rats it eats. So yes, it could have taken a single evaluative taste. But to pull up the entire chunk and go off and eat from it is unheard of. Red-tails just don't consume much fat. And they aren't particularly enamored of beef products, especially those with lots of fat. (Don't try to feed a red-tail ground beef or hamburger. Too much fat.)

Another Central Park red-tail mystery.

One last point. Apparently another RT pair had an active nest in CP last year. For authentic ecological understandings of red-tails in CP, I think it would equally valuable to monitor the activities of all other CP red-tails this year. I'm impressed that Pale Male and Lola allowed another pair to reside and nest in CP. How these two pairs interact will be very interesting. Are they communally hunting throughout CP (unlikely, as RTs are very territorial)? If not, which pairs are hunting where, and with what success? How have the two pairs partitioned the small hunting territories of CP? That's important, because if a second tree-nesting (or other) pair becomes as experienced and stable as the 927 pair, the new pair might begin to claim more territory, perhaps some that Pale Male and Lola now claim. That could reduce the availability of food to feed the offspring, which could, in turn, reduce the brood size to a more normal one or two.

As I mentioned in a previous note, this is rather equivalent to the noteworthy predator/prey relationships of the great cats on the savannas and grasslands of east Africa. You NYC people get a better chance of studying this than I do out here in rural Ohio. My RT territories are 2-4 sq mi. I've got to be traveling all over the countryside to see adjacent pair interactions, if any are to be seen at all. You fortunate folks need merely to rotate your spotting scopes, or to walk a block or so to another part of the park.

Look, the CP red-tails are no longer just a wonderful urban curiosity. They are legitimate wild denizens of a major human ecosystem, the Park. It's time their behaviors be documented and quantified. I no longer question the persistence of CP red-tails. They are with us for the present, and I think for the future, too.

Let's see how this year progresses. It's February. Let's see when the first copulation is noted. (And it's not "mating." They did that several years ago by forming the pair bond, the social relationship.) All of us, including hawks, are noting the increased day length. The testosterone and estrogen (well, mostly just the testosterone) are starting to ooze. Copulation will start soon. Somebody, keep track of copulation events by time of day and site. Do they have preferred times and locations for red-tail sex, or are these things just rather random? For red-tails, how is "Sex in the City?" I'm betting that the raptorial thing is every bit as engaging as that of the show. And now, there may be two CP pairs to observe.

See why we observational field biologists have so much fun? We can all get into the red-tail's mind when we see and understand what they do in their daily lives.

I've run on a bit here again. Got to get back to work.

Keep us all posted.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman

This photo by LINCOLN KARIM, taken on Groundhog Day, [six more weeks of winter!] clearly reveals how much progress these diligent hawks have made in the great task of nest rebuilding.

2/3/05 --The Super-Regulars

There is a small group of birdwatchers who come to the park often enough, in all seasons, to be called Regulars. I count myself in that group. But even these Central Park loyalists go off and do other things occasionally -- a trip to Colombia, or a few weeks at Point Reyes, or, speaking for myself, frequent spring and summer weekends at a small cabin in Putnam County.

I only know two Super-Regulars. They never seem to take off for exotic climes , and only on a rare occasion do they check out Jamaica Bay or other city parks. Mostly, these two unique gentlemen arrive in Central Park every single morning, always at 7 a.m., summer, winter, autumn, spring, except, of course, when the weather is too terrible for anyone with a modicum of sanity to venture out into,or when illness intervenes.

Anybody who has spent any time in the Central Park birding community knows who I'm talking about: Marty Sohmer and Jack Meyer. Every morning these super-Regulars check out the best birding spots, and then retire to the boathouse for a quick R&R. Then out again to check the late risers among the birds.

If you are out birding and run into Jack and Marty, they will point you in the direction of any interesting bird they've come across that morning; odds are their list includes more birds than yours. Moreover, when Jack comes home, usually by noon, he promptly sends an e-mail listing of the day's birds to the listserv called e-birds. In this way a great many people can get an idea of Central Park bird opportunities on any given day.

Here is a typical winter's list, when the park is down to its bare minimum, in numbers and species of birds: [That will begin to change by the end of this month.]

DATE: Thursday, 3 February 2005
LOCATION: Central Park
OBSERVERS: Marty Sohmer, Jack Meyer
REPORTED BY: Jack Meyer

Red-tailed Hawk (Pair on nest site with twigs 10.45 AM.)
Mourning Dove (Several, Evodia Field.)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Feeders.)
Downy Woodpecker (Several, feeders.)
Hairy Woodpecker (Feeders.)
Blue Jay (Feeders.)
Black-capped Chickadee (Several.)
Tufted Titmouse (Several.)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Feeders.)
White-breasted Nuthatch (Several.)
Brown Creeper (Feeders.)
Fox Sparrow (3, Evodia Field.)
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (Several, Evodia Field.)
House Finch (Several, feeders.)
American Goldfinch (Many, feeders.)







photo by LLOYD SPITALNIK
taken on 2/1/05
2/1/05 --YOUNG REDTAIL AT FEEDING STATION

Though Pale Male and Lola get most of the attention these days as they rebuild their Fifth Avenue nest, Central Park Regulars are well aware of a number of other Red-tailed Hawks regularly seen in the park. Pictured at the right is one of these, an immature redtail often seen in the vicinioty of the Azalea Pond and the Evodia Field bird-feeding station. How do we know it's immature? Not by size, obviously, since fledglings are the same size as their parents by the time they take their first flight. This bird reveals its immaturity by having yellow eyes rather than black eyes, and by the absence of a red tail. [Immature redtails are often referred to as browntails.]
This particular young bird has another odd feature. He has been seen eating suet at the feeding station. When Lloyd set up his tripod and took this picture, the hawk was on a nearby branch inching his way closer to the suet feeder . But since it was feeder-filling day, there were about twenty people gatherered at the feeders, watching the bird's activities. This may be why he never gave Lloyd the satisfaction of getting a shot of the hawk with his beak right in the suet. Instead, the hawk hopped onto the branch right next to the feeder for several minutes, perhaps hoping we would all go away. Finally he flew off.



Photo by LLOYD SPITALNIK
Advice for non-hot-shot birders:
[Lloyd, read no further!]

It's always a good idea to take a long, hard, second look at a sparrow you assume to be a Song Sparrow. It may turn out to be a Savannah Sparrow. This has happened to me on several occasions, and God knows how many times I simply called a Savannah Sparrow a Song Sparrow.

Here Lloyd has captured on film a magnificent Savannah Sparrow in the snow, near Willow Rock. Note the notched tail --one of the ways to distinguish this sparrow from a Song. The photo was taken on 1/29/05.

[It's clear that Sibley is mainly intended for hot-shots. He doesn't even mention the possibility of mistaking a Savannah for a Song. Peterson emphasizes this possibility.]


1/31/05 Photo by LINCOLN KARIM

Pale Male with Twig

-- NEST REPORT
From Lincoln Karim's website, www.palemale.com:

Nest Site Update Sunday January 30, 2005
A crowd of onlookers watched as Pale Male brought a twig to the nest at 3:22PM today. He flew in front of the building with the large twig in his mouth, then he rested on the Linda building before finally depositing it on the nest. The nest is beginning to take shape. Later, at about 4:30PM both hawks sat next to each other on the Stove Pipe building.

1/31/05
NOTICE OF AN INCREDIBLE GIFT TO CENTRAL PARK HAWKWATCHERS

A few weeks ago Swarovski Optik of North America contributed a scope (model ATS 80, 20-60x) and tripod to the Central Park fans of Pale Male and Lola. As the company wrote in a recent e-bulletin, their gift was to the Central Park "birder-stewards who have been watching and documenting the nest for years and who spoke out on behalf of Pale Male and Lola after their eviction. We hope the equipment will be used and enjoyed by numerous hawk admirers for years to come."

A hawkwatcher many of you know from his faithful presence at the hawk bench, Kenneth Brown, has agreed to be in charge of the scope. As soon as the weather gets just a little warmer [let's say a little higher than 20 degrees!] the wonderful Swarovski scope will be regularly available for hawkwatching at the model-boat pond.

Special thanks to Paul Baicich, former Editor of BIRDING, and Director of Conservation and Public Policy of the American Birding Association, who is now working for Swarovski, for having initiated this grand gift.

1/30/05 -- A few days ago I posted a Nomenclature Guide, giving some of the names hawkwatchers of yore assigned to various buildings up and down Fifth Ave. [See below].

Today I received a note from Steve Watson [of Pasadena, California] about a similar scheme used at Yosemite National Park:

"Just had to say that I was amused by the descriptions of the various buildings that you folks use to locate the hawks. I spend a lot of time in Yellowstone National Park watching wolves, helping the researchers when possible, etc., and the location descriptions are just as esoteric and fun! The turnouts in the road all have names whose origins are lost to history, it seems..."trashcan", "coyote", "fisherman's", "Dave's Hill", etc. Key features in the landscape are identified..."orange rock", "Mom's Ridge", "Dead Puppy Hill", and so on. It can sound like a treasure hunt at times..."[Alpha male] 21 is just left of the dead conifer 50 yards behind the stand of 4 aspens, right of the confluence, by the old beaver dam..." :)"


- Nest Report--from Lincoln Karim:
Saturday January 29, 2005
Rik Davis reports that Pale Male was seen 'all morning' delivering twigs to the nest. I witnessed one brief empty-handed visit by him at 5:30 PM.


Photo by LINCOLN KARIM

A more typical pose for a LEO, also taken on 1/28/05 -- with ear-tufts raised. The photo below was taken just after the bird had ejected a pellet.

1/29/05 -- 5 PM --GREAT NEWS: LINCOLN KARIM'S JOB AND BACK PAY RESTORED BY THE AP.

LESS GREAT NEWS: LEO NOT FOUND TODAY. AH WELL...MAYBE TOMORROW.


Incredible photo by
LINCOLN KARIM
1/28/05
A LONG-EARED OWL -- AT LONG LAST!

Every year for the last six or seven there have been long-eared owls [LEOs] spending some of the winter months roosting in Central Park. They usually arrive towards the end of November and stay until mid-March. During their stay, much of the attention of the Central Park Nature Community is focused on the comings and goings of these mysterious creatures. People gather at their daytime roosts to watch them fly out for their night hunting - [These are called Flyouts] And a small group of intrepid owl lovers often follows them into the Ramble to monitor their nocturnal activities. A very small number of... well, lunatics, sometimes arrive before dawn to try to witness a LEO returning to its daytime roost -[A Fly-in, this event for insomniacs is called].

This year there was one brief LEO sighting in December and no regular LEO roosts discovered anywhere in the park...until yesterday, when one of the park maintenance workers happened to mention to a hawkwatcher that there was a strange big bird in a tree near the Maintenance Shed. [This is a building near the East Drive a bit south of Turtle Pond and the Great Lawn.] It had been there for several weeks, the worker said.

Yesterday the first group of owl worshippers gathered to see what we hope will be the first of many fly-outs. Because of the location of the bird and the tree, this owl was unbelievably exposed. [Often it is very hard to see an owl in its daytime roost]. Lincoln managed to get the remarkable picture to the left, though dusk was approaching. The fly-out was clocked at 5:45 pm.


1/29/05 -- Yesterday's report from a hawkwatcher:

Hi Marie,
At 1:45 today (Friday) Pale Male made a couple of circles over the boat pond and delivered some flimsy looking twigs to the nest, hung around for a few minutes and then flew to his guardrail perch two buildings south of the nest. Later, Pale Male and Lola sat together on a building a few blocks to the north (the one with the 2 satellite dishes).

Bob Brooks
***********************************************

Guide To Building Nomenclature

For years hawkwatchers have used a sort of shorthand naming system to describe the various buildings to the north and the south of the nest building. This helps to clarify hawkwatcher reports of where the hawks are to be found at the moment, or where they have been sighted earlier. For example, in Bob Brook's report above, he notes that Pale Male flew to his guardrail perch two buildings south of the nest This refers to a very favorite perching spot for both hawks.

We old hawkwatchers call that building LINDA's. Why? Because the apartment one floor lower than the top floor of that building, the one with the guardrails at each of the six windows, is owned by a woman named Linda Janklow. We have met her at the hawk bench several times, and she once very generously invited me up to see for myself a hawk perching right outside her window. It was thrilling to be that close to Pale Male!

The six windows with guardrails on that one-floor-lower-than-the-top floor apartment are identified by number, going from north to south. So... "Lola is sitting on Linda 1" might be the shorthand description a hawkwatcher might give someone trying to locate one of the hawks. Or "Pale Male is on Linda 6."
Or...Pale Male might be located "on the roof of Linda's"

Without going into explanations for the various names [maybe later...and some of it is obviously descriptive] here is some of the traditional hawk building nomenclature:

Starting at the HAWK BUILDING and going south: DR. FISHER'S, LINDA's, THE LION BUILDING, THE UGLY WHITE CONDO. That's from 74th to 72nd St.

Starting at the HAWK BUILDING and going North: WOODY'S
[even though he hasn't lived there for years!]the GREEN SHADE BUILDING [even though the green shade hasn't been there for years] THE OCTAGONAL BUILDING, THE SMOKESTACK BUILDING, THE STOVEPIPE BUILDING, THE OREO BUILDING. [This is from 74 to 79th St.]

Not every building between 72 and 79th St. is named here, just the ones with conspicuous features, or some history. And some of the names may have changed since I was an impassioned, daily hawkwatcher ten years ago. [The obsession inevitably metamorphoses into a deep but non-exclusive interest after a few seasons at the hawk bench-- thus making room for a new bunch of obsessed hawkwatchers each year.]

I'll probably post a revised version of this nomencalture list, once I hear from some of the more recent devotees.

It would be great to have a panoramic photo of the Fifth Avenue buildings in Pale Male and Lola's territory. That would make all of this much clearer.


Photo by LINCOLN KARIM - 1/27/05
1/28/05 -- Now that Lincoln is back, here's the first good shot of the nest site, with twigs !! That's Lola standing there. Ye of little faith who still doubted that Pale Male and Lola would ever accept the new structure-with-spikes put up on December 23, doubt no more.

May I presume to offer some advice to all the new hawkwatchers who are beginning to gather at the model-boat pond to watch the Fifth Avenue Hawks for another nesting season: Curb your anxiety! In Red-Tails in Love I wrote about the pangs we all suffered back in 1993-95 as we sat on the hawk bench and worried at every stage of the breeding cycle. But everything was, and still is in the hands of that ineffable power I still think of as Mother Nature.

Remember, Pale Male and Lola are experienced, magnificently capable creatures. Don't let fear color your enjoyment of this grand spectacle. Just leave a little room for awe.


Lincoln's first report from the Model-boat Pond:

Nest Site Update Thursday January 27, 2005
First time at the MB Pond in 7 weeks. A lot of new twigs in new nest structure. Hawks were active on the nest on at least two occasions while I was there. Courtship behavior prominent (flying together with talons extended). Both Pale Male & Lola remained active around the nest for at least an hour and a half.

1/27/05 :

All's well with the world. The case against Lincoln was dismissed. Pale Male and Lola are ever-more present at the nest site, landing on it, checking it out, bringing twigs occasionally. Nest-building should begin in earnest within a week or so [That's my prediction, not a scientific fact.]

If you've been reading John Blakeman's essays, you'll remember that he said serious nest-building would begin when the days begin to get noticeably longer. Well, maybe we're just a little ahead of Huron, Ohio, but I, for one, am beginning to feel the lengthening days. Waking up a half an hour earlier in the morning, for instance.


LINCOLN AT DR. FISHER'S TERRACE A FEW YEARS AGO

1/26/05 ---CHARGES AGAINST LINCOLN KARIM WERE DROPPED. CASE DISMISSED!!!!!!!

At about 11 a.m., at 100 Centre Street, the Criminal Courts Building, on the second floor, in a room called Part C, Lincoln and his lawyer were called up to the judge. The assistant district attorney, standing at the right of Lincoln and his lawyer, told the judge that the complainants had dropped the charges. The judge looked directly at Lincoln, gave what I thought was a sympathetic look, and said loudly CASE DISMISSED!!

In the courtroom was a small group of Lincoln's friends. We hugged and kissed, each other and Lincoln as he stepped out of the dock and into the free world. It was a great moment

Thanks, everyone, for your wonderful support.


JOHN BLAKEMAN ON FALCONRY AND THE REDTAIL'S MIND
1/26/05

"You have a great ability to get inside the redtail's mind," I wrote in an admiring note to John Blakeman on 1/23. Here is part of his response:

About my perceptions of the red-tail's mind:

It's not so much a matter of profound perception as of the inordinate number of hours spent in the personal company of these birds.

Each of my fellow falconers shares most of these understandings. Because of my extensive field and captive breeding studies of red-tails, I have an additional understand of their ecology and the interplay of their mentality with the natural environment.

I'm not so personally excited about my ability to read the red-tail's mind. All humans who work with animals learn about them. It's nice, and contributes to my understanding of the hawk. But I hold in more precious regard my personal experiences with the bird. There are about 3000 licensed falconers in the US, and every one of us treasures both the opportunities and obligations we have in keeping wild hawks in our care and hunting with them. Because hawks and falcons are essentially non-social predators (unlike dogs), our trained hawks do not regard us as their "masters," nor do they respond to any of the usual controls of voice or deportment that a trained dog or horse might. A falconer must creatively attend to every need of the hawk, as its absolute servant, not its master in any way. Make any training or caring error and the hawk simply flies back into the wild given the first opportunity.

Every time I step into the field with my red-tail, Savanna, sitting free on my fist, I marvel just as I did when I first did it over 30 years ago, that the bird will fly free through the air, attempt to capture a fleeing rabbit, and either capture it and allow me to approach and retrieve the hawk, or I must stand there in the field and elevate my gloved fist with a piece of meat to cause the hawk to return after a missed hunting flight. The bird freely turns around and flies to my fist, lands, and then resumes her hunt.

Who else gets to observe a predator conducting its own hunt so closely and intimately? My mind is 12 inches from Savanna's, and during the hunt I see every movement she makes. I follow her eye, feel the tenseness in her clasping talons on my gloved fist as she thinks she sees a prey animal, and the swish of her wings brushes my face as she leaps off in pursuit. Who gets closer to a wild raptor than this? How could I not understand?

This unique relationship between men and hawks has been the core and motivation of falconry since its origin in China and Mesopotamia millennia ago. I am honored and privileged be able to be a modern falconer. I'm pleased to be able to share some of my perspectives with your cogent readership. They already grasp the regality of the red-tailed hawk. My thoughts merely expand them a bit.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman

1/25/05 NEST REPORTS
Today's report from Katherine Herzog, one of this year's regular hawkwatchers:

Tuesday, Jan 25th: Upon entering CP at 76th & 5th at 2:26pm--observed PaleMale flying to the nesting site. He stayed there for a few minutes, flew off and then Lola flew to the nest staying only a few minutes. Then at 2:35pm both PaleMale and Lola flying together....landed together on the nest and stayed for about 5 minutes. They were extremely active showing territorial behavior by circling over the nest and sitting on the roof tops of four other buildings north and south of the nesting site. Things are definitely heating up! (Also, saw one or more RTH's...not P or L... in the Ramble.)
Did not see any appreciable nesting material but since I have been going to the park every day for the past month, this was the most active I have seen the pair...on and around the nest.

Katherine

LINCOLN KARIM'S REPORT, FROM HIS WEBSITE:
Tuesday January 25, 2005
Lot of nest activity reported. I saw at least two visits to the nest. Also saw both hawks on the nest at one time.

Yesterday's report from Katherine:

Monday, Jan 24rd: Though I myself observed only PaleMale sitting on and flying around nearby buildings (north and south of the nest on Fifth Avenue) between 2 and 2:30... was told by Estella, a veteran PaleMale fan, when I returned to the Hawk Bench at 4pm that Lola sat on the nest for about 15 minutes today at around 3pm!




Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the Lincoln Karim Defense Fund should go to the website www.JoMiller.com. You can make a donation on the site, through PayPal.


1/24/05
There's nothing like a disaster to increase vigilance. There hasn't been such close attention paid to the Fifth Avenue Redtails, at least not at this time of year, since the very early years of the Pale Male saga. Although the hawkbench is manned [and mainly womaned] by a new set of hawkwatchers than in the days I wrote about in Red-tails in Love, the excitement and energy and obsessive attention to the smallest detail is the same.

Here's a report from a faithful group of hawkwatchers, sent to me by Donna Brown. It brings it all back. Thanks guys.

Hi Marie,

Today at 2:01PM, Stella, Holly, and Donna saw Lola
land on the nest site and put her beak down to the
surface and do something. She kept doing whatever it
was (twig arrangement?)until 2:05 when she left the
site. She then flew up to the Carlyle and perched on
the 6th light from the left.

During Lola's nest site visit Pale Male was perched on
Linda 4.

2:07PM Pale Male flew towards the Ramble.

2:27PM Pale Male landed on the nest site and placed a
twig. He then left the site and began circling the
area. Lola left her perch on the Carlyle and they
flew in aerials together for some minutes.

2:55PM Stella, Donna, and Sam saw Pale Male fly to the
nest site with a twig and leave it.

3:32 Donna saw Pale Male fly east over the Boathouse
with a twig in his talons.

Donna

1/23/05 --JOHN BLAKEMAN ON REDTAILS' SPECIAL NEST BEHAVIOR VIS-A-VIS PREY.

Marie,

A sincere question was raised about placing dead mice or other dietary enticements in the new nest structure, to prompt the pair’s return and re-use of the site. Inasmuch as red-tails normally select mice as their daily fare and consume them with unvarying delight, this approach would seem reasonable. For those of us lured to fine chocolate, we know what a red-tail might do to procure a nice warm mouse, as mice and voles are red-tail chocolates, for sure. I use mice in my red-tail traps when taking birds from the wild for banding and other licensed activities. A red-tail finds it very hard to resist such a choice morsel.

(And don't be alarmed about the licensed trapping of raptors. It’s nothing like the leg-hold traps used for fur-bearing mammals. A mouse is placed in a low cage with small nylon-cord snares along the top. The red-tail’s toes are ensnared as it attempts to grab the mouse inside the trap. Neither the mouse nor the hawk are injured in any way. The process is closely monitored and the hawk’s toes are released from the snares within a minute of capture. She’s not injured, only confused about her inability to fly away from the trap when I quickly approach. And don't even think of trying this yourself. Without proper state and federal permits, it’s absolutely illegal. Secondly, if you don't know how to properly handle a newly-trapped raptor, you are very likely to get a pair of needle-sharp talons buried completely through your hand or any other body part. This is not for the inexperienced.)

Yes, red-tails would be attracted to a fresh mouse, dead or alive. But here’s an important consideration regarding red-tail behavior at the nest. Away from the nest, at least a 100 yards in most cases, red-tails act like red-tails, as cunning and powerful hunters. When motivated, they will spare no effort in taking a targeted prey animal that presents itself before the hawk.

But in the vicinity and at the nest itself, red-tails assume very different behaviors, especially when a hen is sitting, or especially when eyasses are present. By nature, the species quickly grabs and pierces any prey that presents itself, not unlike what a domestic cat would do to a mouse that attempted to run within striking distance of some apartment-dwelling feline. Any carnivore that hesitates to attack in such situations is not going to survive in the wild. Consequently, a hungry red-tail, or one capturing food for eyasses back at the nest, will strike instantly and lethally when prey are closely available.

But how might those behaviors play out on the nest? What if a hungry red-tail landed on the nest rim, and an eyass or two were nodding off in an afternoon’s slumber. Then, an eyass awakes and pops it’s head up. If the adult were to follow it’s normal hunting patterns, it would instantly reach out and grab this new animal movement. The eyass would be killed. Any red-tail that had this natural, unrestrained pouncing behavior at the nest would kill its offspring. Raptorial child abuse of he worst sort. Fortunately, most of those genetic behaviors are now extinct.

To the point. Lola and Pale Male, like all successful red-tail parents, have an inborn restraint of hunting and killing behaviors at the nest. Those of us who have watched red-tails dive onto and kill either mice or rabbits are always astounded to observe their slow, considered, even delicate movements while at the nest. The adults often curl their talons underneath and walk with slow, deliberate steps on the nest, so as not to puncture an egg or young eyass. Likewise, the adults take inordinate care in pulling off tidbits of flesh from animals brought to the nest for the eyasses or incubating adult. I've watched my trained hunting red-tails rip apart food on my gloved fist hundreds of times. The strength and deliberateness of this is always impressive. But equally impressive is the converse delicacy with which they handle both prey and their feet on the nest, all to protect the eyasses.

Here’s the point about the advisability of offering mice or other food items to lure the birds back to the restored nest site. Because of the hunting and killing restraint behaviors the birds have at a nest, the offered food would not be an enticement. The adults would, indeed, recognize the mice as food. But since they didn't capture it at a distance away from the nest, it would not be regarded as quite natural. They would use it, but it wouldn't contribute in causing the birds to use the nestsite. The found food items just wouldn't connect with any of the bird’s experiences. The hawks would make no connection with the usability of the nestsite with the offered food. In short, red-tails don't capture food in a nest, and when they eat or offer it there, they do so with delicate restraint.

I've watched all of this in the captive pair of red-tails I used in captive-breeding trials back in the early ‘70's.

The fact that Pale Male and Lola have been seen periodically at the nest in recent weeks is an extremely strong indication that they will resume normal activities there. If they didn't like what they saw, they would not be visiting the site in early January, when there is little natural tendency to do so.

It’s still too early to be concerned. In my area of northern Ohio (same latitude as NYC), the third week of January is the meteorological low point of winter, with the statistically coldest weather. Soon, things will start to slowly warm (although it’s not increasing temperature, but increasing day-length that gets the breeding hormones flowing). Presently, it’s the depths of winter, so don't be concerned. Red-tail breeding is highly seasonal, and this am not the season, yet.

Just watch. Activity at the nest will take a marked upswing in February, just about the time that you personally notice that days are getting longer. You haven't noticed that yet, and neither have our famous pair. Spring training hasn't even started. It’s still winter. Be patient. Lola and Pale Male are.

It’s good that so many are thinking about, concerned with, and observing the world’s most famous red-tailed hawk pair. All is well. Let’s watch the pairs’ developing new chapter. Nest building will resume, I'm certain. All is naturally aligned.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman

Post Script:

When I sent John Blakeman the letter [sent to e-birds by Deslie Lawrence] suggesting a dead mouse be placed on Pale Male's nest site as an enticement, I mentioned that Pale Male and his clan do occasionally avail themselves of dead birds that have collided with a reflective glass window at the Metropolitan Museum. He also had some thoughts about that, which he sent in a sparate e-mail:

Marie,

I forgot to mention that RTs will, indeed, eat newly-deceased birds that have lethally collided with windows. As I mention so often, sitting RTs spend a lot of time surmising everything in the observed landscape, and they notice the feather wisps of dead birds. They also recognize the birds as both tasty and easily procured. I've noted that RTs take particular notice of both feathers and fur in the field. When hunting with my red-tail and we walk past a the kill site of a rabbit consumed by some other predator, my hawk always spots the remnant fur and wants to jump down onto the ground and see if it can find anything edible -- or catchable. The only hint are a few clumps of loose fur. She picks these out from the multitude of dead grass and leaves. Their eyes are primed for fur and feathers, whether they move or not.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman




1/22/05 -- Hot News in the midst of a Blizzard


Just as I was beginning to worry whether I wasn't jumping the gun a few days ago when I said I sensed a change, I received this e-mail:


Today, Saturday, Jan 22nd at 11:45am, just before the snow started coming down in earnest...saw PaleMale and Lola sitting close together on a window railing two buildings down from the nesting site. PaleMale took off heading north and Lola flew to and landed on the nest, looking like she was adjusting some twigs. Two bench regulars said they saw Lola yesterday putting some nesting material on the spikes. Love is in the air!

Katherine Herzog


Long-eared Owl
REMEMBRANCE OF TIMES PAST:
Where are our Long-eared Owls????

Though we've had a rare owl in the park this year, it's been a disappointing owl season nevertheless. By this time' in past years, some LEO's have always been found to have settled in for the winter. None this year, alas!

To give you an idea of the riches of the past, here is a report I posted on this site in 2003, at just about this time.


1/24/03 --The latest Owl Report
The 8 long-eared owls that have been roosting on Central Park's East side since 1/12/03 were seen at the usual evening fly-out last Tuesday, 1/21. On Wednesday morning 4 members of the Early Birders, a regular Wednesday morning birding group, saw an owl flying west of the West Drive, not far from the Tupelo meadow. Screaming Blue Jays were accompanying it. Curious, the birdwatchers headed for the owls' usual roost tree. But not an owl was to be seen there. Instead, they saw a light-colored Red-tailed Hawk sitting conspicuously on a branch in one of the owls' regular roosting trees. It may have been Pale Male. His crop was bulging - he had obviously eaten recently. We all hope it was not an owl snack. In any case, the owls have not been seen since, though groups have been looking for them in many of their usual spots.



Photo by LINCOLN KARIM





1/21/05
What a shot! Taken yesterday, it shows Lola perched on a branch, with the classic tower of the Hotel Carlyle gleaming in the background.

Pale Male and Lola continue to be active in the vicinity of the nest, though I haven't heard of any hawk-on-nest sightings in a few days. Why not? Because it's been bitterly cold around here. On Wednesday the temperature was only 8 degrees above zero, yesterday and today are almost as cold. So many fewer hawkwatchers have been around to document visits to the nest.

Don't forget that cold is not the decisive factor in the hawks' decision to begin serious nest building. It is light. As the days lengthen, the hormones that govern the hawks' breeding cycle kick in. That will happen in early February. I'll keep you posted.



photo by LINCOLN KARIM
BLAKEMAN on TALONS -- 1/19/05

John Blakeman, the extraordinary Ohio falconer and hawk expert whose letters are enjoyed by so many readers on this website, saw Lincoln's photo of talons on PaleMale.com and sent me the following comment:

Marie,

I saw the wonderful close-up of one of the hawk's feet on the PaleMale.com site on Tuesday evening. I noticed something rather interesting.

First, this is a remarkable photo. Wonderful work.

But I instantly noticed the rounded dullness of talons on the left foot. They are seen in perfect profile in the image, and they are markedly dull. Typically, red-tail talons are needle sharp, instantly able to pierce the skin of any prey they encounter – and for squirrels in particular, this is very important. Squirrels have particularly thick skin that can resist the 40-60 lbs (or greater) of force of a redtail's grip. (Although the squirrels of Central Park are apparently gray squirrels, a slightly smaller species than the thick-skinned fox squirrels of my area.)

Obviously, this talon dullness is of no real concern. The birds are eating well in Central Park. But it does reveal that they are spending a lot of time landing, perching, and taking flight from stone ledges on buildings. This is dulling the talons. Birds that spend their lives in trees have needle sharp talons. The rubbing of the talons on the bark of tree branches appears to sharpen them. But when rubbed along stone ledges (buildings in NYC), the sharp ends can get dulled, as we see here.

Again, no problem. Pigeons have very thin skin and are easily dispatched. Squirrels may require a bit of experienced foot and talon manipulation on the head, followed by a lethal bite. Rats are easily dispatched with a quick grasp of the head.

But a close look at the talon end shows a flattened end. Curious.

Oh, and the extended right foot? That's merely a stretch. Falconers see this all the time in their confidently-perched birds. They pick up the loose foot, squeeze the talons a bit, and extend the leg outward, as seen here. Just after the picture was taken, the bird brings the foot back under its belly and perches on a single leg. Later, it will reverse to sitting on the opposite leg.

When I trap red-tails for banding, I always examine the toes and feet for remnant blood, feathers, or fur, revealing a recent meal. I couldn't see any leavings here.

(We can't get photos like this out in the countryside. Nice work.)

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman


A SMALL CORRECTION - 1/19/05

John Blakeman's comments on how to tell the age of young hawks by eye color appears lower on this page. He has sent in a small correction, and has added to it a some interesting observations about red-tailed hawks and their appetites:

I should have been a bit more careful in the RT aging notes I submitted. I took the info off the top of my head, not from my written records of accuracy. I made a slight goof, stating that in third year RTs there is a remnant hint of yellow at the bottom of the eye. Wrong. It's at the top of the iris. I just went out to feed my three-year old red-tail, and saw my error in hand. (This is why scientific papers are peer-reviewed before publication.) It's a minor point, but an error, nonetheless.

If I can, let me make a one other observations that Central Park hawk watchers might find interesting. Lincoln mentioned that the young bird he saw (surely one hatched in 2004, as it had a brown tail), was spending some time peering at a rat that could be seen at the base of some phragmites (common reed, a horrible nonnative wetlands invader from Eurasia – sorry to hear that Central Park has it, as we are trying to suppress it before it completely overtakes the last open Lake Erie marshes in my area). From the tone of Lincoln's note, he seemed to wonder why the hawk failed to drop down on the rat and have an easy lunch. He noted that the hawk later flew off toward some mallard ducks on a pond, but the effort seemed only modest to Lincoln.

He was correct. The hawk's flight at the ducks was certainly only halfhearted and inconclusive. Lincoln has surely seen enough RT hunting flights to discern which ones are serious, fill-the-crop ones, and which are token “let's see if they fly” ones. This flight was the latter.

Here's what I make of both of these observations. First, the reluctance to drop down on the quite vulnerable rat: Any RT that passes up so convenient a meal as this does so for only one reason. The bird simply was not hungry. It has had a full-crop meal in the last day or so, and also has ample fat reserves. This bird is living well, so well, in fact, that it can afford to be selective in what it wants to attack for food. The bird may have had Rattus norvegicus flesh for the last five days, and now wants to savor some other Central Park morsel. After all, as good as NY restaurants are, who chooses to order exactly the same meal each evening. The hawk was merely pondering the menu, and Norway rats didn't excite her palate. Being previously well fed, she could afford some culinary discretion, even if it meant passing up an otherwise easy meal.

We falconers recognize this behavior well. Our birds, when hunting, are as free as the hawk Lincoln saw, and they will only hunt when hunger prompts, exactly as wild birds do. That's why falconers carefully weigh their birds before hunting. The hawk must be high in muscular weight, but not fat; just like a trained athlete. A hawk too fat just sits there and contemplates the landscape. When that happens, it's time for the falconer to offer the hawk a choice tidbit of meat on the fist and call the bird back to hand. Wait a day, and it will then resume its natural hunting desires. Lincoln's bird was both fat and sassy. It will be a survivor. (Sixty to eighty percent of all first-year RTs fail to survive the year. This one will survive and probably go on to breed.)

About the pass at the ducks. This bird is in its adolescence. And like most adolescents (well, except for you and me, who were perfectly behaved), this hawk couldn't resist the final urge to take a pass at these big -- well -- sitting ducks. But the hawk didn't have a chance of capturing one of these fleet-winged wonders. An RT in a straight tail chase (right from behind, not from high above) can barely hit 40 mph. A mallard can accelerate quickly to 50 or 60 mph. Our teenaged red-tail didn't have a chance. But it sure was exciting to make those water-soaked birds get up and fly away. (And which one of us wouldn't do that from time to time, too, if we could be a red-tail for a day? Raise a little hell, just to see what happens.)

All of what Lincoln saw in this passive red-tail has led many to believe that the species is slow, dumb, even phlegmatic. The big oafs just spend a lot of time sitting around and get characterized as lazy. But that's a complete misread of the species. When hungry and highly motivated, an RT can take almost anything. When hungry, it can take a mallard, but will do it by clever ambush or aerial stealth, just as pigeons are taken by Central Park RTs. Let it be understood by all, our red-tails are extremely successful hunters. They are intellectual, cerebral hunters weighing a multitude of factors that give them the best probabilities of hunting success. Nothing is random or by chance.

Some have thought they'd like to go to the last wild areas of Africa and watch the great cats hunt antelope or other prey. Few of us will have that opportunity. But exactly the same predator/prey interactions can now be seen in Central Park, of all places. A moderate understanding of the behaviors of the CP red-tails can illuminate what's transpiring. These birds aren't just sitting there, and they aren't just flying around randomly. They are living their remarkable lives as their biology dictates. Presently, we get to see it, understand it, even share it. And we don't have to go to the Serengeti to experience nature so raw in tooth and nail (or talon and bill). Of all places, it's in Central Park.


1/18/04-- THINGS ARE HEATING UP

Many more sightings of Pale Male and Lola near AND ON the nest. Today, at about 2 p.m. I was lucky enough to see Pale Male circling near the Boathouse. Then he flew towards the nest and briefly landed on it. There are definitely more twigs to be seen on the nest, although the number is still small. It's getting exciting. It's also unbelievably cold! I wish I had a down coat like our hawk friends do.



MORE ON THE BOREAL OWL - 1/17/05

I sent one of CP's best birders, [and also best photographers] Lloyd Spitalnik, a copy of Donna Browne's letter reprinted below, in which she reported an incident with a photographer taking many flash photos of the Boreal Owl. Since the owl was not seen again in the park, she assumed, and I felt it was a reasonable assumption, that the annoying flashes spooked the owl and sent it to more peaceful climkes. Below is Lloyd's response:

Thanks Marie. I wonder if this idiot chased it away. On the other hand, the report says the bird's eyes were closed , which indicates to me that it wasn't being disturbed too badly.
I spent the late Saturday morning and early afternoon with Dotty and her crew.[MW: she's the lady who flew in from Florida to see her first Boreal Owl} We had a very nice time but of course there was no owl.

1/17/05 -- ANOTHER PALE MALE AND LOLA SIGHTING

This is welcome news about the hawks. I'm including the list of the other birds this great walking group saw in the park yesterday. They also meet on Wednesdays and often intersect with the Early Birders.

Late: Sunday, January 15, 2005
Location: Central Park
Observers: Barbara Saunders, John Forbes and Ardith Bondi
Reported by: Ardith Bondi

When we arrived at the Model Boat Pond in the afternoon, Lola was on the nest, and Pale Male flew into a tree near the Pond. Lola flew off and
returned shortly to the nest and then flew to a nearby building and sat there for a while.

Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Dark-eyed Junco
Fox Sparrow (Evodia Feeders)
White-throated Sparrow
American Goldfinch
House Finch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Pinetum, feeders)
Red-tailed Hawk
Tufted titmouse - many everywhere
Black-capped Chickadee
House Sparrow
American Crow
Ring-billed Gull
Greater Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Ruddy Duck
Northern Shoveler
Pied-billed Grebe (with Ruddies north end of Reservoir)
Canada Goose
Bufflehead
Mourning Dove
Eur. Starling
Mute Swan (Lake)
Mallard
Northern Cardinal
American Coot







1/16/05 --
WHERE'S OUR RARE OWL? I asked that question here yesterday. Now I received the following report from Donna Browne. It may provide the answer.
Now when I think of Dottie Hull traveling in vain from Florida in hopes of seeing the Boreal owl, [she was in the park on Saturday], and when I think of all the others who were deprived of this opportunity as a result of this creep's overuse of a flash camera, it makes my blood boil.

Thursday afternoon around 1PM as I walked from
Central Park West towards Tavern On The Green, I
noticed repeated camera flashes blazing through the
evergreens masking the service area behind the
restaurant. At least five in the time it took to walk
past the building and around to the back. There I
discovered a man, I won't call him a gentleman, with
his tripod and camera inside the gated area within
yards of the Boreal Owl, taking one flash photo after
another. I looked through my binoculars at the Boreal
Owl, from a respectful distance, and saw his closed
eyes squinch tighter with every flash. In the past,
I'd seen one or two flash photos taken of the Boreal
without reaction so I surmised he'd had enough. I
approached this person and politely asked if he'd
noticed the Boreal's reaction to his flashes. He said
the owl was fine, wasn't reacting at all. I pointed
out the effect the flash was having and that perhaps
the bird was being stressed. He took another photo
and in his best "don't you worry your sweet head,
little lady" voice, said,"