Manhattan's hawks expecting new chicks [Pale Male, Lola]

Los Angeles Times/San Francisco Chronicle ^ | April 11, 2005 | Walter Hamilton

[La Enchiladita]

New York -- There are one to three eggs in the nest with the posh Manhattan address, and chicks are expected to hatch within the next two weeks, according to avid bird-watchers who monitor the nest daily and report the activity on the Internet.

The nest is at 927 Fifth Ave. -- 12th floor, above the cornice -- and the residents are Pale Male and Lola, the red-tailed hawks whose highly publicized eviction in December sent feathers flying among urban naturalists.

"We've transitioned from a Christmas story to a spring awakening," said E. J. McAdams, executive director of the New York City Audubon Society.

The birds drew international attention in December when residents of the building dismantled their original nest, objecting to bird droppings and rat carcasses that, they said, splattered on the sidewalk below.

But the tenants backed off a few weeks later after bird lovers picketed and spread birdseed on the sidewalk so that the building would be overrun by pigeons.

[Calpernia]

Another one of my favorite day trips.

http://www.lakotawolf.com/

[Born Conservative]

bttt

[Vigilantcitizen]

There is a nesting pair near the house I'm working on.

Saw one tote a snake up to the nest the other day.

Awesome creatures.

[La Enchiladita]

Saw one tote a snake up to the nest the other day.

Lovely.

[Calpernia]

Had a Peregrine take down a pigeon in our yard last spring.

My kids their own close up documentary to watch in our backyard.

It was an amazing sight.

[BikerNYC]

The nest is built on anti-pigeon spikes.

Yes, that's what holds the nest in place. The building had taken the nest and the spikes down, but relented under pressure and re-installed them with design help from the Audubon Society and some architects.

[StoneGiant]

When I worked in Boston I was fortunate to be in an office whose ledge was used by the local Peregrine falcons for munching on their pigeon kills.

Their beaks are impressive!  It doesn't take long to convert a dead pigeon to nothing more than bones and feathers.... 

[La Enchiladita]

Red-tails swooped down, from time to time, into the lunchtime patio of the hospital where I worked, to snag pigeons. The building was 8 stories tall and the patio narrow so it was quite a precision operation.