[TN-Bird] New report on PALE MALE, NY's red tail;

        
        
    
    
    

    
    
    
    


    
        
Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
Pale Male at 927 Fifth Avenue at 74th Street in Manhattan.  

    
                            

Hawks Inspect Renovation

By JENNIFER 8. LEE 

Published: December 29, 2004

hree weeks after they were evicted from their home of 11 years on Fifth 
Avenue, two famed red-tailed hawks returned to their old perch above Central 
Park 
yesterday to survey the elegant stainless steel structure that was installed so 
that they might rebuild their nest.

The hawks, Pale Male and Lola, who attracted worldwide attention during their 
tussle with the co-op board at 927 Fifth Avenue, both landed at least twice 
on the arched 12th-floor cornice - much to the delight of fervent 
bird-watchers.

While the lacy metal cradle was installed last Thursday, the scaffolding that 
was used to put it in place remained, blocking the hawks from landing. The 
scaffolding was not removed until about 10:30 yesterday morning. 

About 45 minutes later, Pale Male and Lola arrived and stayed between 5 and 
10 minutes, said Frederic Lilien, a Belgian cinematographer who flew in after 
hearing about the controversy and now goes to Central Park daily to observe 
Pale Male and Lola.

"You could really see they were checking it out," said Mr. Lilien, who 
produced an hourlong documentary on Pale Male.

The birds left but returned hours later: first Lola by herself. Then Pale 
Male by himself. 

"It was like a belated Christmas gift," said Amanda Tree, a Brooklyn actress 
and singer-songwriter who had waited, bundled up with wool hat and rainbow 
scarf, since 9 a.m. to see the hawks. "You couldn't imagine receiving anything 
nicer. It makes me happier than my first Barbie doll."

It remains to be seen if the hawks will rebuild their nest - which had 
stretched to eight feet wide. They have several weeks to rebuild before Lola is 
ready to lay her eggs, typically at the beginning of March.

A handful of twigs were tossed into the new cradle when it was installed. 
Pale Male and Lola seem attached to the spot and have also tried to take twigs 
to 
the cornice after the nest was removed. But because the three-inch pigeon 
spikes that anchored the twigs had also been removed, their efforts were 
unavailing. The pigeon spikes had been stored in the basement and were later 
reinstalled with the cradle.

The public battle over the hawks began when Richard Cohen, the chairman of 
the co-op board and the husband of Paula Zahn, decided to remove the nest, 
citing safety and privacy concerns. The eviction ignited a worldwide furor, 
including protests from two of the building's most prominent residents: Mary 
Tyler 
Moore and Bruce Wasserstein, the Wall Street magnate. Daily demonstrations 
spurred the co-op board to negotiate with environmental advocates, landmark 
preservationists and government officials, leading to the decision to install a 
cradle.

Raffael Juth, the project manager with Dan Ionescu Architects who oversaw the 
installation, said yesterday that the firm was pleased with the hawks' 
return. "It's very exciting because there was a lot of pressure on us," he 
said. "We 
felt like we came through with everyone else involved."

    
    


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