For decades, the most famous nest in New York City, on Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side, was that of the extraordinary Pale Male, who arrived in the City in 1991. At the time a rare sighting in New York City, Pale Male's surprising appearance in Central Park, and his eventually successful nesting attempts with several partners within view of onlookers, quickly earned him a devoted fan club.  Little did his early fans know that they would play an important role in defending him and his new-found home, and that Pale Male would become the talk of the town.

Pale Male was first observed in Central Park during the summer of 1991, with a striped brown, rather than red, tail indicating he was a first-year bird. Local naturalist and author Marie Winn came up with his name in honor of his very light coloring. Over the ensuing decade, Pale Male coupled with several mates, including "First Love," "Chocolate," and "Blue." Their fates, as those of several later mates, exemplified the dangers of urban life for these raptors: First Love was injured, rehabilitated, and then died from eating a poisoned pigeon; Chocolate died from injuries sustained in a collision with a car; Blue disappeared and was presumed dead in 2001.

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The attention to these deaths contributed to the successful banning of the bird poison Avitrol in the City in 2000, after cooperative advocacy by NYC Bird Alliance, National Audubon and its state office Audubon New York, and other environmental organizations and local activists including actress Mary Tyler Moore and NYC Bird Alliance chapter award winner Mary Kelly. (Read more about our continuing advocacy concerning rodenticide use).

In the early 2000s, Pale Male's next mate, "Lola", began nesting with him atop a decorative window pediment at 927 Fifth Avenue, a co-op facing Central Park at East 74th Street. This nest site, which was visible from Central Park, became the source of great renown for Pale Male and Lola: in December 2004, workers at the co-op removed the birds' nest, along with metal anti-pigeon spikes that had helped to keep the nest in place. Neighboring hawkwatcher Jane Koryn immediately sounded the alarm, and a loose coalition sooned formed to bring attention to the birds' plight: devoted hawkwatchers such as Marie Winn and Lincoln Karim were joined by NYC Bird Alliance, led by Executive Director E. J. McAdams, Board President Marcia T. Fowle, and Project Safe Flight founder Rebekah Creshkoff, in a daily protest vigil in front of the co-op building.

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The fight to reinstall the spikes that had inadvertently provided an anchor for the nest soon enlisted other partners. As McAdams wrote at the time, "all levels of Audubon came and supported us." NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe also got involved, and City Councilmembers Eva Moskowitz and Peter Vallone, Jr., advocated and introduced a resolution to the City Council supporting Pale Male and return of the "nest spikes."

Ultimately, the many concerned New Yorkers who wrote letters, made calls, and stood in the cold on Fifth Avenue on behalf of Pale Male and Lola prevailed. A nesting cradle was devised by architect Dan Ionescu and installed. Though some adjustments to this cradle were determined necessary and made in 2008, in order to allow the birds the room to turn their eggs, Pale Male then continued to nest and raise chicks (known as "eyasses," when speaking of birds of prey) at the site. Lola disappeared in 2010—but was succeeded by mates Lima, Zena, and Octavia. Longtime NYC Bird Alliance supporter Sandy Fiebelkorn, who saved some of the sticks from Pale Male's original nest and placed them in the new cradle when it was installed, continued to monitor the birds of 927 Fifth Avenue and communicate with the now supportive building management on their behalf.

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Pale Male not only pre-dates the internet, which is amazing in itself, but was one of the first Red-tailed Hawks ever to have been observed nesting on a building. This celebrated raptor’s story has been told in both print (Marie Winn’s excellent Red-tails in Love is the place to start) and film (The Legend of Pale Male by Frederic Lilien).

It is believed that Pale Male died in 2023, although some believe that the famous raptor may actually have passed away in the previous decade—and that the bird seen nesting at 927 Fifth Avenue was another red-tail with similar pale plumage. As Pale Male was never banded, no one can say for sure. One thing is clear: New Yorkers' remembrances of Pale Male, and devotion to the City's ever-growing population of urban Red-tailed Hawks, will live on.

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In the past 30 years, Red-tailed Hawks have made themselves at home in New York City. Some are resident, while some are just passing through. But each spring, in each borough, many pairs will begin nesting, and the birds have become a frequent sighting as they hunt for squirrels and pigeons, and soar above.

In the years since Pale Male put his mark on the City and history, NYC's Red-tailed Hawk population has expanded considerably: dozens of pairs now nest in all five boroughs. And other Red-tailed Hawks have taken to raising their young in similarly unlikely locations, some drawing very large crowds. In spring 2011, “Bobby and Violet” and their offspring “Pip” gained legions of fans across the nation when their nest at New York University was captured via webcam and streamed worldwide. Though both Violet and Bobby have since died, Red-tailed Hawks continue to nest in the same spot. A pair dubbed "Mama and Papa" nested for many years on a fire escape in Queens. In recent years the trials and tribulations of a pair nesting near the East Village’s Tompkins Square Park has been followed assiduously by its human neighbors.

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Each area of the City has its own nesting red-tails—from a pair nesting atop the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Unisphere in Queens to a duo in the lights of a Randall’s Island sports field. The web continues to be a great place to become acquainted with and learn more about these raptors. Just search “Red-tailed Hawk New York City” to find current blogs and webcams. Or look through our Birding in NYC pages, profiling over 100 parks in the City, to find out where Red-tails are nesting and frequently spotted.