So far we’ve only brought you bad news about the state of New York’s urban hawks. But today we’re pleased to report (h/t Urban Hawks - with pics) that raptor watchers have spotted two new chicks in the Astoria/Triborough Bridge hawk nest.

Original Post 05/01/2008

For the fourth straight year, Pale Male — the renowned red-tailed hawk of Central Park — and his mate, Lola, have failed to hatch their eggs. The pair devoted the last month and a half to tending the eggs, but now it appears the incubation period has passed without success.

Pale Male, who is thought to be 18 years old, has sired at least 23 chicks during his lifetime. Yet he and Lola have not produced offspring since 2004, the same year the Fifth Avenue co-op in which they roost removed the nest they built on a 12th-floor ledge. Public outcry forced the co-op to reconsider, and in response it installed a steel cradle to facilitate a new nest.

The next year, for the first time, Lola’s eggs failed to hatch. Suspicion fell on the cradle. According to the New York Times:

[S]ome experts believed [the cradle] was interfering with Lola’s attempts to hatch her eggs. In January, Audubon and city parks officials, with the approval of the co-op, dispatched workers to remove 92 spikes that protruded through the nest, helping to hold it in place. The spikes may have prevented Lola from rolling her eggs over, a critical part of incubation.

Because this year’s nest modification did not benefit Lola’s eggs, some hawk enthusiasts wonder whether Pale Male is too old to produce young. Marie Winn, the author of Red Tails in Love, thinks otherwise. She told the Times that Pale Male could be observed copulating with Lola up to five times a day during the mating season, and that she doubts Pale Male’s age is the culprit. “It would be quite a coincidence if he became infertile at precisely the same time that his nest was interfered with,” she said.

The Adventures of Pale Male

At Nature online, you can follow Pale Male’s adventures as he carves out a fierce predator’s existence in an urban environment.

Pale Male Video and Slideshow

Nature also features a photo slideshow and a video segment about Pale Male and a previous mate, First Love, coupling on Woody Allen’s balcony.

Raptor Rescue

While Pale Male’s and Lola’s breeding problem may not be resolved by rehabilitation, many birds of prey are injured when they cross paths with humans. These birds require a “raptor rehabilitator” — a specialist in treating injured hawks, eagles, and owls. Learn more about this growing field in the United States and abroad.