FLASH! Palmale.com Reports Pale Male Taking a Pigeon to the 927 Nest Late Wednesday Evening< Is Octavia First Nighting on the Nest, and Clarification on the Nearly Simultaneous Copulation of Fifth Avenue and Plaza Pairs Plus Male Comparison In Differing Light

www.palemale.com reports that Pale Male carried a pigeon to the 927 Fifth Avenue nest late on Wednesday evening.  It is unknown whether Octavia was sitting the nest and possibly over nighting when Pale Male brought the food.  

As the time approaches for a formel to start sitting the nest, tiercels will often make a larder of the nest's edges .


CLARIFICATION ON THE WEEKEND SIGHTINGS OF PALE MALE, OCTAVIA, DOWNTOWN MALE, AND DOWNTOWN FEMALE.

Pondove, originally a Washington Square Park Hawk Watcher and a monitor of the NYTimes Hawk Chat room, sent me this email for clarification on the information gathered on this past weekend concerning Pale Male, Octavia, Downtown Male and Downtown Female by longtime hawkwatchers, Stella Hamilton (Downtown) and Katherine Herzog (Uptown)

Hi Donegal, 

 I am not 100% clear on this...were there TWO teams (I guess so because you said "about the same time")? So   the Plaza hawk is not Octavia if Octavia was copulating with Pale Male, right? They are certain, correct? 

PonDove 

Hello Pon,

Yes, we are certain.   Kat reported the copulation of Pale and Octavia uptown at 78th Street.

Stella reported the copulation of Downtown Male and Downtown Female almost simultaneously down south.  There are definitely two full pairs of Red-tails, one uptown and one downtown.

So it isn't as if anyone is missing a mate. That is absolutely certain.  Also Stella saw two hawks twigging downtown while Octavia and Pale Male were both in view uptown by Kat. It is a certainty.

But it also appears that Octavia and Downtown Male may be copulating as well on the side as it were, as they appear to be friendly with each other.  Unless of course there is a third female that has that black spot on her tail feather like the one Octavia has.

The next thing to track down is to see if DT Male appears to be chummy with "Octavia", not his mate nor the real Octavia downtown when the real Octavia is positively ID'd uptown.  It would be a rather huge coincidence  to have two slightly or completely without a sub-terminal band  females with a similar black spot on a tail feather but stranger things have happened in unbanded field sightings before.  Though I am currently leaning heavily in the direction that Octavia is practicing polyandry.

We do know that Octavia is seen flying downtown by Kat and then suddenly she is spotted by Stella in the South hawks  territory.  I find it unusual that Downtown Male's mate doesn't take O on for this behavior.  

 Perhaps they're related in some way and know each other. :)

I'm wondering if Downtown Male may have been the one who grabbed Octavia's pigeon due to John Blakeman's take that it could be an example of  sexual behavior between intimates and not serious beak and talon dangerous.

 Pale Male  was certainly serious about it, though he would be, that's HIS game with O if anyone is going to play it with her  if it were sexual bonding behavior.  And if it was thievery that's just way not happening in Pale Male's living room either.
 
Hope this helps. 

Next up the coloration difference of hawks in different lights generally and that of Pale Male and the Downtown Male specifically.

Scroll up to the top photo on this post and  see Lincoln Karim's photograph of Pale Male taking the pigeon to the nest late this evening.  Pale Male appear almost grayish and the contrast between head and back looks slight.

And here is one of my photos of Pale Male on the nest in the glare of a sunny day when the light is golden in late afternoon.  Note the huge difference in coloration between the same hawk in different light.

Next for your consideration, Stella Hamilton's photographs of Downtown Male on a very overcast day pushing 6PM, and the first one below back lit besides.  He looks quite dark.  

By the way straight on facially, he looks so very much like Pale Male.

Here is Downtown Male backed by a building a minute later.  Stella reports he is slightly darker than Pale Male with less contrast between the color of his head and that of his back.

I hope that this comparison clarifies some issues and helps with identification as well.  

Then arrives the million dollar question--

If Octavia is over nighting for the first time tonight and we do know that she and Pale Male were seen copulating today-- when was the last time Downtown Male and "Octavia" were seen being chummy.  Because there is then be the query as to when the first egg was laid and whether there might be some question of  the paternity for that egg.

Some season we're having and it's just the beginning.
 
And last but not least sharp eyed Sally of Kentucky pointed out to me that Pale Male now has a slight feather aberration that might aid in his identification for those who do not know him very well.  

Pale has broken a tip off his 4th primary Lt wing :)  Hard to see live but it might be useful in photos 

 

Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne  
Scroll down for the earlier post of the day if you've not seen it yet.

Is Octavia Practicing Polyandry? This Weekend is the Time to Find Out!

 Octavia, left and Pale Male, full face, right 
 courtesy of http://www.palemale.com/

 Relevant musings concerning just who is copulating with whom in Central Park, just in from long time NYC hawkwatcher Katherine Herzog, who, by the way, has a very conveniently  located dentist for a hawkwatcher--

 The only good aspect to visiting my dentist is that he has a prime location for viewing The Hallet Nature sanctuary, corner of 59th and Fifth Avenue from the 14th Floor. Last week while waiting, a mature Red-Tailed Hawk carrying nesting material appeared flying close to the large picture window....my immediate thought was....could that be Pale Male and why is he so far south of his territory? Couldn't give a definite ID as it was raining and the color on the hawk was a bit darker than Pale's.

Then I saw the picture on the internet which has caused so much head-scratching: a bird looking very, very much like Octavia was seen with this "Plaza hawk".
Red-tailed hawks are supposed to be monogamous - but there are other observed hawks, like the Harris Hawk in the SW USA that are
polyandrous (one female copulates with more than one male). Could this be a case of polyandry? Maybe Octavia taking out a little insurance with a younger, stronger male but sticking with the more mature, more experienced mate with a fabulous nest? Was the "Plaza male" possibly Pale?

Yesterday, Pale Male seemed to be bringing prepared food for Octavia and they were flying around the nest the entire hour (4 - 5pm) that I was there...looking ever like the happy couple. Very interesting start to the nesting season.

Katherine Herzog

Great to hear from you Kat, thank you for your astute musings-and yes it is an interesting start to the Fifth Avenue season.

Could this be a case of polyandry?  

Of course it could as you know.  Just because it isn't in the Red-tail literature doesn't mean it doesn't happen.  We've observed many examples of Red-tail behavior that hadn't been recorded in print until the hawkwatchers of Central Park observed it.

I remember when I first began watching there was no documentation even that Red-tailed Hawks drank water in the wild.

Also a point Ohio Red-tail expert John Blakeman made regarding observation of  polyandry in Red-tails generally and in this possible example in particular, very few Red-tails are banded so it is very difficult even with all the lenses in Central Park focused on these famous hawks it is still nearly impossible to prove who is who categorically.  

Therefore polyandry may occasionally occur and no one has suspected it,  let alone proved it.  Right?

If Octavia is actually copulating with two males, you could be right that it's insurance, but I don't know a way to prove it.

Maybe she's a "party girl".  (The phrase is a joke but you know what I mean.) There is aberration of known behavior in many species when you begin looking at specific individuals.  And Red-tails do have very adaptive individualistic behavior in many areas of their lives why not this one in this area?

But...

 I've held the theory for some time that the reason for sexual dimorphism in raptors, the female being larger than the male, is because it is the females who fight each other for the male as opposed to what we much more often see, the males fighting over the females in which case the males are larger.

This could also explain something I've been hard pressed to figure out if there is polyandry going on in this case.  But perhaps if we add my theory and put into play my theory of reverse sexual dimorphism and its explanation perhaps there is an answer.

My question.

If Octavia is copulating with the Plaza Male, and it isn't Pale Male down south, why isn't he bombing down there and cleaning the Plaza Male's clock?

Author of Red-tails in Love, Marie Winn, pointed out to me while I was very green, that pairs are in constant visual contact with each other at this time of year.  And from my own experience I would say that to be true as well.

This is where my reverse sexual dimorphism/females fight females for males, and not the other way around, comes into play.

Also I believe there was a young female Red-tail in the area that Octavia trounced.  She therefore won her right to both males and now she gets to choose.

Positing that Octavia is actually practicing polyandry, Pale Male sees what she is doing-- but remember females fight females for males, he doesn't start any fisticuffs, he just finds more ways to persuade her to choose him instead of the other guy.  More of her favorite foods as gifts.  More renovations on the nest and reminding her of the great location.  More keeping her company, copulating, and doing whatever else may win him the damsel. 

Here is my suggestion for you and Stella Hamilton, (or the more eyes the merrier in both spots), this weekend.  Have your cell phones charged. 

One of you goes down to the Plaza and watches and the other hangs near the Fifth Avenue nest and watches.  The minute one of you sees Octavia and a male you call the other.  If say you see Pale Male uptown and Stella sees Octavia and a male downtown or vice versa, we'll know that polyandry is in progress.  

We'll know categorically that the Plaza Male is not Pale Male. Also that the downtown nest is not Pale Male and Octavia's second choice nest of this season and yes, oh ho, there are two males in play for one female.

I can't wait to see what happens next!

Happy Hawking!

Donegal Browne.