Photo courtesy of palemale.com.
Pale Male, (left), Octavia (right)
Do you remember that in one of the emails from NYC Hawkwatcher Katherine Herzog, she mentioned how huge Octavia is.
I believe Kat compared her wing span to that of almost a Turkey Vulture in comparison to your usual Red-tailed Hawk wing span.
And Kat wasn't exaggerating! Look above at the size and wing span difference between she and Pale Male!
The rule of thumb is that in reverse sexual dimorphism in hawks that the female is about a third larger than the male.
Agreed, Pale Male, is a smaller swifter model of a Red-tail male, but still Octavia is hugely larger than he in comparison.
Also a heads up, both hawks have been seen bringing bark to the nest to line the bowl. It won't be long now before Octavia will be up there on 927 Fifth Avenue full time!
Sally of Kentucky asks if Downtown Male might be Pale Male Jr? It is possible as that was his previous territory but though this hawk does look like Pale Male facially, I think he may be a little darker than Junior though I'd have to watch him in person to be sure one way or the other. Junior had a way of holding his body that is distinctive.
Also keep in mind that the newest research found that Red-tailed Hawks often return to their natal territory to nest. Therefore Downtown Male might be a hawk that came from a nest of Charlotte and Junior's or even Pale Male and Lola's nest on Fifth Avenue.
Happy Hawking!
P.S. Scroll down for a previous posting from earlier this evening.
Donegal Browne
2 comments:
Girls rule, boys drool, even if the girl has to resemble a turkey vulture to do it :-)
Ref your comment on another thread, I have been sending you email, including a photo article about a white redtail. Maybe it is in your spam filter.
I'll check the spam and barring that will run a search! Thanks for the heads up Karen Anne!
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