On Saturday, I got to see a great deal of Pale Male and his new mate.  She’s being called lots of things, Pale Beauty, Pearl and Paula, but until there is some consensus, I’ll be calling her Pale Female.

Pale Male caught a pigeon.  He plucked it, eat some of it and then called for Pale Female.  She eat it, and when she had finished, called him to eat the remains. 

Later, she was on a “Linda Building” (920 Fith Avenue, two buildings south of the nest building) window railing, when he arrived with another snack.  Having both just eaten, he cached the bird on their nest, and returned to the railing where they copulated.

They sat together for about half an hour, before Pale Male left and went to roost on a tree at the bottom of Pilgrim Hill.  She however remained on the railing and was still there when I left the part at 7 p.m.

As we get to know the new female, each of the 5th Avenue bird watchers were sharing tips about how to tell the two birds apart.  His white/light brown throat vs. her dark  throat.  Her droplet like chest spots vs. his oak leaf patterned barred vertical strips.  Her broken tail feather and lighter tail.  His two missing primary wing tips.  I’m sure we’ll find more, but I think most of us are starting to find it easier to tell them apart.

After the failed nests of the last years, we have a new variable.  Will the nest work with a new female, or not?  We’ll know in a few months.