The recent turn of events has some of my fellow hawk watchers and bloggers offering theories about what has happened on Fifth Avenue.  I don’t think we’ll every be able to fully explain the turn of events, so all theories are welcome.  I am however concerned about some premature conclusions that have been jumped to about what’s been happening.  Two issues concern me.

First, did an egg get laid by the Pale Female?  With most females, a few days/nights are spent on the nest before they lay their eggs.  With her immaturity, the Pale Female may have not have known to spend time on the nest before laying an egg. But only spending one night on the nest makes it seem unlikely that she laid an egg.

I think it’s important to ask if she was old enough to lay an egg.  Many first year nesters fail.  She seemed to have limited interest in the nest.  Could she have been too young to lay eggs, and once Pale Male realized, he invited another female to mate with him?  Survival of the species must surely trump any pair bonding.

Secondly, there has been a lot of conjecture about why the dark female didn’t bond with Pale Male the first time she was with Pale Male.  Since few of the pundits, actually watched these hawks in the winter, they’re jumping to the wrong conclusions based on a few Lincoln Karim photographs.  The dark female arrived early in the season before the days had started getting longer and hormones had fully kicked in.  More importantly, she already had a relationship with a brown tailed hawk.  I saw her take leftovers from the youngster three times, twice in Locust Grove and one on Pilgrim Hill.  Any theory about why bonding didn’t happen the first time has to accommodate this third wheel.

Theories are welcome, but beware of any pundits (including me) who presents them as fact!

Saturday, was just like Friday.  Lots of copulations, nest re-building by both hawks and lots of activity.  Rarely did the hawks sit still for more than fifteen minutes.

On Friday, there was a different hawk on the nest, copulating with Pale Male and flying up and down Fifth Avenue.  The hawk looked like the female that first courted Pale Male earlier this season. 

This sudden changes come as a complete surprise, but it’s what makes hawk watching fun.  Whenever we get too arrogant that we fully understand a species, nature shows us a new twist!

The Pale Female of Fifth Avenue slept on the nest this evening. 

Before she slept, she sat on the nest and Pale Male presented the same pigeon to her about five times.  She was sitting too high on the nest to have laid eggs yet, but this should happen in a few days.

In addition to progress at Fifth Avenue, the Bloomingdale Village blog reports that both the Highbridge Park and St. John the Divine nests are active with brooding females.

The female continues to get used to the nest area.  She made two wonderful loops, hugging the building edges, and just skipping her normal perches.   Other than the two loops, it was a normal evening on Fifth Avenue.

Pale Male and his new mate continue to copulate and work on the nest.  As the days progress, they seem more and more like a couple.  Hopefully, brooding will start in a week or so.

Life on 5th Avenue continues to have an exciting pace.  Both birds are active with copulations, hunting, food sharing, and nest building taking place all day.