Pale Male and Lola, New York’s most famous hawks, have a new set of grandchicks, and the hawklings are the darlings of Central Park.
After leaving their nest late last month, Maggie and Charlie have settled at Heckscher Playground, where they amuse themselves by biting each other’s tails, grooming one another and playing tug-of-war with sticks.
“They look like two kids playing,” said hawk-watcher Lincoln Karim. “They love to walk on the ground a lot, and run and play. You can just see that childishness about them.”
The chicks were born in early June on a precarious 36-story ledge in the Trump Parc building on Central Park South. Their father, Pale Male Jr., is the son of the city’s reigning hawk, Pale Male, who has captivated the world with his decade-long struggle to live, love and breed in the middle of New York City.
Last year, the co-op board of Pale Male’s ritzy Fifth Avenue perch destroyed his nest, claiming it was hurting the masonry of the building. After a public outcry, a new nest platform was built for the birds – but Lola’s eggs didn’t hatch, perhaps because the nest was too cold, scientists said.
But at least the hawk honcho has these two beautiful grand-offspring. The pair is identical except for one detail: Maggie sports a white spot on the top of her head, while Charlie bears just a small dot, said Karim. They’re already full-grown, he said, standing 2 feet tall with a wing span of almost 2 feet. (p. 3 Metro)