Pale Male

Since 1991, when a red hawk decided to make the roof of a privileged 5th Avenue apartment building its home, New Yorkers have embraced the creature they named Pale Male. Bird watchers trained their lenses on it constantly, and locals adopted it as an offbeat pet. In December 2004, when the building's co-op board ordered the removal of Pale Male's nest, environmentalists and pet lovers grew aflutter with anger and shock.