Adult Red-tailed Hawk in Pale Male's Space

Adult Red-tailed Hawk
CENTRAL PARK — 85TH St. & 5TH AVE.
Image by BEN CACACE
(Click image for a larger view)

Tonight this adult Red-tailed Hawk was spotted near the north edge of Pale Male's territory. The hawk has a red tail. It was just inside the 85th St. & 5th Ave. entrance. Blue Jays and Robins were making a racket.

It was fairly dark at the time of the photo — 18-Jul-2007 5:53pm EST, 1/25 sec @ f/3.7, ISO 400 (hand held & image stabilized). A tripod would have come in handy.

This hawk looks very similar to a hawk I photographed on 13-August-2006 on the west side of the tennis courts north of the reservoir in Central Park.

It resembles Pale Male superficially. The major differences are:

• chest color — Pale Male lacks this hawk's rufous tones
• belly-band — Pale Male's is less prominent & not as dense
• Pale Male's throat has significantly more contrast with the face

Take a look at this remarkable photo of Pale Male in flight from Lincoln Karim's site for comparison.