“I’m sorry to have to report the end of an era,” Bobby Horvath, a wildlife rehabilitation specialist, wrote on Facebook Tuesday night. “Pale Male passed away tonight in our care.”Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk who took up residence on the ledge of a ritzy Manhattan apartment building 30 years ago, was the subject of hundreds of newspaper articles, at least three books and an award-winning documentary film and also counted Mary Tyler Moore among his fans. But whether the bird Mr. Horvath declared dead was actually Pale Male remains a mystery. Pale Male, an apex predator living in the most populated city in the United States, was the original New York City celebrity bird, predating Barry the barred owl, the “hot” Mandarin duck and Flaco the eagle-owl. He was named for his light-colored feathers by birder and author Marie Winn, a longtime columnist for The Wall Street Journal who followed his progress in print for over a decade and penned a book about him, “Red-Tails in Love,” making him something of a local celebrity.

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