US: New York is up in arms about hawks - not the Pentagon types who waged war on Iraq but two birds of prey which were evicted from their nest on a ritzy New York apartment building last week.
The owners' co-operative in the upper East Side building complained that the red-tail hawks were damaging the brickwork, dropping the carcases of pigeons and rats and causing bird-lovers to train their binoculars on the upper windows.
The raptors, affectionately known by New Yorkers as Pale Male and Lola, returned from a hunting trip in Central Park a week ago to find their eight-foot nest and the metal spikes which supported it had been removed.
Not all residents supported the action against the hawks, which are known in Europe as buzzards and are much larger than the more common peregrine hawks.
Actress Mary Tyler Moore said: "I've been watching them for 11 years. I just want those to be back in their natural habitat and be peaceful."
For a week, the two birds have circled high above Central Park looking for a new cornice to call home, while below scores of protesters have picketed the building at 927 5th Avenue, some holding up signs saying: "Honk for the Hawks".
This being New York, lawyers have got involved on both sides and a meeting of residents with bird- lovers and Central Park officials has now agreed on a compromise, according to Mr John Flicker, president of the National Audubon Society.
"They agreed to work with us and their architects to figure out a way to stabilise the nest there," he said.
Pale Male, who has fathered 20 chicks, has been a local celebrity since 1993 and is the subject of a 1998 book, Red Tails in Love by Marie Winn, and a documentary.
Residents of the 12 apartments, which each take up a floor of the building, have been subjected to catcalls and abuse, especially property mogul Mr Richard Cohen, husband of CNN presenter Paula Zahn and a leading "hawk" in the war against the birds.
Typical of media reaction in the city was a call from New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser to "evict the evil bird-haters".
The red tails meanwhile are doing what any displaced residents of the Upper East Side would do. They have taken space high up on the upmarket Carlyle Hotel - which incidentally is famous for its prints by the famous bird-painter Audubon - while their lawyers sort out the accommodation problem.