This Cathedral of Learning peregrine chick is banded and he’s going back to Mom & Dad.
His sex is undetermined because he’s been slow in development – feathers and strength are at age 14 days, though actual age is 19 days – but he had no deformities and has a good chance of catching up.
He did have feather parasites so he was treated with medication to remove them & that problem is virtually gone.
If you’ve been watching on camera, you can see he’s back at the nest with new “bling” on his legs.
Happy Banding Day!
(photo by Kate St. John)
Thanks for the update, good news!
Thanks for this update! No deformities – that is fantastic!!! The Facebook page is saying that the gender was determined as male. I will check back here later (as will everyone else 🙂
Marta, the sex is unknown because sex is determined by weight. Because he’s developmentally slow he might be a she when she catches up. (Yes it’s confusing!)
So glad he is staying in the nest! I have been watching and waiting and I just had a feeling our little one just needed a little extra time and attention which Dorothy and E2 have been so willing to give. I am simply in awe of this little family!
Hip hip hooray! The best outcome possible.
“There’s no place like home.”
WOOHOO!!!!!!
great news!!!
Dorothy and E2 rock. so attentive to this little guys needs.
Its wonderful Dorothy may be able to see probably her last chick fledge. So happy they can stay together.
So glad to hear that the little has a chance to develop and grow. How is it that humans can remove the bird from the nest, handle it without gloves and the mother continues to take care of it.
Wonderful news. Yay!!!!!
Just curious — Did they blood? Can’t sex also be determined by a blood test?
I always thought that if a bird was handled by humans the mother bird would no longer take of it. I read an article that stated that is not true. So good to know. So if you find a baby bird out of the nest you can put him back and Momma bird will take of him. Imagine how many baby birds have been left to die because that misinformation
this is such wonderful news!!!!! ?????
I am so happy that Fuzzy gets to stay with mom and dad…..they have given it their all to take care of him….wonderful outcome
YEAH ! (giggling with joy) Thank you for the good news!
Feather parasites : What causes them ? Do you/they/we know? Too cold – too hot? Too wet – too dry? Nest-box material ? Brought in with “food” (other birds’ feathers) ? Is there a way to prevent them in the future, here and/or in other sites?
I have notices that Dorothy’s leg feathers (I call them her “pants”) are all disheveled, fluffy, puffy E2’s are all tight, form-fitting and sleek.
Could Dorothy have those parasites too? Could these parasites have been the cause/reason why Dorothy was egg-bound last year?
I know that’s a LOT of questions… just curios.
Thank you.
That’s great! Poor little fellow, he just had a slow start. Kate, do the bands indicate the sex? If so, what did they band it as, male or female? Cathy, I think I can answer you question. I believe birds have no sense of smell, so there is no worry about them rejecting the chick due to the smell of humans. Kate can correct me if I’m wrong (or she might have already answered the question by the time she approves this post).
It is a myth that birds will abandon young if humans have touched them. The same is true for many other animals.
So happy for this family! Love seeing the parent’s love for this chick! As a Hays eagle nest follower also, I now have a new family to watch too!
Oh Baby Baby! So glad our Perigrine Family is reunited and Lil One will continue to thrive and catch up! Thank-you Kate for your beautiful pic and info!
thanks for the clarification on gender, Kate! This is so exciting. I think in some of the photos from yesterday both mom and baby looked so proud.
Maybe it is a temporary staying with mum and dad, I don’t know, but so much better for now!
so happy that the news is positive so far…Wish the gender could have been established so we wouldn’t have to keep referring to it as “it”. Haha
What wonderful news! Thanks for the photo and update. It’s good to know that he (or she) may simply need more time with Dorothy and E2 to catch up, and that there is still hope for a successful fledge.
Fantastic news!!!
Great news!
Great to see the little one back with his mum & dad, and it great to know all he needs is a little more time and looking after which as we can see he will get from his devoted parents.
A big thank you to all that helped today and for keeping us all updated.
Thanks, Kate, for the update! Great news!
look how big Fuzzy is in a humans hands compated to how small he looked on the nest! Wow! And yay for the good news! Thx for the timely updates! <3
I read on another blog an eyas stayed with it’s mother until fall, which is what may happen with this one….great news it was returned, I just hope it makes it.
He sure is a cute little bird whatever he is. I had the feeling that mom was giving him physical therapy to strengthen his little body. they are fascinating to watch.
Such good news! There is hope.
Wonderful news for our gender-unspecified chick. Glad to hear that s/he is doing well and that the parasites have been given the boot. With all the good vibes heading their way, I’m sure that Dorothy and E2 will have the little chickie caught up in no time.
WHOOHOO … Happy Dance!!! Just started watching the nest last weekend but have since fallen head over heels [pardon the pun] in love with Dorothy, E2 and The Little Guy. So very glad that he’s home and so very grateful to Kate for her knowledge and insight.
So what looked like seizures, was hopefully just the chick struggling to right itself? Fingers crossed that it’s a girl.
Hoo-Ray! Glad for this news, this chick will be ok!
Eating and happy again! Chubby little bugger
Kate — a couple of questions — since they don’t know the sex, will they go back and take a look in a few weeks? also, can you describe how the nest box is situated at the Cathedral? Is it behind a half wall, so even if the chick fell out, it would still be on a concrete base? Of course, that might get kind of hot….
Wonderful news. Have become very fond of little chick. Hope he does well. Mum ought to get a Mum of the Year medal for her devotion.
YAY! Great news, Kate! Thank you!!!
Wow, this is such good news. It’s thrilling to read that the little one has a chance of catching up. Will be keeping fingers crossed for this wonderful PEFA family. Thank you for the update, Kate.
I said I was going to stop watching a few days ago. I came back and I’m glad I did.
good news today. I hope fuzzy continues to do well. Thinking positive.
All I can say is what a blessing to hear about our little ‘Miracle’. YAY!! Now lots of prayers that this young eyas continues on this positive journey. Thanks go out to the National Aviary for the informative post also. 🙂
Kate, thank you.
We discussed the bands before and you gave me a description. Now I see the colors.
Also did they do blood work? If so, when will they get the results?
Mother’s of all nature can/might be miraculous. Thank you, Kate and everyone involved in Dorothy’s chick.
We are happy, greetings from Budapest. we love Dorotthy.
Kate thank you for great reports. I am so amazed at the size of the chick in the hands of the PA State Game Commission Officer. It seems so small in the nest along with the size of the parents there is no reference to actual size by my only viewing everything through the camera. Maybe someone could put 3 or 4 hash marks 3 inches between each on the rear of the nest box so everyone can observe the real size/growth. For next year. Thanks for all the PA Game Commission Officers that help all the wildlife that have so much to overcome many times.
I see Turkey Vultures all the time around where I live in Wheeling, West Virginia along the Ohio River why can’t a nest be found of these interesting birds and set up a web cam around this area? What about Hawks? I guess the cost of all of this is beyond what they can get through advertising on the web cam sites? Taxes that cover protection of endangered wildlife I guess is also limited?
Great news. There are surprising good choices even when it looks bleak:):):)
Looks like little chick was trying to fly this morning : ) Looked like he was coping mamma.
John Thomson wrote : ” Maybe someone could put 3 or 4 hash marks 3 inches between each on the rear of the nest box so everyone can observe the real size/growth. For next year. ”
BRILLIANT !!! I LOVE the idea! It doesn’t have to be paint or anything intrusive “added”, like a yard stick ….
But maybe just some scratches or groves edged into the back, or on the side of the nest box … “lines”: made to look like “poop-shots” OR “round” drill holes, to look like pebbles. … just thinking, expanding on John’s idea.
Any thoughts ?
John Thomson & ReA regarding hash marks to figure out how big the nestling is: Use Dorothy and E2 as the measuring sticks. They are perfect example of how big the nestling will be and they stand quite close to him/her.
Thank you!
So, but, then… call me lazy, before I spend hours reading up on this… the question is :
How “tall” = “long” is Dorothy standing there (not wing span) ? Beak — to the end of the tail fathers ?
Again, Thank you for your patience.
ReA, Peregrine falcons average 17 inches long (13″-23″) from head to tail. Females are the big ones, males are smaller. Dorothy and E2 have tails, the nestling does not, so you’ll have to subtract for that length. Peregrine tails are 5.1 to 7.5 inches long.
Thank you very much.