(You may have seen a bit of this on Facebook. Here’s more information.)
Since E2’s death many of you worry that Hope’s eggs at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest will not survive.
Some of you have even asked that we intervene to rescue and incubate the eggs ourselves, or that we leave food for Hope so she doesn’t have to leave the eggs.
Here’s why intervention is unnecessary, why “feeding” her will not work, and why either one of those attempts will wreck your viewing of Hope’s activities.
Why intervention is unnecessary:
Peregrine falcons delay incubation of their eggs until the female has laid the next-to-last or last egg. If the eggs are not incubated, but are protected from freezing and overheating (in other words, covered by the adult when temperatures are low or high), the eggs can wait several weeks for delayed incubation to begin and can hatch successfully. I do not know the longest amount of time they can delay, but it is long.
We’ve seen this happen in Pittsburgh. In 2010 Tasha laid two eggs at the Gulf Tower in mid March but Dori displaced her and became Louie’s new mate. Tasha’s eggs waited three weeks while Dori bonded with Louie and laid her own clutch of three. In the end, all five eggs hatched in May.
If Hope is delaying incubation, these eggs can wait a very long time.
And if she is not delaying: Within the breeding season, peregrines lay a replacement clutch when they find a new mate or if the first clutch fails early in the season.
The bottom line is, you don’t need to worry about eggs.
Why leaving food for Hope will not work:
At the end of the last century when peregrines were endangered throughout the U.S. and Canada, they were so rare that wildlife officials tried to offer supplemental food to widowed females. It doesn’t work. Peregrines are not scavengers (bald eagles are) and we humans are the peregrines’ #1 enemy. It doesn’t matter where you leave the food. Wild peregrines refuse food left by humans.
Why intervention of any kind will wreck your viewing of Hope’s activities:
Hope is at a first class “cliff,” a very valuable territory, so a new mate will find her. If we intervened in any way, Hope and her new mate would decide the area is unsafe (from humans!) and would leave the Cathedral of Learning forever. Then there would be no peregrines on camera at all. Intervention would wreck everything.
Wild peregrines’ lives are often very different than we assume. It is a privilege to watch and learn from them.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)
p.s. It is against Federal law to take birds’ eggs. In Pennsylvania, peregrine falcons are managed and protected by the PA Game Commission. They make the decisions on peregrines and their welfare based on peregrine falcon biology.
For more information about peregrine falcon biology and family life see my Peregrine FAQs.
Stay up to date on peregrine news by checking this link.
I agree, intervention is not an option. I remember the case of Tasha’s eggs very well. What a huge and pleasant surprise it was when all five hatched and fledged successfully. 😀
I do however “worry” about the Gulf Tower Peregrines. Any news about them returning to their 2015 or 2014 nest site?
I know people were watching them in 2014, I have seen pictures of their scrape and eyases.
Ingrid, will provide news on Gulf when we have it. We don’t have any news.
this is all very comforting to know. I did notice yesterday, it seemed she was away from the nest for 2-3 hours, from 1 something to 4 something (PM). She no sooner got back, then left again for a short period. I wasn’t watching constantly, but did check often during that time. Anyway, I’ll take this as she’s not incubating yet, although I know she has little choice at this point, she has to eat.
You are such a valuable teacher, Kate. Thank you.
Good Morning, Kate
Thank you for your expertise and explanations, which helps to understand and ease worry and concern. Staying positive “Hope” finds a new mate and eggs will be ok.
Will continue to follow “Hope’s” story and your blog throughout the coming days. Thank you, again.
Hi Kate ,
Hope you are feeling better. The post is great. I am passing it on.
I agree let nature take its course.
I have learned so much from you. Thank you for your dedication
Your information is so important to our Falcon chatters and communities
Thank you Kate for the valuable info on Hope. I know I would much rather get to see Hope and a new mate and new clutch than never seeing her at all. Thank you for all the time you have put in answering our questions.
Here’s hoping we can have an E3 to carry on the line!
Just out of curiousity, I saw an egg in the Cathedral of Learning nesting platform on February 24 around 3pm, and that it was also there that evening when I checked. The next morning (Feb 25) when I checked around 6am the egg was gone. Do you have any idea what might have happened to it? Thanks!
Laurieann, that was not an egg. It was a reddish metal punch-out that blew into the nest and blew around occasionally. Eventually the peregrines moved it aside.
Hope has the best cliff and a mate will find her when she’s ready. I’ve treated emotionally disturbed people my whole life and often solving a problem for some one is the worst option. Hope will do what she needs to do on her time. Thanks for all your teaching kate.
Thanks for the clear and concise article.You out did yourself!!
Thank you Kate for being so informative. This is only my second year observing and I have learned so much. I will keep watching and hoping for a new mate to arrive for Hope. I am also anxiously awaiting any information regarding Louie and Dori. They were all over the camera for a few days and then nothing. My hope is that they have chosen another nesting site and not that something has happened to one of them. Thank you again for so willingly answering all of our questions.
Great explanation. Thank you! But in a way there is intervention when the chicks are taken from nest and banded then returned to nest. Why does that not make the Falcons feel unsafe and leave??
Patti, there are factors (complicated to explain here) in addition to what Sue described. I will write about them in future. In the meantime, suffice it to say that disturbance would cause the peregrines to leave. We have seen this in Pittsburgh. It happened at the Gulf Tower.
Thanks for the information. It makes it so much more possible for me to talk to others about what’s going on.
Patti, banding is done by professionals in as timely a fashion as possible to minimize the disturbance..and the peregrines are upset about it while it is happening. This is why the humans have to wear protection/hard hats. They return the chicks as fast as possible and get out of there as fast as possible, but going back repeatedly with food is an entirely different story, with a far greater amount of disturbance involved (daily vs. once). This is only done as a method of studying the entire population to be sure it is on the track to recovery. That massive amount of intervention for one individual would not help the population and only harm the individual falcon.
Thank you Kate and Sue for the answer
Are there two shadows that are cast into the nest when the sun is shining? I just took a screen shot of what appears to be another bird shadow, but Hope is on the eggs.
Jane, that’s the shadow of the camera you are watching and the infrared array for night viewing.
Thank you, Kate, for providing such a wonderful updated explanation for those of us who do not use Facebook. I know we all have ongoing questions and concerns. We keep Hope in our thoughts and prayers. Thanks again and again for sharing your knowledge with us.
Is that feather in the box Hope’so or from a meal? Praying for a new mate for her.
Patty, I cannot identify feathers from this distance
What I saw is her feather I think it may be damaged. She is back on the eggs and it is sticking out.
Patty Caldwell, Hope is losing a feather, that’s all. Quote from Bob Mulvihill at Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook page: “I just read that Peregrines have a very protracted low intensity molt–in fact, they can have feathers molting any month of the year.” Hope is fine.
Thanks for very informative writings! I sure do hope she finds another mate this season. If not she will for next season ???
Was in the car Monday evening and someone from either the aviary or Audubon society was on KDKA radio discussing the falcon situation. He saId that he had no knowledge of any other male mating with a widowed female that already had eggs that hatched. But you said in the blog that this happened to Tasha in 2010 and all 5 eggs hatched. Conflicting info??
Patti ferneding,
I did not hear the report you heard so I do know who was being interviewed and his level of peregrine expertise. I also do not know what the question was, what the actual answer was, and (this is important!) what the radio station edited out of the answer. (I worked for TV/radio. All recorded interviews are edited. You’d be amazed what gets left out!)
When a scientist says “I have no knowledge” it means “I do not know.” I does NOT mean “I know it cannot happen.”
There are not many people in the U.S. who have a broad and deep knowledge of peregrine nesting histories and who can say “I know.” Chances are the person being interviewed was not one of those very few peregrine experts and was being truthful in saying “I do not know.”
When I want to know if something is possible with peregrines I ask PGC’s Peregrine Falcon Coordinator Art McMorris and Chad+Chris Saladin who have extensive experience with peregrines in Ohio and host C&C’s Ohio Peregrine Page on Facebook. I also read Derek Ratcliffe’s book The Peregrine Falcon.
I asked Art and Chris about the situation with Hope and I read Derek Ratcliffe’s book. All of them assure me that a widowed female will acquire a new mate. She will either incubate the eggs she already has or (within the breeding season) lay a new clutch of eggs with her new mate. In Derek Ratcliffe’s book there is even an amazing story of a widowed female who acquired a new mate, then she died and he acquired a new mate, and then the two foster parents hatched the eggs of their predecessors and raised the foster kids.
Many amazing things are possible with peregrines.
Again, there is no conflicting info in the report you heard. “I do not know” does not mean ‘I know it cannot happen.’
p.s. You may notice that I, too, say “I do not know.” It’s the honest thing to say.
Thank you Kate for your explanation. These are truly amazing birds. I guess we all can’t help but attach our human emotions to poor Hope. Think we all just so wanted a good outcome this year because of the unfortunate situation last year with Dorothy and the handicapped chick.
What would make Hope decide to give up this nest and leave it?
Bethany, human intervention would make her decide to leave.
I have a terrible fear that Hope will leave this nest before she finds a mate so this nest can continue. How real is my fear or will she stick it out until another male finds her or she finds another mate?
Bethany, no one can accurately predict the future. We think Hope will probably stay at the Cathedral of Learning, but no one knows for sure. If watching the Cathedral of Learning falconcam makes you anxious or upset I suggest, with all due respect, that you stop watching the falconcam and switch to happy news at the Hays bald eagle nest at eagles.aswp.org where there are two nestlings as of this morning, March 23. The third egg is due to hatch on Friday.
Hope seems to be spending more time on the eggs that I would have thought, given that they can survive so long without incubation and she needs to be advertising 🙂 Overnight in 30+ degree weather I can understand, hot sun makes sense. Looks like we’re going to learn a lot more about peregrine behavior this year.
Now, if only Dori or Louie had a GPS receiver attached. (wishful thinking)
Thanks so much Kate for this information. It is astonishing to someone like me who is not at all familiar with the peregrines, but is very interested in them. I remember the hullabaloo when they first came back to Pittsburgh. It’s wonderful that they have been successful here.
Kate, Is Hope now incubating? With the temperature now 60 degrees and her sitting on the eggs every time I checked in today, it would seem that she is no longer merely protecting them from freezing as would have been the case over the weekend.
Janine, perhaps she is incubating. I don’t know. The bottom line is …
“If Hope is delaying incubation, these eggs can wait a very long time. And if she is not delaying: Within the breeding season, peregrines lay a replacement clutch when they find a new mate or if the first clutch fails early in the season.”
Kate, You gave wonderful information on why intervention is not permitted.It is understandable that there are wild animals and human intervention can be detrimental to them. Following this premis, why then was the sickly chick removed from the nest last year?
Hi Suzanne. Last years chick wasn’t removed. They waited until their banding schedule and checked him, banded him and returned him like any other chick. when he fledged, they kept finding him on the ground and determined he was unable to fly. That’s when they retrieved him
Thank you, Cindy, for answering Suzanne’s question. (Yes, the health exam & banding of last year’s chick was quick. It took about half an hour & then he was returned to the nest.)
Kate, I wouldn’t know any of this without your great information. Thank you!
I hope Hope is successful with this clutch or the next. I want her to stay at the cathedral and not move on. The Gulf Bldg ones are missing and I love both. Good luck to Hope and I’ll keep my eye out for the other two! Thank you Kate for sharing your knowledge?
Hope just flew in about 7:50pm. It looked like she was doing some bowing and watching. She did that for a couple of minutes. Eventually, she went and was chatting to her eggs but you could hear another falcon in the background. I think she may have found a friend. 🙂
I tried to catch it on video, but my dogs started barking along with Hope. The other bird was very loud, as was Hope. I agree she was bowing.
Hi,
I was in Oakland today and saw two peregrines fly in together to perch together on Hillman library. Could she have found a mate?
It was around noon today.
Sue, I’m not sure but you may have seen the red-tailed hawks. Someone later sent me a video of them mating.
hmmm ok they looked small for redtails and had short tails but I didn’t have binocs and am not terribly experienced…thanks…!
Starting about 6:45AM today, Hope has been very vocal for about 5-6 minutes.
Possibly new mate? Continuing somewhere outside of scrape.
I love watching peregrines on web cams. I don’t live near a big city, so this is the only way I can see them.
My main comment is with all the attention the Hays eagle nest is getting, you would think the local media would pick up on the latest activity at the Pitt location.
I hope with the new male, this year will be successful in raising young.