Yesterday afternoon — Saturday April 23 — an adult female intruder visited the Pitt peregrines’ nest while Terzo was incubating the eggs at 4:00pm.
Terzo took one look at her and left (above).
The mystery lady stayed for less than a minute but managed to show the color of her bands: pinkish USFW band (right leg) and Black/Red on her left leg.
Obviously she’s a different bird than the one that visited April 8th. That one was an unbanded juvenile. This one is an adult and has bands that may be from Ohio.
But it doesn’t matter who she is as long as she doesn’t stay. Hope chased her away and was back at the nest at 6:20pm looking just fine.
It all happened so quickly that we wouldn’t have noticed if Janet Luzell hadn’t mentioned it in a comment on my blog.
Thank you, Janet, for your sharp eyes!
(photos from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
p.s. I am rarely in Facebook so if you want to reach me the quickest way is to leave a comment on my blog. Every comment sends me an email.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! KATE Everyone thought I was crazy.
Do females try to take over a territory in the nest box. That like someone entering you bedroom.. more explanation if you have it.
Carol, Females don’t necessarily take over at the nest box. Whether an intruder makes it to the box is actually a style thing of the resident bird(s). Dorothy & E2 never let intruders anywhere near the Cathedral of Learning so we never saw them on camera. Hope & Terzo have a different style. It’s not as effective in my view, but to each his own.
Terry W (Pittsburgh Falconut friend) said: “I keep thinking of them [Hope and Terzo] as naive newcomers living in the big city. They don’t know to keep their doors locked and be aware of the people lurking about.”
Maybe they’ll learn to “lock he doors” … or maybe they are effective in their own way even though we’re surprised.
Thanks Kate. Growing up in mckees rocks, I knew the keep the doors locked and stranger danger. as they become city folk they will learn.
Magnum is B/R with a pinkish right leg band…
I was at Neville Island today. I believe there is incubation happening, I believe the scrape is in the center of the bridge facing Glenfield 🙁
For the last 2 years, Magnum has spent her time off the nest on the Neville Island side piers or ladders; but this year, the falcons only sit in the dead tree or on the lampposts in the river on the Glenfield side. I guess this makes sense since the nest is facing the opposite direction, but Magnum used to stretch and preen and display her bands all the time…
Oh yeah, and Terzo is such a stud! He’s got all the lady peregrines in a tizzy! 🙂
We were wondering what would happen if another falcon visited the nest after the eggs hatched. Would Terzo or Hope stay and protect them? Would the intruder harm the chicks if they were left unprotected?
Lori, your question is very specific to the “personalities” of all three birds involved and how they interact in such a situation. Since I don’t know Hope & Terzo very well and since all intruders are (by definition) unknown, it’s impossible to speculate.
Any idea when Hopes and Terzo babies will hatch. I am getting excited to see the littles ones,
ginger, the answer is here: http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/04/03/has-incubation-begun/
Thank you I am so excited for the little one to appear
Hoping for more than one
It was so nice to see the parents helping the new chick out of the egg at 655 this morning….I love watching falcons..
Hi Kate, did you see that the one egg is broken in half and the other egg looks like a pip but I can’t tell. I just noticed it this morning. Do you have any idea what happened?
janet, the egg has hatched! See http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/04/29/first-peregrine-egg-hatched-at-pitt-2/