Peregrines Don’t Mess Around. This is true of many aspects of peregrines’ lives but here I’m referring to a new report about their sex lives.
Last weekend mentalfloss.com reported that DNA studies of peregrine breeding pairs and young in Chicago indicate that all the offspring have been born of the established pairs. In other words, peregrines aren’t having extramarital affairs. Peregrines don’t mess around.
The report also confirms that peregrines love their cliffs more than their mates:
“Even greater than their loyalty to each other was the falcons’ loyalty to their nesting sites. It makes sense; while a partner might die in a collision with a building or a power line, a safe nesting niche is forever.”
Read more at …
Given the Opportunity to Cheat on Their Mates, City Falcons Stay True
{Here’s another link to the same study in case the one above doesn’t work.}
(photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
p.s. In case you missed it: Yesterday July 19 at 1:45pm I saw all three peregrine family members at the Cathedral of Learning. C1 flew in (squawking!) and landed at the 23rd floor northeast corner. Terzo evaded her and hid in a nook at 32 east. Hope flew in and landed on a 28th floor stone peak below Terzo. Both parents were avoiding C1’s demands. (No worries. This is normal behavior.)
p.p.s. Thanks to @PittPeregrines for alerting me to this article.
Kate, very interesting article. Thank you so much for continuing to inform us about Peregrines behavior.
Great article! Thanks for sharing. We have hawks in our area and their offspring squawk all the time. The juvenile either perches in our tree or on our roof and will carry on for several minutes before flying away to squawk somewhere else! I can often hear it in the distance.
The last 2 evenings i saw Terzo in the scratch around 8:30 to 9 PM
You can read the original research paper at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0159054
Kate,
Wanted to let you know that there a visitor in the box today. Since I was using my cellphone, I was not able to see the bands very well. So, I was wondering if you knew which one was there this morning? It was around 6:50am.
Veronica, don’t know. Was probably Hope.
Veronica, It was Hope at the nestbox. She spent quite a bit of time there, from 6:45 to 10:00AM.
Thanks everyone. On my cell phone, the bands seem to be blurry.
An interesting article. I really enjoy this blog, thank you Kate!
Also thanks for the update on C1. I was just thinking about C1, Hope and Terzo before I checked in. What a pleasant surprise.
Thank you Kate for the article, very interesting! Thanks for continuing the updates on these amazing birds.
Just thought I’d check in to see if anyone was in the scrape. Terzo or Hope was!! Took a screen shot but don’t know how or where to share it. 8:26 am 7/25.
I am very interested in peregrine falcons for many years I have had visits on my deck and In my yard from.mostly a single Bird..never could see band. have lived in same house 40 years. Just retired and am home a good deal now. Have Bird feeders and deer, turkeys, and other wildlife daily. Recently a doe left her fawn five feet from my back door for 5 hours!! This last month 2 peregrines almost daily. One actually hit my window. Near Bird feeders it was ok. Almost each morning I go out and see them fly to a tree. Also watch my 5lb dog closely. Have some pics but not professional. I am in kilbuck and always thought one came from Neville island bridge. Do you think a nest could be close by?? Didn’t know who to ask but you….thank you. Is this appropriate place to ask this question??
Hope and Terzo we’re active scrape at 2:30 p.m. Terzo left first and hope left about 245 I could still hear them both in the background I feel so blessed when I get to see them beautiful day for them
Kate, has anyone seen C1 or did she finally leave? Thanks in advance Kate.
Janet, I don’t know the answer to either question.
Kate,
kind of related but more about Dorothy
The night security guard in the COL loves my I (heart) Peregrines bumper sticker on my office door and wants one. I’ve checked the zazzle website but I don’t see it there anymore. Can you tell me where I might get another one (also, my old car is about to die and I want one for my new car).
It IS Dorothy on that sticker. The queen.
I purchased it I believe after reading about it on your blog.
Mary, so glad you like the bumper sticker! Yes that’s Dorothy.
The original bumper sticker had my old blog address on it so I had to change it last fall. I saved the link on my Peregrine FAQs page, called “I Love Peregines bumper sticker,” with explanation which points to Zazzle:
http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2012/05/18/sign-of-a-peregrine-fan/
The direct link to Zazzle is here: http://www.zazzle.com/i_love_peregrines_pittsburgh_bumper_sticker-128196866842233202
Thanks Kate, I am getting a few more for my cars and I sent this information to our security guard. The falcons have many fans here at the COL.
D was particularly beloved. She hung around a lot on 23 on our AC units, more so as she got older. Some of us also remembered her in her more spry days when she harassed the pigeons over at Bellefield towers. Thanks again!!
Kate, someone posted an observation on Facebook pitt peregrines, and said that at 4:26pm today Hope was in the nest with what looked like another female. She said there was a lot of chirping and it didn’t look good, but Hope chases her or him off. Do you know anything about this. Thanks
Janet, Hope & Terzo bowed at the nest twice today, July 29, at 4:11pm and 6:22pm. Please pass along this blog post (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/07/05/hopes-in-charge-for-now/) to the person who reported the chirping. Please scroll down to “I see two peregrines at the nest … tell me if it’s Hope and Magnum and if they are fighting.” The answer in that section explains the difference between male-female courtship and same-sex fights. Chirping and bowing are always male-female interactions.
Thanks Kate as always. I’ll make sure to pass it along.