By now Tasha, the female peregrine falcon at Pittsburgh’s Gulf Tower, should have three eggs.
She laid her first egg on March 12th and we know she had two eggs by Saturday evening March 14th, but it is really hard to see the eggs on camera.
Anyone know how many eggs she has?
Click on the photo to go to the webcam and see for yourself.
(photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
I WATCHED HER SITTING TODAY FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES AND THOUGHT SHE WAS TRYING TO – OR MAY HAVE LAYED AN EGG BUT I COULDN’T TELL IF THERE IS ANOTHER EGG WHEN SHE GOT UP…
I HAVE NOT SEEN BOTH FALCONS AT THE SCAPE TOGETHER, SO IT MAY ALSO HAVE BEEN LOUIE TRYING TO SIT THE EGGS…
THANKS FOR YOUR BLOG, KATE, AND ALL YOU DO FOR OUR FEATHERED KIN
As of Mar 18, 9:23am it looks like there are 3 eggs at Gulf Tower now. Is there a fourth?
Not sure how many eggs but I have another question. Why do the females lay eggs at such different times, depending on where they are nesting? Didn’t Tasha lay her eggs before the female at the Cathedral of Learning last year, too? Or, is it female specific and not nesting site specific?
Thanks,
Nancy
Good question! Egg-laying times are site specific in a macro sense (large-scale geography) and female specific in a micro sense (regional geography). Peregrines who nest in the middle latitudes lay their eggs from mid-March to late-April, sometimes later. Meanwhile, arctic peregrines haven’t even left South America for the arctic yet.
The difference between Gulf Tower egg-laying and Pitt egg-laying times is female-specific. Tasha always lays her eggs early: March 10 to 17. One of her daughters nests in Cleveland and she too lays her eggs early. This year Tasha’s first egg was March 12, her daughter’s first was March 11. This leads me to believe this is an inherited trait because most other female peregrines lay week(s) later.
How old is Tasha and how long do Peregrines usually live and continue to nest?
Is Dorthy at the nest laying an egg? She doesn’t usually just hang out there that much.
Tasha was unbanded when she came to the Gulf Tower in 1998 so we don’t know what year she was born. However, peregrines are usually two years old at first nesting so she was probably born in 1996, making her 13 years old this spring. The longest-lived peregrines have been 16-20 years old. (Their age was known because they were banded.) Of course most birds don’t live that long. So, Tasha is no spring chicken.
The female peregrine hangs out at the nest more and more as she gets closer to laying. When she is laying an egg, the feathers under her tail will droop very low to the gravel. She will stand still for a long time & will look like she’s pushing.
Did they turn the cameras off at the Cathedral? I’ve been trying to see if Dorothy has laid any legs but he webcam doesn’t come up at all today. Didn’t seem to be either Dorothy or E2 at the Cathedral yesterday.
The cameras are up. Sometimes the page takes a while to load.
I happened to tune in as Dorothy laid her first egg at 5.30.
I’m pretty sure I see at least 4 eggs – maybe 5 ? – at Tasha and Louie’s place..
Thanks, Kit. Yes, 4 eggs! We were all looking hard at the picture at the same time. The Aviary is posting snapshots as links from their falconcam pages.