Monthly Archives: June 2015

Estimated 2015 Fledge Dates for Pittsburgh Area Peregrines

Peregrines
Peregrine falcon juvenile at U.S. Steel Tower (photo by Patti Mitsch)
Juvenile peregrine Downtown at U.S. Steel Tower, June 2014 (photo by Patti Mitsch)

Now that peregrine nestlings have been examined and aged in the Pittsburgh area, we can estimate when each site will make its first flight.

The fledging dates below are just estimates, calculated as the 39th day after hatch(*).  Young peregrines fly at 40-45 days old but the actual fledge date is up to the individual bird and sometimes the weather.  Males fly earlier than females because their lighter weight makes it easy to get airborne. In a nest with both male and female chicks the youngest females are alone at the nest for a day or two after the males have left.

In Pittsburgh, point-based Fledge Watches are set for a day or two before expected fledge through at least the second day after the last bird has flown.  Two days before flight it’s fun to watch the birds ledge-walk.  Two days after fledge, young peregrines have enough strength and flight ability to move faster and further than Fledge Watchers can navigate, especially in Downtown Pittsburgh.  At that point the official Fledge Watch dissolves while we wait for random reports of young peregrines peering in windows (nice to know) or accidents requiring rescue.

The table below shows the estimated dates.  Note that end dates always depend on activity at the site.

Nest Site Nestlings 39-day Estimated Fledge Date Watch for accidents until…
Neville Island I-79 Bridge 3 males, 1 female 6/10/2015 (Actual: Two left bridge on 6/6) 6/17 depending on activity
Downtown near corner of
Fifth & Grant		 3 chicks, sex unknown, not banded 6/14/2015 (Actual: 1st flew on 6/11) 6/20 depending on activity
Cathedral of Learning at Pitt 1 chick, sex unknown,
development delayed by
5 days as of 5/29/15		 6/18 or 6/23/15 due to unknown sex and
delayed development  (Actual: 6/21)		 2 Days after the chick fledges
Westinghouse Bridge 2 chicks, sex unknown 7/3/15 7/10 depending on activity

 

Four of Pittsburgh’s eight peregrine nest sites have either no nesting activity or are a mystery this year.

  • Mystery: Monaca, Beaver County. Nest site is inaccessible on top of the big black P&LE Railroad bridge that crosses the Ohio River from Monaca to Beaver.
  • Mystery: McKees Rocks Bridge. Every year the peregrines’ nest is notoriously hard or impossible to find, even with a bucket truck.  This spring an adult pair was seen on May 24 and the pair “kakked” at a kayaker on the Alcosan side of the river on May 31.  It appears they have young but we have no idea where.
  • No nest:  Tarentum Bridge: This pair has not attempted to nest, perhaps because the male is young and still in juvenile plumage.
  • No peregrines: Green Tree water tower. Nest was attempted in 2013. No peregrines this year.

(photo of a fledgling at the U.S.Steel Tower, June 2014 by Patti Mitsch)

(*) The official first-flight age is 40 days after hatch, but can appear to be 39 days when a bird hatches overnight.

Pitt Peregrine Discovered at Neville Island

Nesting & Courtship, Peregrines
Male peregrine at Neville Island I-79 Bridge (photo by Peter Bell)
Male peregrine at Neville Island I-79 Bridge was born at Pitt (photo by Peter Bell)

2 June 2015

Though all eyes were on the peregrine chick at the Cathedral of Learning last Friday, it was also Banding Day at a second Pittsburgh area nest.

After wrapping up in Oakland, I went with PGC’s Art McMorris and Dan Puhala to the Neville Island I-79 Bridge.

Neville Island I-79 Bridge (photo by Kate St. John)
Neville Island I-79 Bridge (photo by Kate St. John)

While Art and Dan climbed in the bridge structure with their PennDOT guide, I kept my feet firmly on the ground with nest monitors Anne Marie Bosnyak and Laura Marshall, and with three peregrine enthusiasts: Pitt follower Peter Bell, and Canton, Ohio peregrine monitors Chad Steele and Ray Glover.  Chad and Ray drove two hours to see this banding because the mother bird, Magnum, hatched in downtown Canton in 2010.

Magnum kaks a warning, 29 May 2015 (photo by Peter Bell)
Magnum defends her nest, 29 May 2015 (photo by Peter Bell)

Magnum kicked up a fuss(!) kakking, swooping, even running, always shouting at the top of her lungs.

Her nest is hidden in a box-like recess so the only way Art could retrieve the chicks was to perch over open water and reach in barehanded to feel for them one at a time.  Magnum positioned herself inside the nest between Art’s hand and the chicks and slashed at him with her talons every time he reached.  Ow!

Art McMorris of the PA Game Commission hands off a peregrine chick at the Neville Island I-79 bridge, 29 May 2015 (photo by Peter Bell)
Art McMorris of the PA Game Commission hands off a peregrine chick at the Neville Island I-79 bridge, 29 May 2015 (photo by Peter Bell)

While this was going on Magnum’s unidentified mate gave vocal support from a distance.  For years we’ve known he’s banded but couldn’t read his bands. In the excitement he perched above us and Peter got a clear photograph: Black/Green 05/S.

Male peregrine at Neville Island I-79 Bridge (photo by Peter Bell)
Male peregrine at Neville Island I-79 Bridge, Black/green 05/S (photo by Peter Bell)

I whipped out my Pittsburgh peregrine genealogy (who else would carry this!) and scanned the band numbers.  Surprised to find a match, I learned this bird hadn’t traveled far.  He hatched at the Cathedral of Learning in 2010, son of Dorothy and E2 and the older brother of this year’s chick.  Unnamed at banding, (temporary name was White) Anne Marie and Laura can now give him a permanent name.

His four nestlings at Neville Island I-79 Bridge — three male, one female — are E2’s grandkids.  They’re due to fledge around June 11.

The Pitt Peregrine dynasty continues!

(bridge photo by Kate St. John.  All other photos by Peter Bell)

PGC = Pennsylvania Game Commission

All About Names

Peregrines

Nestling and Dorothy, 31 May 2015 (photo from the National Aviary cam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
With Dorothy, 31 May 2015 (photo from the National Aviary snapshot cam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Now that the chick at the Cathedral of Learning is banded many of you have asked, “When will he get a name?”

The long answer is explored at this FAQ How Do Peregrines Get Their Names? but in short:

  • Some states name the nestlings on Banding Day.  Pennsylvania takes the scientific view and does not.
  • When peregrines nest, it becomes too difficult for observers to discuss them without a name. In Pennsylvania the person(s) who discover/monitor the nest site are the ones who name the adults.  If we can read the peregrine’s band we try to find out if it already has a name.  Most peregrines are unbanded.

In Pennsylvania, fledglings have temporary names during Fledge Watch, based on the colored tape the bander applies to the USFW band on the nestling’s right leg.  Colored tape is used so that Fledge Watch volunteers can identify individual birds with binoculars.  (The black/green band is too hard to read from a distance.)  When there’s only one nestling no colored tape is applied.  The USFW band is silver in Pennsylvania.

The colors don’t change and we reuse the same names year after year: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, White, Silver.  The tape is temporary but is useful in late spring and early summer when the peregrine family is still together in the vicinity of the nest.

At Fledge Watch we describe a bird’s location like this, “Green is on 38th floor, west patio edge.”  If we know the bird is male we might say “Green Boy.”

This nestling has no tape on ‘his’ USFW band and we really don’t know ‘his’ sex so we won’t say Boy or Girl.  At Fledge Watch he’ll just be Silver.

I may as well start calling ‘him’ that right now.

 

By the way, please do read the naming FAQ.  It explains how Dorothy, E2, Louie and Dori got their names and much much, more.

(photo from the National Aviary snapshot cam at the University of Pittsburgh)