As nesting season approaches female birds often roost close to their future nest sites. Last night two of Pittsburgh’s peregrines did just that.
Above, Hope roosts at the front of the Cathedral of Learning nest box. Below, Dori sleeps on the perch near the Gulf Tower nest.
“Close” to the nest is literally true. Neither bird is actually in it.
The peregrine’s nest is a bowl scraped in dust, gravel or dirt on a high cliff ledge. The bowl’s shape prevents the eggs from rolling off the cliff and provides an edge to keep in the heat during incubation. Both the male and female help make the nest by hunkering down in the scrape and kicking the gravel back and out with their feet.
At the Gulf Tower there are two scrapes to choose from. In the photo below Dori is standing up to her ankles in the left one.
The first eggs at these nests are typically laid between March 12 and March 20. Watch for them online at the National Aviary’s Cathedral of Learning falconcam and the Gulf Tower falconcam.
However, keep in mind that Dori is fickle about her Downtown nest site. Last year she paid a lot of attention to the Gulf Tower but disappeared on March 12 to nest at Third Avenue. I hope she’ll stay at Gulf this year.
The one thing we do know is that peregrines are closer to nesting when they stay close to the nest.
(photos from the National Aviary falconcams at the University of Pittsburgh and the Gulf Tower)
Dori in nest box at Gulf Tower looks like she was close to laying egg but went back to preening?
Kate, would you mind posting Dori and Louie’s band colors?
Watch for a blog post in the days ahead that will tell you how to identify the birds on camera.
Visitors tonight (9:07 pm EST) at both the Cathedral and Gulf. It is indeed getting close.