Every spring we wonder where Downtown Pittsburgh’s peregrine falcons will decide to nest. Thanks to Lori Maggio’s recent observations and photos, we’re pretty certain they’ve chosen their favorite site at Third Avenue. We also think this pair is still Dori and Louie (more on that later). Here’s the news from the past two weeks.
Above, the Louie perches at the Third Avenue nest ledge on February 28. Below, the pair sits atop Point Park University’s Lawrence Hall.
Someone perched on a Lawrence Hall window ledge. I wish that bird was outside my window!
On March 1, Louie waited on the “rescue porch” railing while Dori was inside the nest area.
Lori snapped the following two photos while she walked across the Smithfield Street Bridge. Yes, you can see a peregrine standing in the nest area from that distance! Lori zoomed her camera.
On March 8 Louie was perched at the nest ledge and flew away.
Lori’s observations and photos helped us decide that these birds are still Dori and Louie because …
- Their behavior is the same toward each other. (I’ve always seen a change in behavior — unusually intense courtship — when there’s a change in individual birds.)
- They have all the same favorite perches. (New birds pick new favorite perches.)
- The male’s feathers are pale and they always look rough, not smooth. I may be wrong but … Paleness indicates to me that this bird is male. Roughness indicates a bird in ill health or advanced age. In Louie’s case, it’s advanced age. He’s 17 this year, the same age as his mother Dorothy was when she passed away at Pitt.
- The male is banded black/green with a silver USFW band. Though we can’t read the bands from Lori’s photos, the colors match Louie so he’s not out of the running.
Here’s another photo of the ruffled-looking male. He looks like Louie to me.
p.s. In case you missed it, we knew the peregrines wouldn’t nest at Gulf Tower this year because of roof construction. The nestbox was removed (temporarily) in January; the Gulf Tower camera is not operational. Gulf Tower will install a new nestbox when construction is completed. For more information read No Nest at Gulf This Year.
(photos by Lori Maggio)
Wonderful photos.
So great to read that Dori and Louie have been found in their home away from home! Thank you for the update.
Thanks Kate, for the great update!
Most excellent news. As an aside, once the Gulf Tower roof refit is done and a new nesting box has been installed, let hope they use it, rather than there alternative.
Third egg just before 10:00 March 16
Dori does like her low, inaccessible nest sites! She was hatched on the Landmark Building in Akron — a low, hard to access building — so they probably feel like “home” to her.
After Dori’s Mom, Chesapeake, disappeared (also at 17), the Ohio Division of Wildlife removed the nestbox on Landmark and installed a much safer one on First Merit (now Huntington) Tower. McKinley and Summit, the current pair, seem to like it!
Thank you so much for the good news about Dori and Louie!! I am so happy to see they are still together and wish them a successful nest this year!! Wonderful news!