Yesterday afternoon Morela, the female peregrine at the Cathedral of Learning, spent more than two hours at the nest. Just before she left at 6:30pm the snapshots showed her with her beak open. She must have been saying something so I pulled the archived video to find out.
The video clip below is seven minutes long but is only a fraction of Morela’s time at the nest. It begins when she notices something in the air above her. She turns and ee-chups for several minutes, making the sound a female uses to call to a male.
The male did not come to the nest so Morela leapt to the perch above the nestbox to make her exit.
The male’s coy behavior makes me wonder if Terzo has left the Cathedral of Learning. Terzo is quite familiar with the nest and would have called Morela to come into it. Instead, Morela calls to a reluctant male.
Since the male has not been photographed this fall we haven’t confirmed his identity. He’ll have appear on camera before we know who he is.
Stay tuned at the National Aviary’s snapshot camera at Univ. of Pittsburgh. Streaming video will not be operational until the nesting season begins in 2020.
(photo and video from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
I added a comment to a post the other day about seeing two peregrines zip by over the UPMC Presby lawn. Could it be possible that is was Morela and some unknown male courting?
Yes, it could have been
Do you think that Hope and Terzo moved to another nesting site like the Gulf Building falcons do?
Helen, Hope has left but I have no idea where she went. We won’t know unless she turns up somewhere. As for Terzo, we aren’t even sure he’s gone.
Looks like Morella is at the nest currently, around 1:40 pm.
Boy! She sure tried hard didn’t she? At times, to me anyway, it sounds like she is saying “pelican”. Listen when she starts shouting loud and the longer spurts.
I like her style. I hope she sticks around.
I hope Morela finds a mate. Nay if Terzo is with Hope