On Tuesday May 8, 2018 four peregrine chicks were taken from Dori and Louie’s Third Avenue nest in Downtown Pittsburgh through a Special Taking Permit granted to developer BET Investments by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.  (Federal wildlife agents did not come to retrieve the chicks.  They told the PA Game Commission to do it for them.)

Chicks are settling in and gaining weight:

Update from Humane Animal Rescue on their Facebook page, May 11, 2018: We’re pleased to report that the four chicks admitted to our Wildlife Center on Tuesday are progressing well. They’ve each gained weight & have begun to recognize our Peregrine puppet as their caregiver. HAR Wildlife Center staff members continue to carefully monitor the chicks while donning ghillie suits & the puppet, feeding & cleaning them multiple times per day.

You can see the puppet in the photo at top. Here’s what a ghillie suit looks like:

Sex of the chicks:

The sex of peregrine chicks is determined by their weight at banding — females are much heavier than males — but sometimes their weights are borderline.  Among these four, two were clearly males at banding and two were deemed too close to call. “Unknowns” are given female bands because the larger ring will not bind either sex.

Update on the parents, Dori and Louie:

The adult peregrines, Dori and Louie, are generally absent now from Third Avenue.  Construction has moved to the roof of Keystone Flats, the building that sparked the controversy and led to their chicks’ removal.  Workers will add another floor and a rooftop deck.  Doug Cunzolo stopped by Third Avenue on Friday morning May 11, 2018, took the photo above and reported:

This morning I stopped up at the 3rd. ave. nest site & talked with 2 of the workers there. They said the adults come by from time to time but not to the nest site itself. They were not there at around 8-8:30 am while I was there. There are cranes from the next door parking lot up over the roof & near the nest site moving steel & concrete block up onto the roof. So too much activity for them I would think.

When I stopped by late Sunday the area was quiet and there were no peregrines around.  Dori and Louie have lots of other places to hang out Downtown.  They have not been seen at the Gulf Tower.

Follow the four chicks’ progress at Humane Animal Rescue’s Facebook page.

Though the developer is paying for the chicks’ upkeep you can show your support by donating at the Humane Animal Rescue’s Donation page. Be sure to select Designation “Injured Wildlife” from the pull-down menu! (The chicks are not injured. That’s just the name that insures the gift goes to the Wildlife Center where they are housed.)

(photo credits: chicks’ photos from Humane Animal Rescue Facebook page; Third Avenue construction photo by Doug Cunzolo)