Today I’m honoring Dorothy, the matriarch and first female peregrine to nest at the Cathedral of Learning, with this video retrospective of her best photographic moments.
If you’ve only known her since last spring, you missed knowing the real Dorothy. She was dynamic, energetic, fierce and powerful. From the time I first saw her in 2001 until her egg bound spring of 2014, she had fire in her eyes. After that, age-related health issues subdued her. I hope this video gives you a taste of what you missed.
Every year Dorothy raised three to five young peregrines — every year — and many of them went on to raise young peregrines of their own. With 43 fledglings and a host of descendants she increased the peregrine populations of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Michigan and the Pittsburgh area … and those are the places we know about!
Dorothy was awesome. She was the first wild bird I ever knew as an individual and the bird that changed my life. I will miss her greatness but not her decline.
Note: If you cannot play the video above, click here to watch it on YouTube.
Information on Dorothy’s lineage: Mother was Sibella (20V20) of the Peregrine Recovery Program who was captive-bred and released at Feldtman Ridge on Isle Royale National Park, Michigan on 20 July 1988. Father was Bill (74T) of the Peregrine Recovery Program captive-bred and released from Van Hise Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1990. Data from Greg Septon:
This female peregrine is not Dorothy (photo from the Cathedral of Learning snapshot camera), Dec 1, 2015
2 December 2015
This proclamation is made in monarchies when the old queen dies and a new one succeeds her. It’s a fitting announcement at the Cathedral of Learning today, for the old peregrine Queen Dorothy is gone and a new Queen is in her place, at least for now.
Late yesterday morning Peter Bell told me the Pitt snapshot camera was dead. Instead I found it very much alive with nearly a hundred motion detection images in less than two days. They were triggered by very frequent peregrine courtship at the nest: three times on November 30 and eight times on December 1.
Such intense “getting to know you” is highly unusual at this time of year and unheard of with an old mated pair. Based on behavior I knew at least one of them was new to the site. Many photos and archives later, I confirmed that E2 is still here, he is courting a new female, and Dorothy is gone.
“The Queen is dead.”
Well actually, Dorothy simply disappeared but we know she won’t come back. Art McMorris, PGC’s Peregrine Coordinator, affirmed that the presence of a new female at the nest means Dorothy is gone.
We never saw a fight, nor even a challenger. Dorothy and E2 were both active in October and flew together on November 2 but the rest of November was quiet with only one peregrine on campus — or none — and no certainty that the one bird was Dorothy.
In any case, Dorothy’s disappearance is no surprise. Adult peregrines live about 12 years in the wild but Dorothy was 16.5 going on 17 — quite elderly. Like an 85-90 year old grandmother, we loved her and will miss her but we’re not shocked that she’s gone.
“Long live the Queen!”
The new Queen is a younger bird with a Black/Green coded band and a green USFWS band. After I read her bands I enlisted Peter to examine them too(*). Here are his two archive snapshots from Nov 30 with a blow-up of the bands.
Bands on new female at Pitt, Nov 30, 2015 (photo from the WildEarth archives)Another shot of bands on new female at Pitt, Nov 30, 2015 (photo from the WildEarth archives)
Yes, these bands are 69/Z. This bird is “Hope,” the resident female at the Tarentum Bridge since 2010 who hatched at the Benjamin Harrison Bridge in Hopewell, Virginia in 2008.
Why did Hope leave Tarentum? We don’t know but here are a few ideas:
When male peregrines are alone on territory they fly an advertisement that says “I’m looking for a mate.” The Cathedral of Learning is so tall that Hope could have seen E2’s message from the skies of Tarentum.
Hope has not had great success in her six years at the Tarentum Bridge. She raised 4 young — two in 2012 and two in 2014 — but half the time she’s been alone with no mate. Last year a young male showed up, but they didn’t nest.
The Cathedral of Learning is one of the best peregrine nesting sites in Pittsburgh. We’ve seen another Pittsburgh “bridge bird” move to the other best site: Dori left a bridge for the Gulf Tower.
And yet, though Hope and E2 seem to be hitting it off she might not stay. Art McMorris says it’s too early to know if she’ll stick around for the nesting season. Right now she’s getting to know E2 and the Cathedral of Learning but she has plenty of time to change her mind between now and next April.
So, Tarentum peregrine watchers, keep your eyes peeled. Hope might come back.
(photos from the National Aviary falconcams at University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning)
Footnotes and History:
Here are some stories of 69/Z’s life. She’s named Hope for her birthplace, Hopewell, Virginia.
On November 11 a black vulture from the National Aviary made her debut on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Chris Packham introduced Jimmy to two hyenas and then at the 2:00 minute mark …
Woo hoo!
(YouTube video from The Tonight Show)
p.s. Congratulations to the vulture (I forget her name) who’s famous in the daily Flight Shows at the National Aviary and to all the people who made her debut possible.
p.p.s I’m not so sure Jimmy Fallon likes vultures. What do you think?
Click on the big blue type below and make a new bookmark. You’re ready to go!
p.s. Today (November 30) I’m taking it easy and leaving this notice in place while we all get used to my new location. Stay tuned this week for: A vulture on the Tonight Show, Bald eagles on the hunt, and Pittsburgh peregrine nesting highlights in 2015.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)
Red-billed choughs in Ireland (photo by Steve Valasek)
29 November 2015
Some birds on other continents resemble our familiar backyard species. Even if you don’t know their names you can make a good guess.
For instance, the black birds above look a lot like crows. Indeed they are corvids though they’re not in the Corvus genus.
The red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), pronounced “chuff“, is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa. Steve Valasek photographed the two shown above in Ireland. Here’s one at Skokholm Island, UK. Look at that red beak!
The big news today was the discovery of a pair of Chough nest building in the Quarry. The three other pairs were still on territory, meaning we have more than in any year since recording began in 1927. pic.twitter.com/rUB5aWA3LY
Choughs are a little smaller than American crows (Corvus brachyrhyncos) and would look the same except for their big curved red beaks and red legs. Here’s a side-by-side comparison using photos from Wikimedia Commons.
Red-billed chough in India, American crow in San Diego by Dick Daniels (photos from Wikimedia Commons)
Our crows would be amused by the choughs’ appearance but they never see them. There are no choughs in the wild in North America.
After this article was written in 2015, comments come in rarely but regularly from North American readers who say they have seen a chough in their own neighborhood, however …
If you see a black bird with a red beak in the United States, it is not a wild chough. It might be one of these.
1. The common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) and great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) are both black with an iridescent sheen, sometimes green, blue or bronze. Their beaks are not red but the iridescence is very distracting. Big clue: What color is the bird’s eye? Yellow? Then it’s not a crow. It’s a grackle.
Male common grackle (photo from Wikimedia Commons)Great-tailed grackle (photo by Linda Tanner via Flickr Creative Commons license)
2. Oystercatchers do have red beaks and red legs. American oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus), on left, live along the coasts of North, Central and South America though not on the U.S. Pacific coast. Black oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) take their place on the Pacific coast from Mexico to Alaska.
3. During the breeding season the beak of the double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) turns a bit orange. Cormorants are always near water but may be found at the Great Lakes and along rivers during migration. Here are two views of the double-crested cormorant.
4. The anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) has a long yellow beak and is found near water along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts as far north as South Carolina. They breed inland in Gulf coast states but always near water.
5. In Florida the snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is a hawk with a yellow-orange face and a curved gray beak. It lives near water and is not common.
(photos from Wikimedia Commons, Steve Valasek and a tweet from @SkokholmIsland)
One hundred years ago ducks were on their way to extinction in North America because of over-hunting and habitat loss. New hunting laws stopped the slaughter but the birds still needed habitat so Ding Darling, chief of the U.S. Biological Survey, pushed for the Duck Stamp Act that requires waterfowl hunters to purchase and carry a duck stamp with their general game hunting license. Stamp-generated funds buy National Wildlife Refuge land. Click here to read how ducks were saved by a stamp!
It’s saving a lot of habitat. Since 1934, over 6.5 million acres of wetland and grassland habitat have been saved as National Wildlife Refuges.
It’s beautiful, collectible wildlife art.
It’s a great use of funds. 98 cents of every dollar goes directly to land acquisition (and immediate related expenses) for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
It’s more than just ducks. Refuge wetland habitat benefits shorebirds, herons, raptors, songbirds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, butterflies, native plants, and more.
It’s grasslands, too. NWR refuges also protect grasslands for declining prairie-nesting birds: bobolinks, grasshopper sparrows, clay-colored sparrows, sedge wrens …
A wildlife refuge where you go birding has benefited. Check the map here (scroll down).
The annual stamp is your free pass to refuges that charge admission.
Show that bird watchers care, too. We know that birds need habitat. Let’s lend the birds a hand.
It’s easy to buy the 2015 stamp at many post offices, National Wildlife Refuge offices, and sporting-goods stores, as well as online from USPS and Amplex.
Buy a stamp for the birds!
(image of the 2015 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation stamp from the U.S. Postal Service, linked from allaboutbirds.org. Click on the image to see the original and read about 8 Great Reasons to buy one.)
Wild turkey, displaying (from the PA Game Commission photo gallery)
Today is Throw Back Thursday and Thanksgiving, all in one.
Here’s an article from 2008 that explains why wild turkeys are thankful their species is a popular food.  It doesn’t seem to make sense … but it does! Click here to read why.
This Sunday is going to be a big day for me, but if all goes well you won’t notice a thing.
The blog will look the same as usual and all nine+ years of posts and comments will be online. The only difference on Sunday night will be my new address … but you’ll hardly notice. The magic of the Internet will send you to the new location (via 301 redirects) if all goes well.
Here’s what I’m up to.
When I retired from WQED more than a year ago, I thought about moving my blog to my own address but I was not up for the challenge back then. Life is calmer now so I’ve decided to go out on my own.
I’ve bought a new address and I’m packing my virtual boxes for Sunday afternoon’s move. If all goes well, Outside My Window will be up and running at this new address by Sunday night, November 29:
Keep in mind that you don’t have to do anything. I’m still at WQED.org for the next few days, and after the move is final you’ll be automatically redirected to my new site.
Sit back and relax. Â And stay tuned.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)
Winter’s coming and the crows are back in Pittsburgh.
Last week at dusk I saw 3,000 flying over Shadyside heading directly west, but I don’t know where they were heading.
Four years ago they roosted above the Strip District near 21st Street and Liberty Ave where Sharon Leadbitter captured them in this video. But there’s no guarantee that’s their favored place this year.
When crows become too annoying we humans apply just enough pressure to move them along. Sometimes they move a little, sometimes a lot.  The year they quit the Strip District they chose an abandoned spot in the Hill District.
Where’s the crow roost this year? Have you seen it?
We need to know before Pittsburgh’s Christmas Bird Count on December 26 so we can count the crows. 🙂
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