1 June 2022

Yesterday was an eventful day at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest where, like a couple of yo-yos, two of the three chicks hopped into and out of the gully. As usual, food was the great motivator that brought them back to the nest.

Yellow Girl fell into the gully last Saturday so by yesterday she’d been down there three days eating scraps that fell from the nest. How was she doing? Bob Mulvihill at the National Aviary panned the falconcam so we could see her. At 12:12pm she was in the keyhole with her tail showing.

At 12:26pm Red Boy decided to try the gully for himself and disappeared below where he hung out with Yellow Girl in the shade (see slideshow below).

The youngest, Silver Girl (whose blue tape came off of her silver band), stayed topside. She’s quite well fed so when Morela fussed with food at 3:39pm, Silver Girl didn’t go for it. Red Boy did! When he saw Morela toying with food he jumped back to the green perch and into the nest.

The enticement of food worked so well that Morela made sure to take her time at the 5:37pm feeding. She knew Yellow Girl was watching and it didn’t take long before the wanderer jumped to the green perch, flapped to the nest, snatched the food from Morela and Red Boy, and mantled while she ate. Yellow Girl was hungry!

That happened fast, didn’t it! Here it is in a stop-motion slideshow. (If the slideshow doesn’t advance swipe it right to left.)

This morning all three chicks are in the nest but two have already ledge walked and now have the confidence to explore.

Don’t be surprised when they go off camera.

We’ll see them at Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza June 4, 5 and 7. Meanwhile you can watch them on the National Aviary falconcam.

(photos and video from the National Aviary falconcam)

29 May 2022

It happens every few years. At 28-35 days old, one of the Pitt peregrine chicks stumbles off the nest into the gully below and disappears from camera view.  People are worried. The chick is fine.

Yesterday at 12:55pm Yellow Girl was so excited to hop on the green perch that she flapped and ran from the back of the box. She made it! But she was wobbly. (yellow tape on band at right)

Rather than pause to get her bearings she flapped some more. It didn’t help. Her right foot slipped and then her left. She grabbed with her talons … and slid off to the gully.

The video clip below shows the entire episode. One of the adults — probably Morela — was babysitting at the time and saw the problem unfolding. She whined and flew over the nest (shadow passes over). Adult peregrine whining means “I want [something] to be different.” Maybe that [something] was “Don’t do that! Be careful!”

Yellow Girl was still excited, though. She hissy-whined (begging for food), flapped and … Whoops!

The other two chicks ran to the back wall. Off camera we can hear Yellow Girl hissy-whining from below and Morela answering from above.

As in prior years the chick down under will resurface eventually. Sometimes the parents use food to entice the youngster to climb up. Sometimes they feed the chick down below. In any case, Yellow Girl will come topside before she flies.

For a diagram of the area below the nest and a video of a chick returning, check out this vintage article. It’s worth seeing the look on his siblings’ faces when the down-under chick reappears!

p.s. The blue tape on the second female’s band came off in the first day so her band is plain silver. So their nicknames are: Red Boy, Yellow Girl, Silver Girl

(photos and video from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

28 May 2022

Two hours after the Pitt peregrine chicks were banded on 26 May, the young male made his first step off the gravel. Of the three chicks (2 females, 1 male) the male has the most advanced feather development so I’m not surprised he made his big move so soon.

Peregrine chicks are hard wired not to leave the nest until they have flight feathers — a step off the cliff at that stage would mean certain death. But by the time they look mostly brown, their flight feathers are nearly ready and they need space to exercise their wings so they embark on the next step: Ledge walking. The first ledge walk at the Cathedral of Leaning is always on the green perch.

In the slideshow below the brown-ist chick contemplates a jump to the green perch at 12:12pm. When he makes it topside we can see he has red tape on his silver band, so this is the male (thus nicknamed “Red Boy”). He lingered on the perch for more than 45 minutes until his mother brought lunch at 12:59.

In the video below he looks a bit unsteady because it’s the first time he has ever perched. He works on his balance and grip, preens and exercises his wings.

Red Boy is ahead of his sisters and may walk off camera later this weekend. Watch for his progress on the National Aviary falconcam.

Stay tuned for Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza, an opportunity to see the chicks as they prepare to fly. This weekend I’ll announce dates between June 3-8.

26 May 2022

This morning one male and two female peregrine chicks were banded at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning by Patti Barber, Endangered Bird Biologist from the PA Game Commission (PGC).

This spring is the second year Morela and Ecco have nested at Pitt and the first time their chicks have been banded. Morela had no chicks in 2020 (males Terzo and Ecco could not settle on which of them was her mate), and in 2021 PGC conducted no/few peregrine bandings.

Morela and Ecco are unbanded, so this was a first time experience for them. Morela shouted from above the nest as Patti Barber collected her chicks.

Indoors, the chicks were given health checks (they are very healthy!), weighed to determine their sex (one male, two females) and given two leg bands: a black/green color band that can be read through binoculars and a silver USFW band.

Patti placed a bit of colored tape on each USFW silver band which will be visible on the falconcam and in photos: Red for the male chick, Yellow and Blue for the female chicks.

In less than 40 minutes the chicks were back at the nest and soon their lives returned to normal.

Next Tuesday 31 May the PA Game Commission, the National Aviary and Pitt will issue press releases about the banding. Stay tuned for my followup article that will be loaded with photos, media links, and perhaps a video.

Meanwhile watch the peregrine chicks at the National Aviary falconcam. They’ll start walking off the nest around 1 June.

(photos by Kate St. John)