Photos Of Pittsburgh’s Downtown Peregrines

Peregrine perched on Wood Street Commons Building, Downtown Pittsburgh (photo by Lori Maggio)
Peregrine (maybe Dori) on Wood Street Commons Building, Pittsburgh, 12 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)

Last week Lori Maggio visited Third Avenue between Wood and Smithfield to take photos of the Downtown peregrines.   Look closely and you can see that both birds are banded.  Unfortunately we can’t read the bands yet.

Though we’re not sure of this pair’s identity, the choice of nest site on a ledge on Third Ave leads me to believe the female is still Dori.

Dori on a gargoyle at Point Park's Lawrence Hall (photo by Lori Maggio)
Dori on a gargoyle at Point Park’s Lawrence Hall, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)

 

My guess is that the bird pictured below is the male.  Is this Louie? We don’t know. Louie is 14 years old now — quite old for a peregrine — so it’s possible he was replaced by a new male.

Peregrine above Third Ave nest, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)
Peregrine above Third Ave nest, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)

Both adults like to perch on the turquoise-colored “shields” on top of Wood Street Commons.

(Maybe the male) Peregrine perched on top of Wood Street Commons Building, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)
(Maybe the male) Peregrine perched on top of Wood Street Commons Building, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)

 

The adults go in and out of the nest with food, indicating there are young at the nest.

Peregrine flies to the opening of the nest area -- in and out (photos by Lori Maggio)
Peregrine flies to the nest area — in and out — 11 May 2016 (photos by Lori Maggio)

We won’t know how old the nestlings are until they appear at the edge of the opening.

 

(photos by Lori Maggio)

9 thoughts on “Photos Of Pittsburgh’s Downtown Peregrines

  1. According to my notes, Dori’s USFW band (right leg) is purple, so the first photo is most likely her.

  2. Some very nice photographs of the downtown falcons by Lori. Is this nest high enough that we won’t likely see fledged falcons on the ground downtown like last year?

    1. This nest is “half” high enough. In 2012 both chicks fledged without any reports of trouble. In 2013 all 4 had to be rescued. So I’m going to organize a Fledge Watch

    1. EV, those are the USFW bands whist numbers are not legible from afar. We are hoping to see the black/green or black/red color bands with legible letters and numbers.

  3. Great pictures Lori! I have stopped by a couple of times but so far I haven’t been lucky enough to see either adult. I will keep an eye on the gargoyles for perching though. There is a lot going on in that section of town. I hope the fledge goes well.

  4. They have also been perching a lot on the window ledges on the back side of Lawrence Hall. You can see these windows on 3rd Ave and from the Boulevard of the Allies.

  5. I finally saw my first perching peregrine! Walking down Third Avenue heading towards Wood. He/she was perched on a green ornamental roof piece as shown in one of the photos above. It’s back was to me and appeared as if it was watching the nest area. Thanks again for the photos and suggestions of where to look Lori.

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