When a young peregrine lands on the ground on his first flight he doesn’t yet have the upper body strength to flap and get airborne. He has to be rescued and put on a high perch to start over.
In Downtown Pittsburgh the Third Avenue nest site is so low that fledglings land on the ground every year. Thankfully, passersby call the PA Game Commission at Central Dispatch 1-833-PGC-WILD to rescue the downed birds.
Downtown’s fledglings are often found on the sidewalk but sometimes a bird gets creative. Last year one waited at the bus stop. Seven years ago a fledgling landed six feet off the ground on a pickup truck roof rack. Then things got interesting.
Read about 2013’s car-surfing peregrine in this vintage article: Fledged For A Ride.
(photo by Ericka Houck, National Aviary, 30 May 2013)
Too bad they can’t be banded before their second try at fledging. It would be interesting to know Paul’s story. Great story.
Do you know where falcon Paul is or what he has been up to since his pickup truck tour?
Betty, Paul was never banded so we don’t know where he went.
Don’t forget the Neville Island pefa that landed on a barge and cruised downriver before being shuttled back from the Dashfield Dam.
Laura, that’s a good one too! I wish I had photos of that episode. The bird could have ended up in New Orleans 😉
On a different note—I haven’t followed the activity at the Cathedral nest on a regular basis since no chicks will be hatching, but when I do look it seems the eggs keep moving to different positions with no sign of Morela, Terzo or Ecco. How (and why) are they being moved?
Morela makes brief visits to the nest, sometimes to sunbathe, and she happens to move them.