29 June 2020
Because of the COVID-19 shutdown there have been few eyes on the street in Downtown Pittsburgh so I was grateful when Point Park University police called me on Friday afternoon, 26 June 2020, with news of the Third Avenue peregrine nest. Unfortunately they had found a dead peregrine falcon fledgling. The good news is there are youngsters Downtown and they’re learning to fly. Maybe there are more. On Sunday morning 28 June Lori Maggio went Downtown to find out.
At 9:30am Lori texted me to report a youngster whining on the nest ledge and an adult watching from a gargoyle on Lawrence Hall.
The youngster was watching this adult who has a silver right leg band (color band is hidden from this view). This is not Dori. Her right leg band is pink. In addition, this bird doesn’t look like Dori and its plumage looks male to me — sharply contrasting head, tail, wings and pale back. If I’m right, the Downtown male is banded.
As Lori watched, the youngster exercised her wings and made some practice flights along the ledge.
At 2pm I joined Lori at Third Avenue and we walked around looking for peregrines. There was still one juvenile at the nest ledge plus an adult on top of Oxford Center.
Interestingly, the adult intently watched a spot we could not see in the vicinity of Forbes and Cherry Way, staring at it for at least half an hour before flying away. This sort of intense watching is usually a sign that the parent peregrine is watching a juvenile. If so, there were at least three young at the Downtown nest this year.
This morning Lori is at Third Avenue again, observing one adult plus the youngster on the nest ledge. I hope she can get a photo of the color band!
(photos by Lori Maggio)
These pictures are beautiful and wonderful to see. It is sad that one fledgling was lost, but hopefully the rest will have a successful launch. Thank you and Lori so much for giving us hope for young Peregrines in Pittsburgh during this bleak year. New life and new beginnings are always great to see.
Great to see new Falcons. Good luck babies. Great photos
Thanks to you and Lori for the update/pictures of the downtown peregrine family. I would be wonderful if Lori is able to get a picture of the bands in order to identify the adult. I hope you’re right that it’s a male and that Dori is still the matriarch there.
Should one also be watching where the adult is looking, that is, for example, to look for a fledgling at Forbes and Cherry, for example, if the adult is looking that way to make sure it isn’t on the road in the middle of the street?
Yes, Robin, that’s what we were doing but we were on the ground. We walked around trying to line up with the adult’s gaze but the fledgling was apparently on top of a building & only visible from above.