30 May 2025
Wondering about names for Pitt’s peregrine chicks? They already have them, named for the colored tape affixed to their silver USFW bands.
- Yellow = first sister, also known as Yellow Girl
- Blue = second sister, a.k.a. Blue Girl
- Green = the male, a.k.a. Green Boy
Why colors?
The long answer is explored at this FAQ How Do Peregrines Get Their Names? but in short:
- In Pennsylvania it is the policy of the PA Game Commission not to name wild birds, including peregrine falcons at banding.
- Nestlings/fledglings are very hard to tell apart so for ease of identification, the PA Game Commission puts colored tape on the USFW band.
- Adult names are optional. In Pittsburgh our tradition is:
- If the adult is banded we try to find out if it already has a name. If not …
- The nest site’s main monitor may name the adult(s) if they wish.
For the nestlings, PGC uses the same tape colors every year so we reuse the same names: Yellow, Green, Blue, Red, White, Silver (no tape). The tape is temporary (it eventually falls off) but it’s useful in late spring and early summer when the peregrine family is still together in the vicinity of the nest.
After they’ve fledged, if we can see the tape color we describe a bird’s location like this, “Green Boy is on the Heinz Chapel roof.”
Maybe he will go there next month.
Don’t miss this explanation of how peregrines get their names. It includes a quote from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. 🙂
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