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)

21 May 2022

Of the eleven peregrine sites we’re monitoring in Southwestern PA, we know the adults are bringing food to four nests and we’ve already seen chicks at three of them.

Look for the chicks at all four nests to begin to fly in the next three weeks.

Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh:

As of today the chicks are 26 days old and very active. On Thursday they started to grab food from Morela and take it away to eat, so yesterday Ecco brought prey for them to prepare and eat on their own. They couldn’t figure out what to do with it.

In this Day-in-a-Minute video you can see the prey item in the middle of the nestbox for a while. It’s a yellow-billed cuckoo. Morela fed it to them eventually.

I expect the Pitt nestlings to be on camera through the end of May, then walk off the nest in early June (off camera) and make their first flight a few days later. Watch the Cathedral of Learning nest on the National Aviary falconcam to see if I’m right.

Stay tuned for Fledge Watch fun in early June. Schedule to follow soon.

Eckert Street / McKees Rocks Bridge area, Ohio River:

When Jeff Cieslak last checked on the Eckert Street peregrines on 10 May, the male was bringing food to nest. Jeff’s been out of town since then so … though we know there are chicks in the nest no one has seen them yet. Stop by Eckert Street and see what’s up.

Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek:

On 20 May Dana Nesiti saw a chick at the edge of the nest ledge. This one may be the same age as the Pitt peregrine chicks. Watch for them to fly in early June.

Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny River:

The 3 young peregrines at the Tarentum Bridge are a week older than the Pitt nestlings and will fly before the end of May. Stop by soon if you want to see them! More information here.

(photos by National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh, Jeff Cieslak, Dana Nesiti)

20 May 2022

Thanks to Dave Brooke’s observations and photos we know there are three peregrine falcon chicks at the Tarentum Bridge nestbox and they probably hatched on 18 April 2022. Go see them soon! They will fly before the end of May.

In yesterday’s photo, above, they are 30 days old. In the 11 May photo below they are 23 days.

Based on their age, we expect them to walk out of the box onto the pier this weekend. If any are male they’ll make their first flight as early as a week from today, Friday 27 May. Females tend to fledge four days later, maybe as early as Tuesday 31 May.

If you’ve been putting off a visit don’t wait any longer. The next 10 days will be the best time to see the peregrines. Visit the Tarentum boat launch or the sidewalk on 1st Avenue for the best view. Click here for a map.

See into the nestbox, circled below, by standing on 1st Avenue.

See them on the pier from the Tarentum Boat Launch.

Don’t delay! Here’s the map.

(photos by Dave Brooke and John English)

15 May 2022

This year Dori, the resident female peregrine in Downtown Pittsburgh, is 16 years old — quite elderly for a wild peregrine falcon. Nonetheless, on 17 April I confirmed incubation at her nest when I spotted a peregrine inside the Third Avenue nest site.

A week later I confirmed that this bird is Dori when I found her perched on Third Avenue on 24 April and read her bands through my scope (Black/green M/93). Darn it! she obscured the code just before I snapped this photo.

Why was Dori off the nest? Was Terzo incubating while I was there (unseen in the nest)? Or was Terzo not helping at all, similar to his behavior with Morela in 2020?

I got a hint when Steve Mortimer emailed me on 26 April.

Yesterday [25 April 2022], at about noon, I had the windows open. I live in the former Alcoa building in the corner closest to the William Penn Hotel. I kept hearing a bird chirping. It seemed right outside my window. After scanning for a bit I noticed the peregrine on the box gutter of the William Penn Hotel. That wasn’t the caliber of bird I expected from that noise. … This happened over and over again until around 5:30 PM when I spotted a new falcon. Perched higher up on the building. Smaller, sleeker, much more elegant looking. … My noisy neighbor continued in her spot. … She was still there when it was very dark and there was just enough light to barely make her out. I could hear her in the morning through the windows … she took off around 9:30 AM. Moments later I noticed a bird soaring around in the distance. Then two. Then one again. Then none. She hasn’t returned since.

— email from Steve Mortimer, 26 April 2022

The unbanded female Steve photographed is bowing to another peregrine. Who?

Steve did not see a second peregrine (male) until much later and only from a distance, labeled “Newcomer” in his diagram.

Two weeks passed with no news.

Then on 11 May, Amanda Linn tweeted (@amandolin_) about two peregrines outside her window at BNY Mellon. An unbanded female …

and a banded male. It’s Terzo, the resident male in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Here’s a closeup of his bands.

Just like humans, peregrines can see when another of their species is not in tiptop shape. Both Terzo and the unbanded female know that Dori is elderly and, as we know from Dorothy at Pitt in 2015, elderly female peregrines can lay eggs but few are viable and any chicks that hatch have disabilities.

Terzo seems to have changed loyalties. The new female is waiting in the wings. The Downtown peregrines are embroiled in Peyton Place.

(photos by Kate St. John, Steve Mortimer and Amanda Linn @amandolin_)

7 May 2022

Pittsburgh is in the throes of heavy rain(*) and it is still raining this morning. Since food was hard to find in yesterday’s steady downpour, the Pitt peregrine chicks did not eat often and there were fewer opportunities to count heads and look for the weak fourth chick. However, every time the family moved it was clear the fourth chick was gone.

The last time he participated in a feeding was the day before, on 5 May. He was fed standing up at 8:21am but collapsed minutes later. Morela fed him on his back.

The fourth chick was absent from subsequent feedings until his lifeless body was seen on the gravel behind his siblings at 3:04pm (below).

By yesterday morning he was gone. Perhaps one of the adults removed his body overnight. He does not appear on camera on 6 May 2002. See the time lapse video below.

Meanwhile the remaining chicks are thriving and, at 11 days old, have grown their second down and started their wing and tail feathers. Tomorrow their ears will be distinct.

Watch them grow at the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh.

(*) By Saturday morning 7 May 2022, Pittsburgh had reached record rainfall for the month-to-date of 2.87 inches.

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

4 May 2022

Yesterday the tiny fourth chick appeared to be very weak and unlikely to survive. Morela and Ecco are aware of it and are doing the best they can.

As you can see in the slides above, labeled with feeding times on 3 May, Morela attempts to feed the chick even when it is on its back. Ecco looks for the chick every time he visits the nest.

Perhaps the two of them were communicating about this at 10:15am when Morela wailed at Ecco. In the video below, Ecco comes to the nest and looks for the fourth chick, then Morela arrives and wails.

This is the first time this pair has had a weak chick.

p.s. Thank you to Mary Ann Pike for alerting me to the 10:15 wailing session.

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

3 May 2022

Yesterday I was quite surprised when the fourth of five peregrine eggs hatched at the Cathedral of Learning nest. The chick emerged, pink and wet, while Morela was feeding his three older siblings at 1:20pm. (see update at end)

Morela laid five eggs in March but the fourth egg appeared three days after incubation began so I expected it to hatch three days after the other chicks that hatched on 26 April. In other words, on 29 April. Instead it was three days after that.

With its siblings nearly a week old the new chick looked tiny and vulnerable but it is not. We had already forgotten that newly hatched chicks must dry off and wait a bit before their first feeding.

Chick #4 is getting his fair share so far. Check out these slides from the 8:45pm feeding. (Yes, Morela feeds them after sunset.) The fourth chick moves around to the front of the pack and gets lots of food.

Morela she stuffs the older ones first, then focuses her attention on the smallest chick.

We now have four nestlings at the Pitt peregrine nest. Will we have five soon? According to my calculations the whitish egg#5 is due to hatch today. But we know how bad my calculations are.

Watch four chicks and the fifth egg at the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh.

UPDATE, 7 May 2022: The fourth chick was very weak and did not survive. Click here for details.

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

2 May 2022

Yesterday the three chicks at the Pitt peregrine nest were five days old, growing fast, and eating often — as many as five times yesterday. At this age their weight has doubled since they hatched.

Morela and Ecco feed them frequently in the late afternoon. At the 3:35pm feeding a blue jay was on the menu (above) but it had to be plucked and the nest got messy. This feeding was hard to see on the streaming falconcam because Morela’s back was in the way.

An hour later Morela stood to the side with an easy view as she fed the chicks in this 12 minute video. Listen for the chicks’ begging sounds and Morela’s “chupping” that encourages them to eat.

As soon as they eat they fall asleep. Morela tucks them in.

Nite nite.

There are still two unhatched eggs at Morela and Ecco’s nest. The reddish one is past its due date and probably won’t hatch. The whitish egg is due to hatch tomorrow, 3 May … but maybe not.

UPDATE AT 1:30PM: (Proving me wrong again) egg#4 just hatched!

Watch the chicks grow at the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh.

Check out the week-by-week development of peregrine chicks at this FAQ.

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

29 April 2022

This morning Ecco brought food before dawn to the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest. While Morela fed the chicks I watched closely, counting heads and looking for eggs. The chicks obscured the remaining eggs but with the family at three chicks I assume eggs #4 and #5 are still waiting to hatch.

Egg #4 is on its way. Yesterday morning I saw a pip, below, during the 10am feeding.

Will egg #4 hatch today? Will egg #5 hatch next week?

Watch the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh to find out.

UPDATE 7 May 2022: The fourth egg hatched 3 days late and the chick did not survive. The fifth egg never hatched.

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