Around 6:15am today I was sure Morela is about to lay an egg so I waited to make an announcement … but she left the nest. Still no egg. Stay tuned at the National Aviary Falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning just in case.
Meanwhile most of the region’s peregrine pairs are on eggs. This update will be brief.
Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh:
Ecco has been doing everything he can to prompt Morela to lay eggs, including bringing her tasty morsels for every meal. On 13 April he stored a woodcock on Dr. Alan Juffs’ air conditioning unit and returned to pick it up.
Ecco returns to pick up the American woodcock he cached outside Dr. Alan Juffs’ window (photos by Dr. Alan Juffs)
The pair bows frequently. In this photo he seems to be saying, “Please, Morela.”
This 24-hour timelapse video from 21-22 April shows how often they bow and that Morela is spending the night at the scrape. We are all … all … waiting.
Dark plumage peregrine brings food for to the nest at Third Avenue, 14 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
On 14 April Jeff Cieslak photographed a nest exchange Downtown on Third Avenue. Yes, one is still the brown bird I saw earlier in April. Jeff photographed the other one, too, and found out it’s banded. No reading on the bands yet.
Banded peregrine flies from the Third Avenue nest, 14 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Eckert Street near McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River:
Nest exchange at Eckert Street, 13 April 2023 (photos by Jeff Cieslak)
At Eckert Street Jeff photographed a nest exchange on 13 April and the male attacking a red-tailed hawk on 10 April keeping the area safe. Yup. On eggs.
Eckert male peregrine attacks a red-tailed hawk, 10 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
West End Bridge, Ohio River:
Peregrine at the West End Bridge, 7 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
New peregrine site! Jeff staked out the West End Bridge until he confirmed a pair is lurking there.
Peregrine flies by the bridge abutment, 7 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
One of the birds is banded! Again no read on the bands yet.
Banded peregrine at the West End Bridge, 7 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Jeff made a map of where to watch.
West End Bridge peregrine viewing (Google map marked up by Jeff Cieslak)
Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek:
Peregrine at Westinghouse Bridge, 16 April 2023 (photo by John English)
John English photographed a peregrine snoozing on 16 April. We think this pair is still on eggs.
Clairton Coke Works, Monongahela River:
NO PEREGRINES HERE. Last week Dana Nesiti found out that despite many checks on the quench tower no peregrines are nesting at USS Clairton Coke Works.
For all the news and sightings, check out this summary.
Young intruder female challenges Trailblazer at CVNP/I-80 nest site, 5 March 2023 (photo by Chad+Chris Saladin)
9 April 2023
After reporting on the peregrine drama last Wednesday in Downtown Pittsburgh I went there on Thursday 6 April to investigate. There were no peregrines at Gulf Tower but in just 15 minutes of watching at Third Avenue I saw two peregrines and a possible nest exchange. The departing bird was normal adult color (gray & white) and did a territorial flappy flight as it left. The arriving bird was very dark chocolate brown like the bird in Ann Hohn’s photo on 3 April.
Dark plumage peregrine at the Gulf Tower, approx 3 April 2023 (photo by Ann Hohn)
If this pair is on eggs, the arriving bird’s behavior did not match an incubating female. Instead of quietly moving to the nest the arriving bird called loudly for several minutes. It sounded like “Hey, come back!”
When I mentioned this on Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook page, Jeff Cieslak remarked: “I’d say that’s pretty good news. But it does raise some questions, neither of the birds I saw on 3/3 were brown.” Here’s the peregrine pair Jeff photographed a month ago.
Female at Third Ave nest Downtown 3 Mar 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)Male peregrine at Third Ave Downtown, 3 Mar 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Correction as of early June 2023: The dark bird is not immature, just dark, and is the mother bird at Third Avenue. … The Theory below is based on incorrect information.
Aha! So the immature bird is an intruder. The quick exit of the adult bird Downtown is like Terzo’s reaction in 2016 when female intruders visited the Cathedral of Learning. Terzo always left quickly and the intruder female always remained at the nest. Adult females were silent but an immature female called loudly. (See this vintage article: Juvenile Female Intruder at Pitt on 8 April 2016.)
Why didn’t the Downtown adult peregrines attack? Peregrine falcon literature says that immature plumage protects young birds from attacks by territorial adults because they aren’t perceived as a threat. Young peregrines won’t breed until they have adult plumage at two years old(*).
… end of bad theory …
In this attack at CVNP/I-80, photographed by Chad+Chris Saladin, Chris explains that the adult male is not brutal to the one-year-old, partly because she’s female and partly because she’s immature.
Young intruder female challenges Trailblazer at CVNP/I-80 nest site, 5 March 2023 (photo by Chad+Chris Saladin)
Yet these one year-old peregrines are disrupting nests. Are they trying to claim territory? Are they thinking about nesting?
Sara Showers reminded me of an article I wrote in 2020: “A year or two ago, it was pointed out to me that one of the factors that causes falcon populations to plateau at the “carrying capacity” isn’t just a finite food supply. When populations are very high, constant competition over nesting sites can cause those contested sites to not produce chicks in a given year – restricting population growth.”
Read about the Home Wrecker phenomenon in this 2020 article, written when Ecco was the young “intruder” and nesting failed that year.
After lamenting Wednesday morning that Morela was again distracted and not spending any time at the nest she was there yesterday for nearly 3 hours. She even dug the scrape (where she’ll lay eggs) and stood over it for a minute looking rather pregnant as seen in the video below.
I slowed down yesterday’s 12-hour timelapse and cut out the empty spaces to create this 2-minute look at Morela’s nearly 3 hours on camera. Notice Ecco perching for an hour in the late afternoon and their 3 bowing sessions. Three!
If this keeps up we could see eggs this month. Fingers crossed!
Bad Day for the Downtown Peregrines?
Meanwhile Downtown Pittsburgh’s peregrine pair is already nesting at Third Avenue but something is happening at the Gulf Tower less than half a mile away. Ann Hohn, whose Make-A-Wish office is near the unused Gulf Tower nest, emailed me yesterday:
There is something going on up here. Two falcons are buzzing the building and one of them lands and chirps at the other and then they buzz the building (or each other) again. Been going on for a few hours. This doesn’t appear to be the juvenile that was here the other day. Video is the chirper. Turn up volume.
Kate – no bands on this bird.
— email from Ann Hohn, 5 April 2023
Here’s Ann’s photo of the dark-plumage peregrine seen the other day at the Gulf Tower. At the time we thought this was juvenile plumage but notice the horizontal stripes on the legs, the sign of an adult.
Dark plumage peregrine at the Gulf Tower, approx 3 April 2023 (photo by Ann Hohn)
Yesterday’s “chirper” peregrine is dark colored, too, and loud enough to be heard through double-pane windows.
(video by Ann Hohn via YouTube)
Birds of the World explains that this sound “in wild birds, is given during aerial encounters with conspecific intruders around nest site.” The chirper must be telling another peregrine to go away.
Chances are that this event was an encounter between an intruder and a member of the Downtown pair. Is one of them this very stripe-y female, seen last May with Terzo at BNY Mellon? There’s no way to know. None of them are banded.
Unbanded adult female seen with Terzo at BNY Mellon, 11 May 2022 (photo by Amanda Linn)
My hope is that Downtown’s troubles don’t fly over to Oakland and distract Morela and Ecco again. Additional fingers crossed!
Last month I had high hopes for eggs at the Pitt peregrine nest, but now I’m not so sure. Morela is distracted again.
The season started well as Ecco and Morela courted at the nest several times a day during 12-14 March. They toned it down to once a day on 15-18 March but I didn’t notice because they were back to normal shortly thereafter. And then Morela disappeared on 21 March to chase off a challenger.
Four days later she returned to the nest and the pair courted frequently. I was optimistic we’d have an egg by 8 April but I was wrong. Things have been very strange since then.
This timelapse video from 3 April at 8:00pm to 5 April at 7:00am shows the change in behavior. It starts with Morela perched at the nest two nights ago, during the full moon of 3-4 April. Just before dawn on 4 April Ecco appears briefly. He’s the only one on camera all day yesterday and, surprisingly, the only one on camera last night!
Meanwhile, an observation from Betty Rowland at 10:30am yesterday might give a hint to what’s happening. As she was waiting for the red light at Bellefield and Fifth Ave she saw a peregrine burst out of a nearby tree(!) and fly over Fifth Avenue to the roof of Webster Hall where another falcon was perched. Was this Ecco flying up to mate with Morela? If it happened at exactly 10:30am Ecco was at the nest, not in flight. Was it the challenger and Morela?
I don’t know what’s going on and cannot predict what will happen next except for this: I doubt we’ll see an egg at the Cathedral of Learning this weekend.
p.s. Mary Ann Pike remarked yesterday that it looked as if Ecco was calling at 3:50pm. I found the incident and can see that he was trying to cast a pellet.
This month southwestern Pennsylvania’s peregrine falcons got down to the serious business of defending their territories (at Pitt) and laying eggs, summarized in the spreadsheet below.
Note the last line! Margaret & Roger Higbee + others saw a peregrine along US 422 near Craigsville, Armstrong County. It’s an odd location but noteworthy in that it’s 8+ miles due east of the Kittanning nest site on the US 422 Bridge.
Though Morela did not lay yet this spring, her hormonal situation may be similar to having lost a clutch of eggs. According to Birds of the World, in temperate latitudes [such as Pittsburgh] clutch may be replaced in about 2 weeks if first clutch is lost.
Downtown Pittsburgh:
On 3 March Jeff Cieslak stopped by Downtown Pittsburgh and found a pair of peregrines at home on Third Avenue. Both members of last year’s pair, Terzo and Dori, were banded so he could tell immediately that the unbanded female is new. The male is a puzzle; Jeff couldn’t see his legs.
In Jeff’s 27 March photo below, taken from Mt. Washington, it appears that incubation has begun at bottom left.
Third Ave nest site as seen from Mt. Washington. Peregrine circled in red, Peregrine on nest inside red square, 27 March 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Monaca RR Bridge, Ohio River:
TWO YEARS AGO: Peregrine on Monaca RR Bridge, March 2021 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
During March Dante Zuccaro reported one or two peregrines almost every day at the Monaca Railroad Bridge. He last saw two on 18 March, but now only one. Perhaps incubation has begun.
Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge, Ohio River:
Ambridge Bridge, 20 Feb 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
Every once in a great while a solo peregrine is seen perched on the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge. The last incident happened to be this week, 28 March.
Sewickley Bridge, Ohio River:
Peregrine on the Sewickley Bridge, 11 Mar 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Like the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge, a solo peregrine is sometimes seen on the Sewickley Bridge. The last one was on 14 March.
Eckert Street near McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River:
COMPARISON, 2 PHOTOS: Female and male peregrines at Eckert Street, 26 March 2023 (photos by Jeff Cieslak)
Jeff Cieslak visits the Eckert Street peregrines nearly every day to see them courting loudly(!). On Tuesday the pair bowed near the nest. The female’s belly bulge indicates that eggs are due any day now.
Female peregrine looking egg-y at Eckert Street, 28 March 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)Male peregrine high-stepping and calling to his lady at Eckert Street, 28 March 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek:
Peregrine at Westinghouse Bridge, 18 March 2023 (photo by Dana Nesiti)
Dana Nesiti saw the male peregrine at the Westinghouse Bridge on 18 March, above, and the pair on 23 March.
62nd Street Bridge / Highland Park Bridge / Aspinwall Riverfront Park, Allegheny River: No photo this time but on 8 March a bunch of observers, myself included, saw one and then two peregrines near the 62nd Street Bridge. We were all at the Sharpsburg Marina to see a long-tailed duck and happened to luck out with the peregrines.
Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny River:
Female peregrine getting off the eggs at the Tarentum Bridge, 30 Mar 2023 (photo by Dave Brooke)
This week Dave Brooke suspected that the female peregrine is incubating at Tarentum Bridge. Yesterday, 30 March, he came very close to confirming it in this photo showing her head-dipping and carefully moving away from the nest so as not to disturb the eggs with her talons.
No news in March from…
Graff Bridge, Rt 422, Kittanning, Allegheny River
Clairton Coke Works
Speers Railroad Bridge, Washington County, Monongahela River: A solo peregrine was seen on 25 February. No news since then.
Check out any of these sites and tell me what you see. Need directions? Leave a comment.
Peregrine locations in Southwestern PA (annotated by Kate St. John)
SEVEN YEARS AGO: Great horned owl on nest under the Homestead Grays Bridge, 30 March 2016 (photo by Dana Nesiti)
30 March 2023
Seven years ago I wrote about two great-horned owl nests on local bridges — one on the Homestead Grays Bridge incubating eggs, the other with young at the Anderson Bridge in Schenley Park.
A lot has changed in seven years. At the Homestead Grays Bridge there is still a nest but it’s occupied by a red-tailed hawk this year. We saw the hawk incubating last Sunday from the Duck Hollow parking lot. Bring a scope if you stand here.
We view the red-tailed hawk’s nest on the Homestead Gray’s Bridge from Duck Hollow, 26 March 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
The nest is where it’s always been, even seven years ago, on a cross bar flush to the upright above the pier. For better viewing, look at it from the Homestead side.
Location of red-tailed hawk’s nest at the Homestead Gray’s Bridge, 26 March 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Morela and Ecco bow on the green perch, 27 March 2023, 4:28pm (photo from the National Aviary snapshot cam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
28 March 2023
After Morela returned from battling a challenger for four days, we wondered why she wasn’t spending much time at the nest. Before the challenge she stayed at the nest all day and looked as if she was about to lay an egg, but since her return on Saturday 25 March she hasn’t spent much time at the nest.
The reason is probably that Morela’s hormones tamped down so she wouldn’t need to lay an egg during the battle. She has to get back in the mood. Ecco is working on it.
Yesterday, 27 March, Morela and Ecco held three bowing sessions, each one longer than the last. At the second session Ecco warmed up for 20 minutes and made elaborate bows and pauses. All of his moves are part of his courtship “dance.”
Watch two of their bowing sessions in the video below. Alas, the microphone misbehaved so there is no sound.
Though none of us have seen any female peregrine for two days Ecco sometimes sees one in the sky — or maybe more than one. Yesterday afternoon he called to her from the nest. Whoever she was, she didn’t come in. Only Ecco knows whether she was Morela or the challenger.
Eventually a female will join Ecco at the nest so watch carefully at that point. Is she Morela? Or someone new?
Will there be eggs and chicks this year? No one can tell. Like Ecco, all we can do is watch and wait.
