Yesterday at 30 days old the Pitt peregrine chicks reached an important milestone. They both jumped up to the front perch. It’s their first step off the gravel, the first step toward ledge walking and eventual flight.

Perhaps their parents encouraged them. At lunchtime Hope and Terzo flew circles around the Cathedral of Learning, lazily gliding past the nest and wingtip-flapping like a juvenile peregrine who’s just learned to fly. It looked like they were saying, “Here’s how you do it, kids.”

Just before 6pm the chicks were wound up. One flapped wildly, eyed the perch and up he went. (Notice the red tape on right leg band). He examined the gully for the first time, partially hiding his brother from the camera’s eye.

Then his brother (yellow tape) got into the act, flapped and jumped. Both on the perch! When the novelty wore off they went back to the gravel.

In a week to 10 days these two will start to fly. Before that happens they’ll walk away from the nest and out of the camera view.

When they’re no longer on camera, come down to Fledge Watch to see them in person. I’ll post the Fledge Watch schedule tomorrow for Pitt and Downtown.

(photos from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Peregrine falcons are such top predators that adults have few enemies but their young are vulnerable. The parents protect them loudly and vigorously. When peregrines are agitated, everyone knows it.

During the nesting season peregrines monitor for threats and chase them away. They escalate their actions to match the threat level — from a visual show of strength, to shouting and swooping, to direct attacks.

Shouting is important. Peregrines intentionally create a ruckus because the noise calls their mate for assistance, warns their young to lay low, and worries their enemies.

Who is the top threat for peregrine falcons that nest in cities? Humans! When we hear them shouting we get worried. Of course, that’s what peregrines want.

The peregrines that nest in Downtown Pittsburgh — Dori and (not confirmed) Louie — have chosen a site on Third Avenue that’s inevitably surrounded by humans. The birds have a comfort zone that narrows as their chicks grow up. A couple of months ago a human on a roof four stories below them was no big deal. At this point it’s too close.

On Monday a roofer (that we humans couldn’t see from the ground) made repairs on a building several stories below the peregrines. He wasn’t a threat to the birds but they decided otherwise. They flew around, they perched and shouted. Lori Maggio’s photos below show them shouting from Lawrence Hall and from the nest opening. This went on as long as the roofer was up there — until quitting time around 3p.

The photos above are silent but here’s a sample of what they sounded like. The Downtown peregrines were so loud that people heard them from indoors 2-3 blocks away (see this comment from Sandi).

So what happened next? The workman finished and left the roof. The peregrines stopped shouting. Dori joined the chicks at the nest and Lori Maggio got a rare photograph of this year’s chicks, as seen from the Smithfield Street Bridge.

In the end, Dori and Louie probably felt victorious since their shouting appears to have chased off the human. Their chicks learned a valuable peregrine falcon lesson: Humans are dangerous. Keep away!

p.s. Using the chicks’ photo, Art McMorris estimates they were 18 days old on Monday, so they hatched on May 2 and will fledge the 2nd week of June. My prediction is they’ll be completely gone from Third Avenue by June 15.

(photos by Peter Bell and Lori Maggio)

Peregrine season is in full swing in Pittsburgh. We have peregrine families at Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning, at Third Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh, and on 7 or more bridges. Are the bridge nests successful? Help us find out. Watch these bridges.

Top Priority

Art McMorris, PGC’s peregrine coordinator, has news from some bridges but needs updates from four sites. Watch to see if peregrines bring food to the sites listed below. If they do, there are chicks in the nest. If they don’t, keep watching. Report your findings (yes or no) in a comment here. If you visit regularly I’ll send you Art’s contact information.

Neville Island I-79 Bridge (also called the Glenfield Bridge), Ohio River

We know that peregrines are nesting on the Neville Island I-79 Bridge but we don’t know if their eggs have hatched. Stop by the best viewing area at the Fairfield Inn parking lot on Neville Island.

Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge, Ohio River

One or two peregrines have been at the Ambridge Bridge since last winter but only one has been seen in the past month. Are they incubating eggs? Stop by the Ambridge side of the river to view the bridge.

Monaca-Beaver Railroad Bridge -or- Monaca-East Rochester Bridge, Ohio River

A pair of peregrines usually nests in the Beaver, PA area but few people look for them. Check for peregrines on these two bridges: the Monaca-Beaver Railroad Bridge and the Monaca-East Rochester Bridge.

Route 422 Graff Bridge at Kittanning, Allegheny River

Peregrines have nested under the Route 422 Graff Bridge near Kittanning for many years but news is hard to come by. Stop by the best viewing area — under the bridge on the Armstrong Bike Trail — to check on their status.

Good News from Other Bridges

McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River

After the Pitt peregrine banding on 14 May 2019, PGC’s Dan Brauning and Sam Ruano stopped by the McKees Rocks Bridge to check for a nest and found 4 chicks too young to band. Dan estimates they were 12 days old so we expect them to fledge during the second week of June.

Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny River

This is the second year that an unbanded female peregrine with a dotted breast and a male peregrine banded black/green 48/BR have used the nestbox on the Tarentum Bridge. Susan Krouse saw the first food delivery on May 7 or 8. Tony Bruno reports noisy whining yesterday, May 19, by the mother bird (photo below). The chicks will probably fledge in mid-June. Watch them from the Tarentum boat ramp.

Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek

John English reports that though he saw no peregrines at the Westinghouse Bridge yesterday, he certainly heard them! Begging calls from young and an adult whining. Stop by the bridge and you may be the first to see them.

No News from …

The remaining two bridges are unlikely to have nesting peregrines: Elizabeth Bridge over the Monongahela River (PennDOT covered the access holes) and the Hulton Bridge over the Allegheny River. Have you seen any recent peregrine activity at these sites? Let me know.

(see photo captions for the credits)

Saturday, 18 May 2019

If you watch the Cathedral of Learning falconcam every day, you’ve noticed a change in the peregrine family’s behavior. For at least a week now the chicks are often alone on camera. Where are their parents?

When peregrine chicks become mobile and start to grow feathers (2-3 weeks old) their parents give them space to walk around and test their wings. The older the chicks become, the more space their parents give them. You’ve probably noticed that Hope now perches at the front of the nest, not on the nest surface. This give the chicks maximum room to walk around.

The parents also perch nearby on the Cathedral of Learning within eyesight of their chicks. You can see Hope and Terzo with binoculars from Schenley Plaza but you can’t see them on your computer. The falconcam is below the parents’ perches because it’s the only place to put it in such a small area(*).

Yesterday, 17 May, the chicks were alone on camera for more than 82% of the daylight hours. But they weren’t alone.

If you watch the chicks’ behavior you can tell their parents are nearby. In the photos at top and below, the chicks are looking up and one is whining. He is whining at his parent.

We didn’t know which parent was being nagged until Terzo came down to feed them.

Yesterday Wendy asked if anyone has seen Terzo lately. Here he is. (As a rule among peregrines, the mother is the one who feeds the young most often.)

Don’t worry about Hope and Terzo. They are very close by. You can’t see them but the chicks can.

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

(*) p.s. If you watch the Hays eaglecam you can see the entire nest, nearby trees, and a long view across the river in winter. The eaglecam is attached to a taller/higher tree than the eagles’ nest. At peregrine nests, especially at the Cathedral of Learning, there is nothing across the way that is taller than the nest itself. That’s how peregrines like it.

UPDATE ON 22 MAY 2019: On May 20 Lori Maggio got a photo of the chicks and Art McMorris was able to age them so the Call To Action below is no longer desperate. Stop by if you get a chance and you might get a great photo of peregrines.

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Can you spare five minutes to look at the back of a building in Downtown Pittsburgh?

This year’s peregrine nest is again at Third Avenue, only 12 stories high. The location is so low that on first flight, a few of the chicks always land on the street and have to be placed on the Rescue Porch to start over.  I’d like to schedule a Downtown Fledge Watch to help these youngsters, but I don’t know when they’ll reach the Fledge Watch stage. That’s where you come in.

Several days before young peregrines fly, they appear at the nest opening (location of yellow arrow).

It only takes five minutes — with binoculars or camera — to stop by the Third Avenue sidewalk at the edge of the Carlyle parking lot and look up at the nest opening.  Is there a juvenile there? If so, leave a comment on this blog.  Please take a picture. I’ll get an expert to look at your photo and tell us the age of the chicks.

What to look for: Juveniles are brown-and-cream-colored birds like the ones in this closeup from 2016. When they first appear, they’ll have downy white fuzz clinging to them.

Don’t confuse them with their parents. The adults are sleek charcoal gray and white, like this.

There’s no need to linger.  All it takes is five minutes. Let me know what you see.

(photo of Third Avenue site by Kate St. John. photos of Downtown peregrines by Lori Maggio)

Yesterday morning, 14 May 2019, two male peregrine chicks were banded at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.  Here’s the story in pictures by Peter Bell with additions from John English, Kim Getz and the National Aviary falconcam.

This spring is the fourth year Hope and Terzo have nested at Pitt and the fourth year their chicks have been banded, so they knew something was about to happen when they heard the event assembling indoors.

Hope was especially vigilant and a very protective mother. She stood on the nest between her chicks and Lead Bander Dan Brauning of the PA Game Commission and would not leave! Dan had to gently brush her away before he could place the chicks in a box for safe transport.

Fortunately PGC Biologist Sam Ruano had Dan’s back while Hope flew back and forth, strafing the area just above the soft broom that Sam held up as her target (rather than their heads).

Indoors, the chicks were given health checks (both healthy), weighed to determine their sex (both male), and given two leg bands: a black/green color band that can be read from a distance, and a silver USFW band.

Dan permitted me to stick a bit of colored tape on the USFW silver bands so that observers can tell the birds apart on the falconcam and with binoculars: Red for chick#1 (C1), Yellow for chick#2 (C2). The tape will fall off within a year but we’ll find it useful in the meantime.

The chicks were returned to the nest in less than half an hour and Hope immediately came to protect them. Dan wrapped up indoors with a Q&A and showed us the unhatched egg.

The peregrines also received a lot of media attention:

• KDKA video: Falcon Chicks Get Banded At Cathedral Of Learning
• Post-Gazette: Annual checkup: Peregrine falcon chicks at the Cathedral of Learning get exam
• Trib-Live: Peregrine falcon chicks banded at Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning
• WPXI: Falcon chicks nesting on the Cathedral of Learning to get health exam

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

(photos by Peter Bell, John English, Kim Getz and the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Today, 14 May 2019, is banding day for the peregrine falcon chicks at the Cathedral of Learning. The event is closed to the public (the room has a very strict occupancy limit!) but you’ll see some of the action on camera.

The first hint will be the sound of “kakking” as Hope and Terzo react when Dan Brauning of the Pennsylvania Game Commission goes out on the ledge to retrieve the chicks.

The chicks will receive health checks and leg bands and be returned to the nest in less than half an hour.

Stay tuned for photos and an update on who’s who.

p.s. In this photo from Sunday May 12 you can see that the chicks are getting a lot to eat. The dark bulge on each chest is “dinner” stored in the crop. When the crop is full it expands so much that the skin shows between the feathers.

(photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ .of Pittsburgh)

Today the Pitt peregrine chicks are 16 days old, fluffy white and weighing 1 to 1.5 pounds depending on sex. Male peregrines are always lightweight (about 1 pound at this age). Female peregrines are the heavy ones. We can’t weigh them visually so we don’t know their sexes.

You can’t see it on camera yet but the chicks’ flight feathers have just begun to emerge. It will be another four days before we’ll see the dark edges of their coming feathers. By then they’ll also have feathered faces.

Like all babies, these two spend their days eating and sleeping. In this Day In A Minute from Tuesday May 7 they have a very active moment at the front of the nest around 6pm.

The older they get the more active they’ll be. Watch them on the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh.

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