4 June 2023

Peregrine falcons have nested in Downtown Pittsburgh since 1991 and though the players have changed they are very loyal to the territory. From 1991-2011 they nested at the Gulf Tower but since 2012, with three exceptions, they have nested at the back of a building facing Third Avenue. 2023 is their ninth nesting season at this site.

Yesterday morning I stopped by Third Avenue to see if any peregrines were visible and was lucky to see the entire family. Three youngsters perched at the ledge opening (photos at top) while their parents watched from above on the crossbars. The brown youngsters are exercising their wings and will fledge this week.

The adults have been a mystery. On 3 March Jeff Cieslak photographed an adult-plumaged pair: an unbanded female (not 16-year-old Dori who was banded) and a male who did not show his legs. When Jeff returned on 14 April he saw a nest exchange that appeared to be a male (unbanded in dark brown immature plumage) bringing prey to a female (banded & in adult plumage). The behavior told us who was who. Or did it?

Here are photos of the adults.

Adult-plumage bird on 18 May and 3 June 2023. Jeff re-checked his photos and saw that this bird has black/red bands and several viewers have remarked that the bird’s face is like Terzo’s. This is the male, Terzo.

Photos of the dark brown bird on 28 May and 3 June 2023 are more of a mystery. The flank stripes are horizontal so this is adult plumage. This dark brown unbanded bird is the female. More on her color in a future article.

Stop by Third Avenue in the next few days to see the youngsters fledge.

(photos by Kate St. John and Jeff Cieslak)

30 May 2023

Last Wednesday, 24 May, Mark Vass drove down the Monongahela River valley looking for birds and checking bridges. In West Brownsville he found a peregrine perched under the US Route 40 Lane Bane Bridge. Mark’s checklist and photo set off a quest to find the nest (https://ebird.org/checklist/S139102470)

Jeff Cieslak made the trip on Friday 26 May and found the nest hole and a pair of peregrines carrying food to it. The female is peachy with heavy dots, the male is whiter. Neither bird is banded. (My male-female assessment is based on the tendency of mid-latitude males to be paler than females. Notice that both have the adult plumage trait of horizontal stripes on their flanks.)

Alyssa Nees and Fred Kachmarik visited on Memorial Day, 29 May, and counted a family of five — two adults, three chicks. Alyssa’s photos show an adult in the nest hole …

… and a chick clearly visible (red circle) with fluffy white top of head, feathered face and brown back. The arrow points to the tail of an adult watching from above.

Fred’s photos of the chicks include an older chick and a fluffy young one:

Where are these peregrines located?

The Lane Bane Bridge, carries US Route 40 over the Monongahela River from West Brownsville, Washington County, to Brownsville, Fayette County PA. Its construction is very similar to the Graff Bridge at Kittanning, PA, which has its own nesting peregrines.

A truss structure spans the river and ends at a pillar on each side. As far as I can tell from the photos, the nest appears to be close to the pillar. So these birds are nesting in Washington County, PA.

Interestingly, when Google Street View cameras drove by on the West Brownsville side this month, the cameras “saw” a bird perched on the superstructure near the pillar. I’ll bet this dot is a peregrine.

Thanks and congratulations to Mark Vass, Jeff Cieslak, Alyssa Nees and Fred Kachmarik for finding and documenting this peregrine family.

If you’d like to see the birds yourself, Jeff provides a map.

p.s. Could there be another peregrine nest at the next bridge three miles away? Nope. The Mon-Fayette Expressway bridge is solid concrete. Click here to see a screenshot of the Mon-Fay bridge in Google Street View.

(photos by Jeff Cieslak, Mark Vass via eBird, Alyssa Nees, Fred Kachmarik via eBird, Wikimedia Commons and screenshots from Google Street View)

26 May 2023, Pittsburgh

Are you in town for the Memorial Day weekend and wondering how to spend the time? Visit these peregrine sites to watch young birds getting ready to fly.

The Best Views Ever are at the Tarentum Bridge right now (photo above). Click here for a Tarentum Bridge peregrine-watch map.

Other sites include …

Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh: This is the only site without eggs or young but there’s a new female, Carla, since 14 May. Carla and Ecco are courting intensively. Will this prompt her to lay eggs? Watch the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh to find out.

Downtown Pittsburgh: There are 2-4 young here, about 30 days old. Watch for them to appear on the ledge on 3rd Avenue between Wood and Smithfield in Downtown Pittsburgh (click for map).

Eckert Street near McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River: Watch for the chicks to appear where the parents are standing in this photo by Jeff Cieslak. Click here for the map.

Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek: The parents are bringing food to the nest. Click here for a map of the easiest viewing location on Elder Street.

Are Beaver or Washington Counties more convenient to you? Check out the latest news at all the sites below.

(photos from Lynn Mamros, the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh, Jeff Cieslak, , Dana Nesiti)

24 May 2023

If you want to see young peregrine falcons just before they fly, now is the time to do it. Four youngsters at the Tarentum Bridge are ledge walking and will make their first flight soon.

Last Sunday, 21 May, Lynn Mamros photographed the family.

The father peregrine brought in food …

… the mother peregrine plucked it …

… and then the feeding began. All four chicks are visible in most of these slides. Can you see them? (Hint: One’s on the perch.)

The youngsters are losing their fluff and will soon be completely brown.

And then they will fly. Don’t miss it! Visit the Tarentum Boat Ramp to see them. Click here for a map.

Learn more about the process of first flight at Peregrine Progress: First Flight.

(photos by Lynn Mamros)

21 May 2023

Just one week ago the new female peregrine, Carla, appeared on camera at the Cathedral of Learning. Since then she and the resident male, Ecco, have been courting every day, sometimes as often as 10 times a day, and Carla has shown an interest in the scrape.

Now that these two are a permanent couple how do we tell them apart? Here are some tips for comparing and identifying each bird.

Banded: The easiest clue is that Carla is banded and Ecco is not.

Coloration: Carla’s chest has tiny dark flecks. Ecco’s chest is pure white.

Carla’s back is nearly uniform charcoal brown while Ecco’s back shows light-dark contrast between his paler gray back and black wingtips and tail.

Size: Male peregrines are 1/3 smaller than females. Carla is always the bigger bird as shown in photo at top. Compared to Ecco, Carla’s body is longer and she is bulkier. If only one bird is on camera, compare it to the size of the nestbox or camera view.

And now we’re ready for a quiz. See if you can identify who is who.

The more we watch Carla and Ecco the better we’ll get at identifying them.

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

18 May 2023

The new female peregrine, Carla(*), has been at the Cathedral of Learning for only a few days but is quickly becoming acquainted with the territory and her new mate Ecco. Yesterday they made courtship flights around the building and bowed at the nest several times.

Though it seems late in the season to start nesting, the snapshot camera shows Carla exploring the nest and the pair’s interest in each other. (The slides repeat automatically.)

#1. Ecco calls to Carla, “Come down from the nestbox roof.” When she doesn’t, he leaves and she asks him to come bow.

Carla poses while sunbathing in front of the snapshot camera, 17 May at noon.

Ecco and Carla bow at the nest, 17 May at 5:10pm.

This morning the pair already visited the nest before dawn. Watch them on the live stream at the National Aviary Falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning.

(*) For more information on Carla’s arrival, see “Her Name is Carla.“

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

15 May 2023

In Sunday’s update I explained that Morela was very ill when she disappeared last Friday and said: “If Morela is gone a new female will come to the Cathedral of Learning to be Ecco’s mate.” Well, that didn’t take long! A new female peregrine showed up at 2:00pm and displayed her bands. I already know where she came from.

Yesterday was so warm and sunny that Ecco sunbathed for 90 minutes at midday. Then at 2:00pm a new female peregrine showed up and sunbathed for half an hour. (See slideshow at end.)

She periodically looked at the sky as she stretched her legs and wings. Amazingly she aimed her color band at the camera!

Female peregrine Black/Blue S/07 was banded on 5/18/2020 at nest on a building at One Summit Square, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

From her photos she looks paler than Morela to me and her face is different.

Will she stick around? We’ll have to wait and see. Meanwhile here’s a slideshow of her from a different angle.

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