24 May 2026

As of Saturday 23 May, the Pitt peregrine chicks reached the age of four weeks old. Here’s a look at their development in the past week in a day-by-day slideshow from the National Aviary’s falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning. The age span is 22 to 28 days, date span is 17-23 May 2026.

As you watch the slideshow notice how the chicks change from mostly white to very speckled.

At 25 days (on Banding Day): Their body contour and back feathers are visible and they begin to stand and walk on their feet though they still rest on their tarsi (heels).  Because they’re standing up they have room to flap their wings.

At 27 days : Regularly walk on feet rather than tarsi (heels).

At 28 days (4 weeks): Body feathers give the chicks a speckled look that camouflages them on the nest.  They beg loudly. Their wings look longer and fuller as the wing feathers grow.  Now they will open their wings and run across the gravel surface.  They have not left the nest surface yet. 

The following 2+ minutes of their activity shows those traits.

In the week ahead their feathers will grow rapidly and push out the down and they will spend a lot their time preening.

Watch the Pitt peregrine chicks grow and change at the National Aviary falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning.

21 May 2026

Yesterday morning four peregrine falcon 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 is the third year Carla has nested at Pitt so she knew it was Banding Day when she heard us indoors. Carla began kakking and strafing the area long before Patti Barber went out on the ledge to collect the chicks.

Soon Ecco joined her, visible as a checkmark shape in the sky above Carla.

Indoors, the chicks were given health checks (they’re very healthy), weighed, and given two leg bands: a black/green color band that can be read through binoculars and a silver USFW band.

Since male peregrines are one-third smaller than females, the chicks’ weight determines their sex and the size of band to use. Weighed in the bag, females are generally 1000g or more and males are 700g or less. Of the four chicks, one was clearly male, two were clearly female and one was borderline so it was given female bands.

Patti put colored tape on the silver USFW bands so we can identify the birds by color on the falconcam. The colors and sexes are:

• Red = male
• Blue = borderline. “sex undetermined” Given female bands in case it’s female
• Green = female
• Yellow = female

Patti collected and returned the chicks in colored bags, red, green, blue and orange. Watch how quickly they calm down after Patti leaves.

By the end of this month the chicks will turn from fluffy white to dark brown, then leave the camera view before they fledge. Watch them on the National Aviary falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning, then join me for Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza in the first week of June. Stay tuned for specific dates and times.

20 May 2026: Another installment in All Peregrines, All The Time.

The peregrine family at the Cathedral of Learning is in for some excitement today. Carla and Ecco’s four chicks will be banded this morning.

Just after 9:00am Patti Barber of the Pennsylvania Game Commission will venture out on the Cathedral of Learning ledge.  Don’t be shocked when you hear the adult peregrines “kakking,” see the chicks huddle and watch as Patti gently collect them for banding.

The chicks will receive health checks and leg bands and will be returned to the nest in less than half an hour. The National Aviary falconcam will continue to run during the banding so you’ll get to see their return.

Watch my blog later today for photos of the event and an update on who’s who.

19 May 2026

As of last Saturday, 16 May, the Pitt peregrine chicks were three weeks old. Here’s a look at their development to reach Week 3 in a day-by-day slideshow from the National Aviary’s falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning. The age span is 15 to 21 days, date span is 10-16 May 2026.

As you watch the slideshow notice how fast the chicks are growing. There’s a big change in seven days.

At 15 days: Chicks now sit upright and alert. Their primaries have emerged from the feather sheaths. (photo below)

At 16 to 19 days: Chicks grow quickly during this period and become covered in heavy down. They motor around the nest on their heels (tarsi).

At 20 Days: Heavy down is complete. Dark contour feathers are visible on their wing edges. Chicks now have a “face.”

At 21 Days (3 weeks):  Chicks are now nearly the same size as their parents. Feathers define their faces. Wing and tail feather tips define their contours. Chicks very active on gravel surface and often sleep individually instead of in a pile.

By next Saturday their dark brown wing and tail feathers and their growing body feathers will give them a speckly brown-on-white look.

Watch the Pitt peregrines grow up at the National Aviary falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning.

17 May 2026

By mid May, southwestern Pennsylvania’s peregrines have chicks that are growing by leaps and bounds.

This year we don’t have as many known active nests due to lack of observers and lack of reports on eBird, so I’ve reduced the peregrine map to six active sites though we have no recent reports on two of them: Monaca and Westinghouse. I am hopeful.

Site List and latest activity. There are probably more than the four sites. (Yellow = active nest in 2026, including one failed nest. Boldface dates are May 2026.) Maybe the solo peregrines reported at West End Bridge/North Shore area and Sharpsburg Marina are nesting somewhere. Observers needed!

Map legend: Dark blue=bridge sites, Red=building sites, Pale blue=no success as of May 2026

There is happy news at the active sites. It’s always fun to see baby birds.

Activity in the region:

Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh:

As of yesterday the four chicks at Pitt are three weeks old. In the photo at top you can see their primaries and tail feathers growing. They now have “faces.”

Downtown Pittsburgh, 3rd Avenue:

On 11 May Jeff Cieslak and I watched the female apparently brooding while the male watched from above. The pair even did a nest exchange.

On 15 May Jeff got a photo of an adult feeding nestling(s), taken from Bigbee Field 0.77 miles away. Heat shimmer at that distance makes it difficult to get a clear shot.

Since we don’t know the hatch date, we will have to start regularly checking from street level to so see them at the ledge opening whenever they appear.

East Liberty Presbyterian Church steeple: Nest failed at the end of March. Read more here.

Sewickley Bridge, Ohio River:

The adults are very watchful now that they have young in the nest.

Today, 17 May, Jeff Cieslak saw four young. They look to be the same age as the Pitt peregrine chicks.

The adults are very busy with food deliveries.

Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny River:

These chicks are about the same age as the Pitt peregrines so they’ll be at the front of the box by the end of May and will fly in early June.

Here’s Dave Brooke’s video, posted on Facebook. Also see Pittsburgh Falconuts: Tarentum Bridge peregrines feeding, 16 May 2026.

    NOTE: If you’re viewing this on mobile and cannot see the video: A Facebook bug prevents displaying of embedded Facebook posts on some mobile devices. Until Meta fixes it click here to see Dave’s video.

The recent status table at top is just a screenshot taken on 17 May 2026. Here’s the up-to-date table if you’re reading this many months later.

14 May 2026

Yesterday the peregrine chicks at the Cathedral of Learning added motoring to their daily eat and sleep routine. Last week they began moving around at the back of the box but yesterday all four traveled the entire nestbox surface.

Carla watched them from the safety of the green perch.

By the end of the day they were actively pursuing their parents for food. At dusk Ecco brought in a large prey item, probably a pigeon. At first the chicks stood patiently while he fed them.

But after the first chick was fully fed (she’s standing in back) the other three broke ranks and crowded Ecco.

During this 5-minute segment from their 20-minute feeding, they snatched food from each other’s mouths and Ecco ran out of food. He stepped away and less than a minute later Carla arrived with more.

Motoring and growing require a lot of energy. It takes two parents to feed four hungry chicks.

10 May 2026

As of yesterday, Hatch Day was two weeks ago at the Pitt peregrine nest. Let’s look at their Week 2 development in a photo-per-day slideshow from the National Aviary’s Cathedral of Learning falconcam. The date span is 3 May to 9 May 2026.

This week’s big accomplishments were completion of their second down, the start of flight feathers, and motoring around on the nest.

At 8 days: The chicks begin to grow their second down. They are so big now that their parents stand close but do not brood them as they did last week. The chicks’ primary wing feathers begin to grow (not noticeable yet).

At 10 days: Second down is complete. Chicks begin to grow tail feathers (retrices) though these are not visible on camera yet. They break the huddle on warm days.

At 12 days: On the chicks’ faces, their ear is now distinct. It looks like a black spot on the cheek behind the eye.

At 14 Days = 2 weeks: Flight feathers growing on wings and tail are visible now, circled in the photo below. From Day 14 forward a chick can be aged by measuring his tail feathers which grow 2mm per day. The chicks moved off the scrape and sit like Buddhas.

Activity at the nest will pick up next week.

Watch this growing family on the National Aviary falconcam at the University of Pittsburgh.