Photo Study Of The Banding Of Peregrine Falcon Chicks, May 7th, 2010
Peregrine Falcons were once an endangered species in the United States. North American Peregrine Falcon populations have made a great comeback due to bans on usage of DDT and similar pesticides. Further, the Peregrine Falcons have found champions in dedicated folks like Dr. F. Arthur McMorris and his associates at the Pennsylvania Game Commission as well as other conservation groups who protect, band and account for the Peregrines in the Commonwealth. Art asked me to help monitor the progress of a mating pair at the Pennsylvania/NewJersey Turnpike Bridge starting last March. Yesterday, we climbed the bridge and Art banded three healthy chicks with the help of Mike Coll of the Natural Lands Trust and Andy Lutz of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. This old man made the dumb decision to climb around the iron ladders and catwalks 135 feet up on the bridge over the Delaware River to photograph the event (but I wouldn't have missed it for the world!)These falcons are formidable hunters that prey on other birds (and bats) in mid-flight. Peregrines hunt from above and, after sighting their prey, drop into a steep, swift dive that can top 200 miles an hour. Although nowhere common, Peregrine Falcons are among the most widespread birds of prey and live on all continents except Antarctica. They prefer wide-open spaces, and thrive near coasts where shorebirds are common, but they can be found everywhere from tundra to deserts. These birds may travel widely outside the nesting season—their name means "wanderer." Though some individuals are permanent residents, many migrate. Those that nest on Arctic tundra and winter in South America fly as many as 15,500 miles in a year. Yet, they have an incredible homing instinct that leads them back to favored aeries. Some nesting sites have been in continuous use for hundreds of years, occupied by successive generations of falcons. Fortunately, Peregrines are even known to live on bridges and skyscrapers in major cities. (From Cornell BNA, Wikpedia and National Geographic)
Pennsylvania Turnpike Bridge From The New Jersey Side
Yep,
The Peregrines Nested Way Up There!
The
Happy Couple
The
Male Peregrine Up Close And Personal
The
Female Peregrine Up Close And Personal
Three
Healthy Chicks In The Nest Inside The Metal Beam Prior To Banding***
Three
Healthy Chicks Back In
The Nest After Banding No Worse For Wear***
(Photo Credit: Pennsylvania Game Commission-Art McMorris)
The three chicks in this study above are two females and one male. They are about 17 days old and will probably start to try to learn to fly in another four weeks (they have a lot of feathers to grow in the next three to four weeks!) I would like to thank two people in particular, Linda Rowan and Howard Winters who have been watching and monitoring the progress of this pair. Also, the bridge has been undergoing major maintenance work this year and the construction companies involved have been particularly cooperative and have been staying back at least 1000 feet from either side of the nesting site during this breeding season. If you do decide to go to observe these birds and their young, please keep your distance so as not to either harass them or jeopardize their survival.
Please click on either the thumbnails or the captions below to see a larger image...thanks!
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*** NOTE: The nest is inside the metal beam beneath the wooden house not in the wooden house.
Howard B. Eskin 2010 
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