Weekly Chat, Sunday February 7, 2010

Tiger : I am not aware of that. These 2 eagles have been together for some time. K81 is the male and K82 is the female.

Just looked at today's posts. You folks have already been watching birdies today. Great pictures DjoanS and Alan!

Diane, thank you for the videos.  They were amusing, but it also makes you realise how frightening it must be for all birds before their first flight.

Diane - Thanks for Falcon links - was the first one, trying to take off, at risk of flying into windows?

Hi everyone.

The weather here's been following the same pattern for the last couple of days.  Being cold overnight, starting frosty in the morning, then the big yellow thing making an appearance but temperatures still feeling quite chilly.  Compared to those affected by really rough weather, we're actually quite lucky here. 

Anyway not much has happened in these parts in the last couple of days.  I meant to post yestarday evening but got side-tracked.  So I've enjoyed catching up on about five pages of excellent posts since I last logged in.  Watched the Simon King programme, last night.  Excellent stuff and very enjoyable.

patriciat:  Sorry to hear your sister hasn't been well.  I hope everything goes well with the pacemaker operation.

Diane:  I couldn't believe the sight of the strange yellow orb myself at first.  Thanks for the falcon links.

Annette:  That's a smashing picture of that 1973 Ford.  Thanks for posting.

Alan:  Thanks for the excellent pictures.

DjoanS:  Thanks for the owl food handover pics.

Margobird:  Sorry you're still feling rough.  Hope you get well soon.  Wonderful you had fieldfare visiting you.

To everyone.  Hope you had a great Thursday and a very happy Friday to all.



Paul.

OG: I'll try to answer your question. I'm not a member of the peregrine group, but if I'm wrong about something, I'm sure that Caerann can correct me about falcon behavior, etc. She really knows her raptors.

Indianapolis* is a big city, and the peregrine falcons are smack in the middle of downtown -- on what the locals call " Monument Circle", which is the city center. Most of the buildings are skyscrapers. In fact, the falcon nestbox is on the 31st floor of a skyscraper called Market Tower. The skyscrapers have helped these birds thrive and return from endangered status. But the tall buildings are also a hazard for the juveniles. The mortality rate for peregrine falcon chicks/juveniles in the city is very high, and in Indianapolis building collisions do kill birds. 

I don't think they fatally fly into windows when they fledge (take their initial flight off the ledge). They do often fall when they are strutting and running along the ledges like the bird in the video, or they tumble out of the nest box. When they fall, they attempt to fly; they beat their wings furiously and float down one or two floors until they land on the wide ledges. They usually land unhurt, and the adults will feed them wherever they sit, until they're able to fly back up to the box. As I understand it, the real problem begins when they begin to fly and chase prey. Falcons fly at tremendous speed, and the inexperienced young sometimes can't control their flight so they crash into the buildings (walls or windows) -- sometimes fatally. 

However, mortality for peregrine young in the wild is also very high. In their natural habitat, they nest on high ledges and cliffs, so the same fate can happen to them in the wild (they can slam into the cliffs). Also, in the wild, they face more risk from predators. Eggs are eaten by raccoons and other animals. And the young juveniles can be killed by Great Horned Owls. (YIKES! Did I admit that?!?) So the mortality rate is about the same for city peregrines and those living in wilderness settings.

In Indianapolis a wonderful thing happens. When the peregrines reach the age when fledging is imminent, a big organized team of volunteers goes to work to monitor the juveniles all the time. If a juvenile tumbles down a floor or two or flies down to a grassy area in the park and is stranded, the volunteers leave them alone, because the adults will bring them food and take very good care of them. But if the juveniles land in a busy city street, the volunteer monitors rush into action, stop the heavy city traffic, and rescue the young peregrine. The volunteer monitors do this at GREAT risk to themselves. The volunteers can be struck by cars and if the parent falcons get agitated enough, they will attack the rescuers. Most of the people of Indianapolis are aware of the peregrine season, and they watch for the birds when driving around the Circle. And police officers also assist in stopping traffic and dispersing crowds for falcon rescues.

Here is a picture of the nestbox site.   http://www.indyfalcons.com/FalconFAQ.asp#Figure1 This page also has an Indianapolis Falcon FAQ that answers a lot of questions about the site and the birds.

* I was living in downtown Indianapolis until my parents became ill and I moved here to take care of them. I used to walk right by the nest site building every morning.

Wow! That post was long. SORRY! I guess I love those falcons. LOL

Here is a link to a pair of storks in Portugal on the nest now:

http://static.publico.clix.pt/cegonhasnaweb/default.aspx 

Diane, Thank you.  That was a full and very informative reply. It is fantastic to hear that even the traffic is stopped to rescue them.