PA / Pittsburgh - Gulf Tower - 2010-19

[carly]

Dori and Louie produced 5 chicks this year.  Sadly Kate just posted a new blog and Louie was found deceased yesterday, he was 17 years of age so he had a good long life.  Kids are doing great and Dori continues to train them to hunt - thankfully they are advanced enough that it shouldn't be too difficult for her to manage on her own.

https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2019/06/28/downtown-peregrine-news-june-28/?fbclid=IwAR00xHDO5vQ-MXZk9Pfm5oShbJhP-ru0Yk8laNbu8i7-K1RH9FHeRJhqbqU

[The Peregrine Chick]

2019 NESTING SEASON

The Gulf Tower pair - Louie & Dori apparently have been hanging out in Pittsburgh just like their neighbours at the Cathedral of Learning.

From Kate St John's blog ...
October 2018

While many raptors are migrating, Pittsburgh’s stay-at-home peregrines are patrolling their territories and strengthening their pair bonds as they watch the others fly by.  Yesterday was a particularly good day for this activity.

In the slideshow above the Downtown pair courts for almost ten minutes in the morning fog, then Dori hangs out at the Gulf Tower for 5.5 hours.  Later, in a surprise move, the banded male (looks like Louie) visits the nest and digs the scrape after dark. 

[RCF]

Kate St. John Blog

Alas.

The developer has issued a press release with his final decision. He will act on the “taking” permit and the chicks will be removed from the nest to be raised by a rehabber.

While there was a chance to change the outcome I felt it was worth asking the developer to reconsider.  He has now made his final decision.  The time has passed for asking.  Do not call.  Do not nag.  And above all Be Polite and Considerate.

https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2018/04/30/alas/

[RCF]

I hope everyone on this forum post on BET's Facebook page, letting them know that this is disgusting.

I am afraid it is a done deal!

The developer, BT Pitt-Third, LLC, of Horsham is renovating 319 Third Ave. They stopped work on the apartment building roof about two-to-three weeks ago when they learned that there was a nest of state-endangered birds peregrine falcon next door overlooking the apartment building, said Kevin Feeley, spokesman for the developer.

Upset supporters of the falcons had asked the developer to wait another month for the young birds to grow up and naturally leave the nest.

But the developer said he's not waiting.

“We recognize and share the concern by many individuals for the well-being of the falcons,” Feeley said in a press release.

“Any further delay would not allow us to complete the historic renovations in time for more than 100 college students who will need to move into their apartments prior to the start of their classes in August,” he said.


Kate St. John, head monitor of the nesting peregrines in Pittsburgh and author of the blog Outside My Window, said, “I wish it were different but it is their decision.”

http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13597987-74/peregrine-falcons-to-be-removed-from-downtown-pittsburgh-building

[Jazzerkins]

I hope everyone on this forum post on BET's Facebook page, letting them know that this is disgusting.

[Alison]

From Kate St. John's article on this topic, which includes all relevant contacts:

Peregrines defend their eggs and chicks from human intruders by buzzing people who come too close.  Dori and Louie buzz the workmen on the Keystone roof.  The developer wants the peregrines and their nest to go away so they applied to the Federal government and were granted a permit to remove the chicks.  I have learned from the PA Game Commission that the chicks would be raised by a rehabber.

If the developer is willing to wait 30-35 days(**) the nest and the peregrines will go away on their own.  By that time the chicks will learn to fly and will leave Third Avenue.  Their parents will follow them. Problem solved.

Taking the chicks won’t make the peregrines stop buzzing the site.  Peregrines do not “shut off” when their chicks are gone but instead remain where the chicks used to be and continue to attack until their anger and hormones quiet down.  This may take weeks or months, depending on the individual birds.

The decision to remove Dori and Louie’s chicks rests on the shoulders of BET Investments.   Their project has a permit but they don’t have to act on it. This is their first development in the city of Pittsburgh.  They probably don’t realize how much we love our peregrines.

If you want the chicks to remain with their parents, please voice your concerns to the contacts below. Be polite and courteous.

BET Investments
200 Dryden Road, Suite 2000
Dresher, PA 19025

Phone:215-938-7300
Fax:215-938-8651
email: info@betinvestments.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/betinvestments/  (update on 4/30/2018: this link might not work)
Twitter: twitter.com/betinvestments1

https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2018/04/29/downtown-peregrines-under-threat/

[Alison]

2018 NESTING SEASON

This year, long-time Gulf Tower residents Dori and Louie opted not to use the nest box provided, but to nest at another building which they have used several times in the past.  They are now raising chicks, who are about two weeks old. But there is a big problem. A developer wants to have the chicks moved from the building, immediately. He has applied for a permit to do so, and this has apparently been granted.  To remove the chicks would not only be extremely detrimental to this falcon family, but it would set a very unfortunate precedent for other developers to attempt to follow suit. I hope that everyone who cares about these birds will take action to help prevent this from happening.


Developer asks to remove peregrine falcons from downtown Pittsburgh building

A developer is asking permission from the federal government to remove four young peregrine falcons, which are about two weeks old, from their nest on a downtown Pittsburgh building, according to a letter from the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The peregrines are nesting on the back of a Fourth Avenue building that faces a Third Avenue building undergoing redevelopment for luxury student apartments, according to the blog Outside My Window by Kate St. John of Greenfield, who is the city's lead monitor for the nesting of area peregrines.

There have been reports of the parent birds buzzing the workers while defending their young at the Fourth Avenue building, according to St. John.

The birds, known as Dori and Louie, are the current reigning peregrines in a long line of the endangered birds that have been nesting in downtown Pittsburgh for more than 25 years.

There are about 50 active nesting pairs of the aerodynamic raptors in the state. They are famous for dives that can top 200 mph, making them the fastest animal on earth, according to the game commission.

Although a peregrine falcon's nest is protected by its status as a state-endangered bird and other laws, exemptions can be made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The game commission is working with the wildlife service on the request, which is “within the parameters of the existing laws and regulations related to migratory birds,” according to a letter sent Friday from the game commission to local peregrine falcon monitors.

Requests for comments from the game commission and the developer were not answered Sunday.

In the letter, the game commission gave assurances that “the chicks' health and well-being is our primary interest.”

Supporters of the birds — residents who monitor, report and save the errant young when they first leave nests — are in an uproar.

“Pittsburghers are good neighbors, and we would like this developer to be a good neighbor and wait one month for the young birds to leave the nest,” said John English of Homestead, who is the founder of the Pittsburgh Falconuts, a private Facebook group of about 375 peregrine falcon fans.

The chief concern is what happens after the game commission removes the young birds and takes them to an animal rehabilitator.

English and others have speculated that it might be a better idea to relocate the youngsters downtown, where the parents will find and still raise them.

The game commission will work with a “rehabilitator with peregrine experience to receive the chicks, if necessary, and rear them until they can be safely released into the wild as fledglings.”

The commission noted, however, that the birds might not be moved at all.

“Sometimes companies get permits but ultimately don't take action; that has happened in the eastern part of the state several times,” the commission said in its letter.

The peregrine falcon was listed as federally endangered in the early 1970s after its populations crashed from use of the insecticide DDT. The Environmental Protection Agency banned DDT in 1972.

The Endangered Species Act, along with other laws and restoration efforts by the Peregrine Fund and other nonprofits and government agencies, such as the Pennsylvania Game Commission, paid off when the birds were federally delisted in 1999.

However, the peregrines have been slow to come back in the northeastern part of the country, where numbers are still low but have gradually increased because of conservation efforts.

In Pennsylvania, populations have rebounded, especially on bridges and buildings, where the birds face a number of threats, instead of in the birds' preferred habitat of wild cliffs.

http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13595622-74/developer-asks-to-remove-peregrine-falcons-from-downtown-pittsburgh-building

[skygirlblue]

2011 NESTING SEASON

Egg #1:  3/17
Egg #2:  3/19

[Ellie]

Great difficulty seeing the chicks for sure.  There is movement so guess they are all fine!

[pmg]

4 Peregrine Falcons Hatch at National Aviary in Pittsburgh

The National Aviary announced the hatching of four peregrine falcon eggs on Monday. According to the aviary, two eggs at the Gulf Tower nest hatched on Mother's Day, while the other two hatched on Monday.

At least one of the eggs belonged to Tasha2 that nested at the Gulf Tower since 1998 before Dori drove her away. The other eggs belong to Dori who is now a first-time mother.

http://www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_cl.php

[Ellie]

Dori feeding her family but her "garden" is in the way.  Very windy there today.  Think one is a sunflower plant and will only get bigger.  Guess they will pull the weeds when they band the chicks.  Hopefully!

[Ellie]

I guess I got my previous question answered as all of a sudden we have a "nestful" of chicks.  Amazing that Tasha's eggs hatched!  Guess Louie knew what he was "chupping" about  

[Alison]

A short article on the Pittsburgh nest, dated today, but not yet including the fifth chick:

Four Peregrine Falcon Chicks Hatch In Pittsburgh

Falcon Family Living High Life In City's Downtown.  At least one Pittsburgh "family" is living the high life in the city's downtown.  Four peregrine falcon chicks recently hatched in a nest tucked high on the Gulf Tower.  Two of the eggs hatched on Mother's Day and a third and fourth hatched on Monday.

"Dori," the female falcon living in the nest, is not mother to all of the chicks. At least one, and possibly two, of the eggs belonged to "Tasha Two," the female that was driven away by Dori in March.

For a live look at the falcon family, visit www.aviary.org.



http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/23514704/detail.html#

[Alison]

It's wonderful news that all the eggs have hatched, especially Tasha's two eggs. She was a great falcon, and her legacy will continue. Congratulations to Louie for his persistence in protecting Tasha's eggs, which has now paid off with this great result.

[Kinderchick]

What amazing news that all of both Dori's and Tasha's eggs have hatched!