Other Peregrine Projects > USA Peregrines

MN / Crookston - 2017-22

<< < (2/2)

The Peregrine Chick:
https://twitter.com/mbperegrines/status/874291123279233029

The Peregrine Chick:
Peregrine Falcons Leave Fargo to Nest in Grand Forks and Crookston
iNewZ TV / Published on Apr 12, 2017

CROOKSTON, MN (iNewZ.TV) At least 2 Peregrine Falcons born in Fargo, are now living in Grand Forks and Crookston. An expert says it's the first time Crookston could soon be seeing a new family of Peregrine Falcons.

YouTube Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AujSEOsEo5w

Not the nestbox webcam that makes up part of the video, is from the Fargo nestbox, not the Crookston site.

The Peregrine Chick:
"Jack" is Back! Peregrine
"Jack" is Nesting in the Crookston Water Tower
11 April 2017

Radio Interview - Listen Online

Jack Sunday & Amy Iler are talk-show hosts at 790 AM KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. "It Takes 2 with Jack & Amy" can be heard weekdays 11am-2pm. Follow Amy on Twitter @AmyKFGO. Follow Jack on Twitter @nodakjack.


Jack was named by the local Audubon Society after local radio personality, Jack Sunday.

The Peregrine Chick:
Male Crookston peregrine has Fargo origin; female isn't banded so where she was hatched is uncertain
By Brad Dokken on Apr 10, 2017 at 10:43 a.m.


Photo by Tim Driscoll

A story is beginning to emerge on the peregrine falcons that have taken up residence in a nest box atop an elevator on the south side of Crookston.

Regional raptor expert Tim Driscoll of Grand Forks said he was able to get the number of the male peregrine's leg band Friday afternoon, and the bird is Jack, a Fargo-hatched peregrine Driscoll banded in 2014.  Jack is named after Fargo radio host Jack Sunday, Driscoll said.

The female peregrine in the Crookston nest box isn't banded, and her origin is uncertain, but she's at least 2 years old, Driscoll said.

The Crookston peregrines have been the buzz among area birders since Friday, when Driscoll confirmed the birds indeed were peregrines. A student and professor at the University of Minnesota Crookston installed the nest box on the grain elevator at least five years ago, and this is the first year peregrines have been confirmed in the box. Peregrines nest in high places, which is why sites such as the Crookston elevator and the UND water tower, where peregrines nest in Grand Forks, are so attractive to the birds.

Driscoll said local residents told him they'd seen the birds at the site for about two weeks.  Driscoll, a licensed bander who teaches a raptor ecology class at UMC, said he spent about three hours at the site Friday afternoon and observed the female flying in large circles around the nest site while Jack was in the nest box.

"This behavior is consistent with the observations I have made of Grand Forks' peregrine falcons over the years," Driscoll said. It's possible the female has started to lay eggs, he said.

The only concern, Driscoll said, is the female could be from a northern peregrine population and just stopping through en route to points farther north where she was hatched and possibly "hard wired" to return. So far, though, it appears the peregrines are on their way to incubation and raising young in Crookston.

"From what I saw, she really looks like she's settled in," Driscoll said. "I think this is great."

Driscoll said Jack's two nest mates, Sandy and Happy, which he also banded in 2014, both are dead.

One of the bird world's great comeback stories, peregrine falcons are on the rebound across North America after numbers plummeted in the 1960s along with species such as bald eagles.

source: Grand Forks Herald - http://tinyurl.com/ycwb5lom

The Peregrine Chick:
2017 NESTING SEASON

Peregrine Falcon Pair Nesting in Crookston
Driscoll says he banded the male previously in Fargo
By Mike Christopherson / 10 April 2017


Photo by Tim Driscoll

Tim Driscoll, the region’s go-to expert on raptors, has confirmed that a male peregrine falcon that appears to be nesting on Crookston’s south end in a nest box placed years ago near SunOpta is one named “Jack” that he banded in Fargo in 2014. The female falcon that Driscoll says is at least two years old is not banded.

Driscoll said he observed the falcons for several hours the other day and the female flew in circles around the nest site while Jack remained in the nest box. Such behavior, he explained, is consistent with observations he’s made over the years of the peregrine falcons who have nested annually in Grand Forks.

Driscoll says he subsequently observed the pair copulate, and their current behavior is consistent with adults guarding eggs. With reports that the falcons have been seen at the nest site for a couple weeks, he says it’s possible that the female has started to lay eggs and, if that’s the case, “hard incubation” should begin within the next few days.

Driscoll says he’s a bit concerned that the female is not banded, which makes it possible she is from a northern population that’s simply hanging around Crookston for the “free food.”

“Time will tell, and as I always say, so far so good,” he said.  He found three “prey items” on the ground under the “plucking post,” a rock pigeon, common grackle and killdeer.

Most peregrines observed in the Midwest are banded, Driscoll said. If the un-banded female is from locales further north, Driscoll said she may leave Crookston soon.

“That said, this pair certainly seems to be well on their way to incubation and possibly raising young in Crookston,” he said. “It’s way cool.”

source:  Crookston Times - http://tinyurl.com/y7o7clpv

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page