Of Peregrines & Nest Scrapes

[kekes]

Thank you! shall do!!! 

[The Peregrine Chick]

great info, thank you!    Hoping one of those sites is out towards Selkirk, Im just north, hop and skip, if you jump you have gone to far . 10 acres, but with aircraft, it would not make a good nesting area. 

hopefully I get to see some out here!

If you want to see some Kekes, your best bet is to keep your eye on places like Netley-Libau and Oak Hammock Marsh, particularly from now through the fall.  Peregrines used to be called Duck Hawks for good reason, other than nesting, they tend to be found near/at wetlands hunting small ducks (up to mallard size) and shorebirds (they are particularly partial to sora rails).  Not that they are ever easy to find, even when you know where they nest, but if you happen to be near a marsh, keep your eyes open and look way up - and investigate the different flight silhouettes for birds of prey - if you can rule some out right away, it makes it easier to focus in on the possibles.  Pay attention in particular to Marsh Hawks (Northern Harriers) - they are, unsurprisingly given their names, common at wetlands, tend to fly low and their silhouette isn't the same but when you are looking and just see a flash, everything starts to look like a peregrine.  Once the chicks head out on their own in the next month or two, they will be marsh-hopping for sure.  And take a camera or your phone - even a blurry picture or a long-shot can help to id what you see.

Good luck!

[kekes]

great info, thank you!    Hoping one of those sites is out towards Selkirk, Im just north, hop and skip, if you jump you have gone to far . 10 acres, but with aircraft, it would not make a good nesting area. 

hopefully I get to see some out here!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Thank you for the reply. They are truly remarkable creatures. Is there anything we can do to encourage more nesting, like building better nesting options?

No, not really.  But having said that nesting is really a function of location, location, location.  They tend to have preferences geographically but can't be too close to their neighbours (or shouldn't be).  And a city is always changing, more buildings downtown could be a good thing or a bad thing for the chicks, we have to see what happens.  They may or may not like a nestbox we provide.  They may or may not use a nestbox we provide.  We may not like where they nest because of safety and security issues.  They may not be able to nest where they want to nest because of other concerns if it is say a commercial building or an industrial site.  And then throw in that every bird is different and there really is no way to predict anything.  We take our cues from the birds and try to make a spot they have shown some interest in that is safe for them, more appealing.  Doesn't always work.  We have a great nestsite just waiting for tenants but not happening.  So we are going to try and tweak the location a bit - basically move it 10 feet and see if that has more appeal.  We aren't getting uptake where it is, so we tweak, even if it is only ten feet.  If it works, we put the note in our mental user's guide and incorporate it into new sites that become available.  At the moment we have two sites to tweak and two, hopefully three new ones where we want to install something - they aren't sites where the birds have nested before, but have been visited more than a few times so there is something appealing about the site without them being too close to the neighbours.

Hope that answers your question ...

[kekes]

Thank you for the reply. They are truly remarkable creatures. Is there anything we can do to encourage more nesting, like building better nesting options?

[The Peregrine Chick]

So we have a few 'couples' not nesting this year, are they here in Manitoba and why if they r a couple why are they not nesting?

We think one of the couples (based on their behaviour) may have lost their eggs during bad weather or to predators.  They have been successful in the past so no reason they wouldn't be this year too.

As for why "couples".  Peregrines pair bond whether they nest or nest successfully.  That pair bond really on breaks down when one of them doesn't return or if they haven't been successful and a better offer presents itself.  Ivy who was Princess' former mate had a mate before her but they couldn't manage to find a nestsite that worked and their pairing broke apart.  One of the pairs we have this year have been together for at least 2 if not 3 years but yet we haven't been able to catch them with chicks (now watch, now that I've said that we'll find they do this year!!).  So what makes a couple rather than just a couple of birds hanging out together - they spend the summer together, the go through all the courtship, pair-bonding and pre/post-nesting rituals.  Birds that just want company for awhile behave very differently.

And yes, they are here in Manitoba.

[kekes]

So we have a few 'couples' not nesting this year, are they here in Manitoba and why if they r a couple why are they not nesting?

[kekes]

thank you 

[The Peregrine Chick]

As newbie  how many chicks have come out of Manitoba since the program started, and do we do what % have been tracked?

Over 300 chicks since the program began in 1981 - most are wild-hatched, but the early birds were hacked-released captive-bred birds like all the recovery projects in North America.  And tracking is a misleading word, if some reports one of our peregrines dead or injured or sighted or nesting, then we have have some tracking on the bird, if not, we know nothing.  Of all the birds that come through our project we probably know something (dead, injured, alive at one time) on about half.  Remember statistically 5-7 out of every 10 chicks dies in the first 12 months so many of these records are deaths.  A few birds had satellite transmitters put on them and the first mortality rates were the same - we know of only 5 birds - 1 captive-bred and 4 wild-hatched that survived the first year. Could be a couple more however, transmitters are notorious for dying after a short while.

Im out in Selkirk, what happened to Selkirk birdies, did they skip us this year?

They turned up, three of them - Sundance (Logan), Bristol (West Winnipeg) and Kelly (McKenzie Seeds).  Sundance spent last summer with Kelly but they didn't nest.  This year his allegiance shifted to Bristol despite Kelly's presence for a short time.  Again, no nest.  Bristol maybe just a bit young so we will keep an eye out for their return next year.

as u can see Im not used to this forum stuff and am sure I posted this in the wrong forum but hopefully an answer will come

This location works 

[kekes]

As newbie  how many chicks have come out of Manitoba since the program started, and do we do what % have been tracked?

Im out in Selkirk, what happened to Selkirk birdies, did they skip us this year?

as u can see Im not used to this forum stuff and am sure I posted this in the wrong forum but hopefully an answer will come

[moka]

Leana, for every person who posts a question here, there are many others who are wondering the same thing and this is such a great place to learn about the falcons...and other things

I agree absolutely! As a matter of fact, one of my favourite places to visit is the questions from the Kinderchicklets -- often their questions are ones that we might be hesitate to ask ourselves (afraid they might sound stupid), but TPC's answers are fantastic and I always learn a lot.

Also, the chicks ask questions adults never think of and tpc's answers always add to our store of knowledge, no matter how many years we've been hanging aroung!

Welcome home to Princess and Ivy 

[Leana]

Thanks for the "scrape" explanations everyone.  I've got it now... a "scrape" is really just a funky word used to describe a falcon's nest which is actually just an depression for the eggs to sit in!    

[Saoirse]

Leana, for every person who posts a question here, there are many others who are wondering the same thing and this is such a great place to learn about the falcons...and other things

I agree absolutely! As a matter of fact, one of my favourite places to visit is the questions from the Kinderchicklets -- often their questions are ones that we might be hesitate to ask ourselves (afraid they might sound stupid), but TPC's answers are fantastic and I always learn a lot.

[susha]

Woo Hoo!!  Welcome back Princess and Ivy!!!!!!!!!

Leana, for every person who posts a question here, there are many others who are wondering the same thing and this is such a great place to learn about the falcons...and other things

[birdcamfan]

Woot woot for Princess and Ivy!  So happy to hear they are both back. 

Now I'm going to have to ask a Newbie-like question...( )... what is "scrape" in a nestbox? 

I feel so embarrassed asking that  .

Please don't feel embarrassed! There are lots of very knowledgeable people on this forum who generously answer all kinds of questions. I've been a member for a number of years and am still stumped at times..but not for long, an answer pops up in no time!