MI / Sault Ste Marie International Bridge - 2010-22

[The Peregrine Chick]

2022 NESTING SEASON
 

[The Peregrine Chick]

2018 NESTING SEASON


New Peregrine Falcons Hatch On Soo International Bridge
Jack Hall / RRN / 20 July 2021



It’s been a productive summer for the resident raptors at the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, with peregrine falcons successfully raising two chicks this year. One egg laid earlier this year did not hatch.

Karl Hansen, bridge engineer for the International Bridge Administration (IBA), reported on the pair of peregrine falcons that nested on the bridge between the U.S. and Canada. Nest boxes for the peregrines have been installed since 2010 on the International Bridge. Last year, the same pair of peregrine falcons hatched one chick. Over the years, the site has been a great success, hatching 32 falcon chicks since IBA staff started counting the birds, Hansen said.

The chicks, a male and a female, were banded by a Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) team on June 10. Color-coded bands attached to the legs of young birds allow scientists to track the movements, reproductive behavior and population growth of the falcons.

”The mother bird refused to leave the nest this year,” Hansen said. ”That was a first. The MDNR staff had to gently remove her to access the young birds.”

In addition to their leg bands, the peregrine chicks received names. The International Bridge staff named the male bird Tony and the female bird Franny.

An interesting illustration of how far the birds can range: one of the birds hatched and banded at the International Bridge was spotted and photographed in the Dominican Republic back in November 2020.

Several years ago, the IBA added a video camera trained on the nest box, the “FalCam.” The live video stream, which has become very popular, is viewable at www.saultbridge.com/falcam, offering bird watchers a front row seat for the seasonal activities of the endangered raptors. The best time to view the birds is when they’re nesting in the spring.

Michigan lost its peregrine falcons in the 1960s and 1970s due to the use of DDT and other environmental contaminants. Since conservation efforts started in the mid-1980s, the number of peregrines has fluctuated, but has generally increased since the 1990s, according to the MDNR.

The peregrine falcon has been removed from the federal endangered species list but is listed as an endangered species in Michigan, protected by state and federal law. Peregrines have adapted to city habitats, nesting on tall buildings, smokestacks and bridges around the world.

High-speed hunters capable of flying at 200 mph, the peregrines may help keep populations of nuisance pigeons under control. While researchers have found pigeons make up a relatively small portion of the falcon diet, the dangerous predators may play a role in frightening them away from bridges. Keeping pigeons away is seen as potentially saving the IBA maintenance money down the line, as pigeon droppings can damage paint on metal bridge surfaces.

source: https://www.radioresultsnetwork.com/2021/07/20/209027/

[Alison]

The chick was not happy about being banded, and remained watchful:

 

 

[Alison]

The one and only chick at this nest was banded this morning. Four people went up to the nest, and the chick, wrapped in a towel, was banded right beside the nest box.

 

 

[Alison]

The Crop of the Week Award goes to this sweet little chick:

 

[Alison]

Two chicks hatched at this nest, but one of them disappeared at a very young age. 

The surviving chick is growing fast, and is receiving great care and attention from both parents.

Mom and chick are very bonded:

 

[Alison]

Caught the first feeding of the tiny chick late yesterday:

 

Mom leaving with the leftovers; I see she is unbanded.

[Alison]

2018 NESTING SEASON

This year a webcam has been installed at the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, where falcons have been nesting for many years.

Hatching has now begun. As the rain continues to fall, I caught a momentary glimpse of a tiny chick under Mom.

 

https://www.saultbridge.com/falcam/

[The Peregrine Chick]

2010 NESTING SEASON

Peregrine falcons nest on International Bridge
by Kenn Filkins / The Sault News / 4 May 2010



A female peregrine falcon looks up as she sits on her nest of four eggs on Monday afternoon. Workers on the International Bridge found her eggs during spring cleaning. The falcon’s nest rests under the driving deck and on top of a support pillar at the north end of the second arch over the Soo Locks. This is at least the ninth year the falcons have nested at the International Bridge. (The Sault News)

Again this spring, the fastest animal in the world is nesting atop pier #22 under the International Bridge. A pair of peregrine falcons returned to the Sault to nest under the bridge.

On Monday, Phil Becker, the General Manager of the International Bridge, reported that bridge workers found four peregrine falcon eggs around 10 days ago. They located the nest and eggs where the falcons had raised their young last spring. Workers immediately moved to protect the breeding pair from disturbances. This is at least the ninth year the falcons have nested at the International Bridge.

The peregrine falcon’s eggs should hatch in the next three weeks and the chicks will begin flying in July. The eggs take 28 to 33 days to hatch, then the chicks — called “eyasses” — leave the nest after 42 to 48 days and depend on the parents for two more months.

Peregrine falcons can dive at over 200 miles-per-hour when chasing their favorite prey: Pigeons.

Interested residents can catch a glimpse of these fast falcons flying around the Sault area and sitting on various structures including the arches of the International Bridge.

The nest is sheltered well under the bridge deck near the north end of the second bridge arch over the Soo Locks. The young falcons will not be visible until sometime in July and August when they will fledge from the nest then fly around town.

“For the protection of the falcons and the bridge users, people must not stop on the bridge to try to locate the nest,” Becker warned. “The nest is not visible from the ground and nearly impossible to see from on the bridge.”

A peregrine falcon can be identified by its hooked beak, dark strips under its eyes, pointed wings, blue-gray back, and barred front.

Peregrine falcons have been seen around the Sault area for some 14 years.

Peregrines were on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species list, after the pesticide DDT decimated the populations in the 60s and 70s. DDT was eventually banded. Bald eagles, Cooper’s hawks and other birds were also damaged by the pesticide. The captive breeding of peregrines and their release into the wild expanded the falcon’s range to now include places such as New York City, Ontario’s Batchawana River area and Sault Ste. Marie.

The USFWS removed the peregrine from the endangered species list, but this falcon and all birds of prey are protected by Michigan and federal law. It is a felony to shoot any kind of raptor, including the fastest animal in the world — the peregrine falcon.

source: https://www.sooeveningnews.com/story/news/2010/05/04/peregrine-falcons-nest-on-international/63716136007/