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News: Peregrines
Alison:
Falcons inhabit nesting box built by 4-Her
source: unknown / June 2009
High above Winona, atop a Bay State Milling Co. building on Second Street, live the fruits of Maggie Lubinski's childhood labor and a symbol of a long recovery for a once near-extinct bird. Three yet-to-be named peregrine falcon chicks, a male and two females, fill a nesting box Lubinski made when she was 13. The nesting pair - a female named Chicklet and an unnamed male - are the first documented falcon residents in the city of Winona.
The Bay State falcon family is in many ways a triumphant symbol of a recovery effort now transitioning to preservation. Peregrine falcons are one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act and efforts by environmental groups. Once nearly eradicated in North America by pesticide use, the falcons have returned with a vengeance.
"(Peregrine falcons) are the conservation achievement of the century," Bob Anderson of the Decorah, Iowa, based Raptor Resource Project.
Lubinski built two falcon boxes in 2001 when she was in eighth grade for a 4-H project, and Anderson and his crew placed the boxes on the buildings. Falcons have temporarily stayed there, off and on, but never made a home. Over the years, Lubinski and her father, Rick Lubinski, who works at Bay State Milling, checked the sites and never spotted chicks. Maggie nearly gave up hope. She's 21 now, a student at Western Technical College in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Then earlier this year a falcon family came. Rick Lubinski spotted the pair, and Maggie contacted Anderson.
"I didn't believe it at first," Lubinski said.
The falcons were once on the brink of extinction in the United States. Insecticides, most notably DDT, destroyed some populations by thinning egg shells, causing fewer falcons to hatch. Only several hundred pairs existed in North America, and the falcons all but disappeared from the region.
Recovery efforts began in the 1980s when captive birds were released into the wild. Once found primarily on high natural perches, including bluff faces and rock cliffs, much of the falcon's recovery has been due to their adaptation to urban and industrial settings. Falcons have found new homes at powerplant smokestacks, skyscrapers and now the Bay State Milling building. The bird was delisted from the federal endangered species list in 1999 but remained on the Wisconsin endangered list and the threatened species list in Minnesota.
Anderson credits the collaboration between conservation groups like the Raptor Resource Project and industry, particularly power companies, for the falcon's recovery. If not for the help of those companies, which placed falcon boxes like Lubinski's at their plants, the falcon would still be endangered, he said.
The total number of falcons in Minnesota and Wisconsin won't be known until tagging efforts such as Anderson's are done this year, but if the figures are anything like last year's, falcon fans should be encouraged. In 2008, 33 pairs hatched 93 young in Minnesota, while 28 pairs nested in Wisconsin, according to Department of Natural Resource officials in both states. The number of falcons has increased in the region nearly every year, according to DNR officials.
"We can safely say (the Minnesota falcon) population has recovered," said Lori Naumann, spokeswoman for the Minnesota DNR's Nongame Wildlife Program.
Tuesday was a reunion for Lubinski and members of the Raptor Resource Project. There were hugs and hellos and comments about how Lubinski had grown. She hadn't seen them since she joined them to tag chicks at an Alma, Wis., site several years after they placed her boxes. A crowd of Lubinski's family, Bay State Milling employees and curious onlookers watched as Anderson banded the chicks.
The month-old chicks will be named by Anderson. At least one will be named Maggie, he said
Follow-ups:
Their three chicks are Maggie (black/red 85/D), Anne (black/red 86/D) and Ricker (male - black/green H/15).
On Sept 13, 2009 Charles DeWitt photographed a Peregrine with leg bands. The right leg had a purple band. The left leg had two bands, the top was Black with white numbers 86 and the bottom was red with white letter D. The location was the Muskegon County Wastewater System in Muskegon, Michigan.
The response from the Raptor Resource Project was:
Mr. DeWitt photographed one of the birds we banded in Winona, at Bay State Milling. What a flight! If 86/D (Anne) had to get in a car and drive, it would be a 498 mile trip, although in a car, she couldn't fly across the lake.
Anne in Muskegon:
The Peregrine Chick:
Thanks for the links, the large photos helped to see the juvenile characteristics (vertical stripes on breast). Not old enough to breed I would agree, but given the white and black/dark slate grey on the bird's back, its not a 2009 hatch. Some birds retain the vertical stripes longer than others, not many to my knowledge, but your bird is just too white on the belly and too dark on the back to be 2009 - 2008 probably, I'd be surprised if earlier, those stripes should be gone ....
let me know what you find out !!
Alison:
Thank you for the response, TPC! I reduced the photos to post here, and looking at them now I realize that the markings are not really visible. The originals are much larger, and in them the bird looks to me like a juvie. I've uploaded them to Flickr at their full size (click on "all sizes" to see the large size):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43115701@N08/3973463228/in/photostream/
I had also tried searching for all possible band combinations. It's a good idea to check with the CPF, so I will do that. I thought I might also check with the DEC in New York State, since they use black/green bands in some cases, with silver USFWS bands.
The original request for help with I.D. was posted by my namesake in Indiana, as a comment to a post in the Imprints section of the Rochester site:
http://rfalconcam.com/imprinting/?p=833#comments
The Peregrine Chick:
First, from your photos, this is no 2009 hatch year bird ... 2008 maybe, some juvenile's have adult perfect plumage by the following spring (T-Rex and Trey were like that) and from your photos I can't see any remnants of juvenile characteristics in the birds' plumage. And on photo three, where both are on the ledge, I would hazard a guess to say that "the" bird is female - not sure because the postures are different, but I think so.
But I would concur, the bird is probably an eastern bird. You might try contacting the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, I think they have good communication with the eastern states as there birds end up in NY etc and vice versa. I have also checked the Midwest Database for every combination I could come up with - I even tried similarly shaped letters - S = B and FWS bands ending in 2 rather than 52. The only one I can up with is Carmen, b/g B/14 (2206-72252) wild hatch, 2006 Landmark Building, Summit County, Ohio. No reports from elsewhere so if Jim Sullivan isn't for sure about the coloured band, this might be your girl. But if he is, check with the CPF (they have a website) and ask them for information.
Alison:
--- Quote from: skygirlblue on September 30, 2009, 21:31 ---Hi Alison...I just checked Greg Septon's banding reports for the Wisconsin nests he monitors (30 + nests)...no bands matching your juvie..great pictures, though!!
--- End quote ---
Thanks, SGB! I also checked Greg Septon's Report, the RRP Report, and a bunch of other reports. I am fairly sure now that this is not a midwest bird after all. Since some of the eastern sites are using both black/red and black/green, and this year the midwest sites are using mainly black/red with some black/green, it is more difficult to tell where a juvie might be from.
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