MN / Crookston - 2017-22

[The Peregrine Chick]

2022 NESTING SEASON

No updates I'm afraid.  If anyone tracks some down, please do send to me and I can add to this thread even though it is locked.  ~TPC

[The Peregrine Chick]

2021 NESTING SEASON

[The Peregrine Chick]

https://twitter.com/mbperegrines/status/875141424622313473

[The Peregrine Chick]

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Driscoll estimated that the peregrine chick banded today was about 19 days old, and determined that he was a male. Peregrines fledge when they are 28-30 days old, and he wanted to avoid the risk of the chick jumping from the nesting box and flying once the 28-day mark loomed. While four eggs had initially been observed in the nest, only the single chick was found today. Today’s banding came at a fortunate time for the chick, who was found to have wire from the nesting platform wrapped around his right leg tightly enough to have caused an injury, which Driscoll treated with Neosporin. “The wire was wrapped around his leg, that’s why it took us a little longer to get him out. Once we got him out of the box, we had to untangle him. You can imagine if you get hooked with wire, then you start turning around, and pulling against it, and dancing around and twisting. The wire was from a wire liner in the bottom of the box," said Loegering. "The whole bottom of the box has a wire mesh on it – we’ll have to take that out for next year, because he, or some other bird stepped on it and pulled it out. The good news is that he still has feeling in the leg and can still move his toes. He’s young.”

Driscoll and others who band peregrines name the chicks, because it’s easier to remember a name than a band number. Loegering had the honor of naming the chick, and he chose the name “Rand” in honor of Rand Aldo Leopold, a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast, who is considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology and the United States' wilderness system.  Loegering explained his choice of the name, saying "This is pretty unique for Crookston - this is a Crookston first.  The peregrine falcon baby is a wonderful example of cooperation and conservation.  I really looked toward people who were big names in the field of conservation and wildlife management.  This baby's name is 'Rand,' because that's the first name of the Father of Wildlife Management, Aldo Leopold.  His full name is Rand Aldo Leopold.  He's the first of hopefully many, many years."   

On average, falcons live about seven or eight years. The female peregrine is about 1/3 larger than the male so she can protect the eggs and young, and so that together they can catch a wider range of prey. The smaller male is better at catching small birds and the larger female is better at catching larger birds, so this helps in feeding hungry young. Adult peregrine falcons are light gray on the back and mostly white on the breast, and first year falcons are brown and white. After a year, they start getting adult plumage.


Source: http://www.kroxam.com/NewsPage.htm

[The Peregrine Chick]

Rand, the Peregrine Falcon Banded Today
Crookston KROX - 12 June 2017



Licensed bander and raptor expert Tim Driscoll of Grand Forks was in town this morning to band a peregrine falcon chick at the Mid Valley Grain Elevator in Crookston. This is the first year peregrines have been documented nesting in Crookston. He was assisted by Dr. John Loegering and Dr. Dan Svedarsky from the Natural Resources Department at the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC). The peregrine nest, located on the east side of the Mid Valley Grain elevator, was constructed last year by Scott Erdmann of SunOpta. Erdmann constructed a nesting ledge on the closest thing Crookston has to a sheer cliff – the elevator side. “Peregrine falcons nest on cliffs. Where you would naturally find them would be where you have a vertical face on a cliff ledge. We don’t have any of those in the Red River Valley – even the steep river banks have soil that sloughs, so you don’t have that nice ledge situation that you might have in a mountainous area," said Loegering. "For that reason, this area did not have many peregrines. If you want to make a cliff ledge, a grain elevator is a fantastic place to make a cliff ledge. The box you see sticking out extends back into the elevator; it’s probably 30 inches wide by 30 inches deep, and it’s got 4-6 inches of gravel in the bottom of it, so it’s very much like a natural cliff nest. You make what they need, and they’ll find it.”

Peregrine falcons live in moderate to warm climates, and tend to migrate south in the winter to avoid the intense cold and because most of the prey birds they eat migrate south during the winter.  “They’re long distance travelers. They usually like a cliff nest – that’s what we’re mimicking here," said Loegering. "They will nest in the arctic, and then migrate all the way down to South America, so they cover a lot of area looking for the right place to live. If you make it, they’ll come.”

When asked what the falcons are feeding on, Loegering explained, "Falcons are aerial predators. They’ll eat almost exclusively bird prey – in this case, pigeons. I think the intent in putting the nesting box up there was to manage the pigeons, and they’ll certainly snack on them. It’s actually quite a sight to see them hunt. They’ll fly high and dive at the pigeon, and they’ll take it right in mid-air. I have colleagues who’ve seen them take ducks for instance; you just see a poof of feathers as the falcon attacks that bird, breaks its spine, grabs a hold and takes off with it.”

Loegering said the falcons feed their chicks directly with the prey they catch. “It depends on the size of the bird, but sometimes they’ll pluck them at a different spot, then bring the food up to the nest box,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if right now if you’d see a bunch of baby starlings carcasses; they are just now leaving the nest and they’re ‘young and dumb’, so to speak, so they’re pretty easy prey.”

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[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