Smiley to be razed, falcon habitat saved With Smiley in its final days, soon to be taken down from it's towering position over the north end of Grand Forks, many area residents will be sad to see it go. But demolition of the 77-year old tower has been stayed in part because a family of peregrine falcons have made their home on the structure.
So on Tuesday last week, crews from UND took to the tower to take down the nesting box that has served as a home for the creatures since 2005. Since then, the birds have had two successful nesting seasons on Smiley.
After the box was taken down, it was moved to the UND water tower about a mile to the east on Thursday and officials hope that the peregrine falcons will take to their new home next season when they return to the area to nest.
Researchers like Tim Driscoll, director of the Urban Raptor Research Project, who has been tracking the birds for the last several years say that the new location and the newly repainted nesting box should suit them well.
"In 2004, the peregrine falcons started hanging out on the Smiley water tower," Driscoll said. "We put the nest box up there in 2005 and we've had nesting peregrines there in the summer of 2008 and 2009 … We've given them a suitable place to stay and we hope they come back next year to nest."
The female peregrine falcon-named Terminator-has been the mainstay on the tower as she has returned to Grand Forks several times during the summer months. Over the last two years, a different male has accompanied her, however-Baron and Roosevelt, respectively.
In the two years that Terminator has used the nesting box atop Smiley, four chicks have been born-Aussie, Alice, Smiley and Ethel.
While the only one of the hatchlings has survived over the last two years, Ken Drees, a research specialist in the biology department, said that so far, he feels the nesting seasons have been "somewhat successful." The other three chicks were found electrocuted by nearby power lines, he said.
Over the past 5 years studying the birds, Driscoll says that they should leave the area around the first of the month on their trip south to warmer temperatures. While he doesn't know exactly where they fly to, similar birds from the Arctic migrate as far south as Central and South America.
"I'd love to be able to find out where they go," he said.
Grand Forks is a rare place for peregrine falcons to take nest, Driscoll said, but it has been a hot bed for similar birds in transit to far north Arctic destinations.
"Birds like this normally nest on cliffs or in high trees," Driscoll said. "We don't have much of that here so the birds we see were most likely born in a nesting box in Fargo or Winnipeg or something like that."
But according to Driscoll, the birds have adapted to the city life quite well.
"I keep track of what they're eating," he said. "When we took the nesting box down on Tuesday, we saw about 15 or 20 carcasses in there. The falcons eat other, smaller birds but we also found a mammal skull for the first time in two years."
He added that last year they collected approximately 238 carcasses that were dropped on the ground surrounding the Smiley water tower. This year, they've found about 150.
Driscoll had been in talks with the city since April, coordinating the removal of the nesting box off the Smiley water tower.
Officials needed the box taken down as soon as possible to keep the demolition on schedule, but Driscoll was successful in lobbying the city to wait until just before the bird's expected October 1 departure date.
Smiley to be razed, falcon habitat saved
