ON / Port Colborne - 2009-10

[The Peregrine Chick]

I don't know that I recall ever hearing of the destruction/removal of eggs during the dispute though I'm sure that's the outcome if there is a change in ownership and the pair intends to use the same nestsite.  Do I think they might have been broken during a territorial battle, I wouldn't think so, but its not something I've come across personally or in my readings (or not that I remember).  I was just reading some of the backstory and I imagine that the pair could have know their eggs were blown when they had been off them for so long so late in incubation.  In the same way that infertile eggs are broken and consumed by the adults - it helps to replenish the stores lost to the production of the egg and in this case perhaps reserves lost to the territorial battles.

This is all just theory, don't know enough about the pair, nesting, battles, timelines, and most of what I've heard is eighth-hand, to say definitively what could have happened.

Hope that helps a bit ....
TPC

[carly]

No more eggs here

May 05, 2009 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill

Doug Garbutt Reports:
I noticed today on the monitor that the remaining 2 eggs (which have been badly neglected the last week or so) have also been broken. There are now remnants of shells but nothing else. Millie was observed in the box for over an hour just doing houskeeping & walking around. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tracy, would one of the pair purposely destroy the eggs because of the territorial dispute?  Why would they do that, to prevent the inturder from doing it or taking possession of their eggs?  Or would it just have been accidental from being so upset and trampling them.

[allikat]

Again...brilliant and wonderful...and all those emotional words needing to be expressed!

[Alison]

Not only does the law firm, which occupies the top floors of the building, let the falcons remain, they also provide the web cam.

[carly]

That's great!  And wonderful they've allowed them to remain and nest there...good on them!

[allikat]

I think it's brilliant!

[Alison]

They have nested there for several years.

[allikat]

Unbelievable...but great!

[Alison]

Can't remember where at the moment but a pair last year (at least) and this year chose to nest in the vegetation in an office building balcony planter - again not a nestbox.

Very interesting information on nest sites, TPC. Also very interesting information in the stats you provided farther down.

The only nest in a planter on an office balcony that I know of is in Atlanta on the 51st floor outside the offices of a law firm. There are three chicks in the planter at the moment.

http://www.georgiawildlife.com/content/displaycontent.asp?txtDocument=283

[bev.]

If they get this straightened out I am sure there will be time.
 It was this time last year that our nest site  in Edmonton, finally settled down and then eggs at end of May. Your season down there is a bit longer than ours so let us keep our fingers crossed that there  are no more casualties.

Who can keep up with all this Carly.

[carly]

Well one thing that is confirmed this morning is that the eggs at Port Colbourne - the two remaining are no longer being incubated as the territorial dispute continues.

Strange that both sites are having the same issues at the same time.  .  Freedom and Pittsburgh Pete were both long time residents and are much beloved by fans...not sure what will happen but I guess we won't see babies until both situations are resolved.  I wonder if it really is them, only time will tell.

[carly]

Well now I have egg on my face, I mixed up the post ID"s - they think it may be Freedom trying to come back to Port Colbourne not PP.  PP is from the Burlington Lift Bridge that also has a 3 falcon problem - so both sites have the older male potentially coming back and trying to reclaim their territory!!

No Band Id's at either site though so it can't be confirmed as of yet!  Sorry for the mix up  , so PP may be back as well - I just had the wrong location!! 

[bev.]

Our resident female downtown Edmonton moved 3 times. the biologists say that she went from #3 nest site to #2  best (clinical science) and then to Downtown Edmonton(which is considered the best site in the greater Edmonton area.

they also said that rarely will a male move from a site (from what they have observed)unless ousted. I have no way of knowing that but they do . But then Trey did in Manitoba so I guess it is a constantly changing thing.

[The Peregrine Chick]

It is hard saying what I mean on line, I know what I mean but it does not come forth  the way I want it to.
Oh I give up . It will not come across right no matter which way I say. so I will just drop the topic.

Oh don't do that - its not a case of "right" or needing to drop the topic - this is exactly what Projects have to deal with when we are trying to assist peregrines in urban locations.  And its important information to know and be able to communicate when people ask "why can't you put a nestbox up for them"....

I think I did not state my point well enough. what I mean is that when a peregrine comes from a certain area , in a lot of cases they go back to that area.

Yes and no.  Most young peregrines that survive year one, don't come back to their natal areas. Trey didn't, he returned the year after and then continued to return.  Ivy didn't either the first year.  Lucy, Ivy's sister did, but after her failed nest with Ivy at 2 years of age, she left the area. Obi-Wan from Brandon spent his first year in Winnipeg then dropped off the radar entirely.  Madame, Trey's Mom, turned up her less than 12 months after she hatched and never left (she overwintered). 

They released last years peregrine and his sense of instinct sent him back to that area. but another one is already there.You have the Trey at your site but he moved over from another site in Winnipeg.   You have  a male  in West  winnipeg but it came from Winnipeg. (If I read what you said earlier right.)It is not exactly the same spot, but it came back to Winnipeg.

And birds that have nested in/are nesting in - Grand Forks & Fargo ND, Omaha & Lincoln, Nebraska, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton and of course, Brandon ... and those are just the ones we know about

Of course peregrines are going to wander over from other areas. There's might be full, we do not know.  So they wander, thus the peregrine. I know that they will not necessarily go to box  becasue it is put there. I have had that explained to me by the biologists here. I also know that if they see a peregrine nesting one year they will try an accommodate it the next year. Thus we have a box at the U of a. They will not always return there either, but a good chance is they do , if possible. they do what pleases them for their own survival.

They tried to create a new nestbox for the TF becasue she liked the Weber building but they were not allowed, by the management. Maybe she would nest there maybe not, but they wanted to give it a try. To make more room for the falcons.

A lot more peregrines are going to the Toronto area,and that is great. It means they are becoming more successful. So maybe an area that they think will appeal  to the falcon could be made attractive to them(and I do not mean decorating ) It might work, it might not , but at least it is there.
Here in Edmonton they put a nest box in a certain area and they never nested there but when  a male  was forced out of an area last year it went to that nest box. This was all explained to me.

You are exactly right, there is almost no way to predict anything, but Projects like ours, Alberta's, Ontario's, etc,  can't just be re-active, we have to be pro-active because we have a limited window of time while the birds are here and the peregrines often have a limited attention span.  Peregrine in town on year, put up nestbox and hope bird is back next year and with a fertile receptive companion AND they approve of your nestsite selection skills ... art and a science sometimes ...


Speaking of the science, here are some stats that may be of interest ...

females generally move further than males to breed
- among the population on the Prairies/in the Midwest - 67 females moved on average 345km and 73 males moved 174km to nest
- another study showed 75% of females moved 355km to nest, 75% of males moved 170km to nest
- of 1700 banded chicks in Greenland (from 583 separate nests) - only 35 males and 7 females came back to nest in their natal area(s) - note female mortality is greater which may help to account for fewer females returning

peregrines are very attached to their nestsites once they have them
- females more likely to switch sites than males overall
- in our population - out of 241 territories (over a number of years) 7 birds left territories where they had been unsuccessful (nest failed or mate disappeared), 4 successful birds moved to "better" (more successful) sites and 3 lost territorial disputes but survived

[bev.]

I think I did not state my point well enough. what I mean is that when a peregrine comes from a certain area , in a lot of cases they go back to that area.
They released last years peregrine and his sense of instinct sent him back to that area. but another one is already there.
You have the Trey at your site but he moved over from another site in Winnipeg. 
You have  a male  in West  winnipeg but it came from Winnipeg. (If I read what you said earlier right.)It is not exactly the same spot, but it came back to Winnipeg.
Of course peregrines are going to wander over from other areas. There's might be full, we do not know.  So they wander, thus the peregrine.

I know that they will not necessarily go to box  becasue it is put there. I have had that explained to me by the biologists here.
I also know that if they see a peregrine nesting one year they will try an accommodate it the next year. Thus we have a box at the U of a. They will not always return there either, but a good chance is they do , if possible. they do what pleases them for their own survival.

They tried to create a new nestbox for the TF becasue she liked the Weber building but they were not allowed, by the management. Maybe she would nest there maybe not, but they wanted to give it a try. To make more room for the falcons.
It is hard saying what I mean on line, I know what I mean but it does not come forth  the way I want it to.

A lot more peregrines are going to the Toronto area,and that is great. It means they are becoming more successful. So maybe an area that they think will appeal  to the falcon could be made attractive to them(and I do not mean decorating ) It might work, it might not , but at least it is there.
Here in Edmonton they put a nest box in a certain area and they never nested there but when  a male  was forced out of an area last year it went to that nest box. This was all explained to me.
 
Oh I give up . It will not come across right no matter which way I say. so I will just drop the topic.