6/1/07
The Syracuse Post-Standard covered yesterday's banding of hatchlings Charlie, Hino and Degayadakhwa:

Rowdy falcons banded

By Delen Goldberg

Staff writer

DEC will track Fancy and Groucho’s youngest babies  

 

Legs kicked. Bodies squirmed. And high-pitched shrieks filled the air. Charlie, Hino and Degayadakhwa — Syracuse’s newest peregrine falcons — didn’t appreciate wildlife officials’ examinations Thursday or the aluminum bands the scientists placed around their legs.

The baby birds nipped at their handlers, drawing blood from some, and tried to hop out of the buckets in which they were placed. “This is a really rowdy bunch,” said Barbara Loucks, an endangered species specialist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation in Albany. The chicks hatched about a month ago in a nesting box near the top of the State Tower Building. Their parents are Fancy and Groucho. Thursday was the babies’ big debut.

Here’s a look at what they went through:

The banding

DEC officers, armed with nets and hard hats, plucked the fluffy, white chicks from their nest about 2:30 p.m.  Fancy, thinking the people were predators trying to steal her babies, dive-bombed the group, screeching loudly and flapping her wings. “She was very aggressive,” Loucks said. “More so than last year.” Once safely inside, the wildlife experts examined each chick on a long office table. They spread the birds’ wings, checked their mouths for lesions and scoured their feathers for lice. DEC workers found lice on both Hino and Degayadakhwa, but gave all three chicks a clean bill of health. “Their lungs work well,” joked Mike Allen, a DEC senior wildlife technician, as the birds squawked and squealed. The scientists then placed permanent, aluminum bands around each bird’s leg. The bands are like Social Security numbers. Each has a unique label that identifies the falcon and tells where it was born. The bands help wildlife officials track the birds’ movement and health. After about an hour of poking and prodding, the chicks were returned to their nest. “It doesn’t take them long to recover or for their parents to calm down,” said Lance Clark, a wildlife biologist for the DEC’s Cortland office. “Within an hour or two, they’ll have forgotten about it.” What’s next? The birds will soon have to grow up and learn how to fend for themselves. In the coming weeks, the chicks’ flight feathers and normal plumage will replace the down that covered their bodies Thursday. By about 6 weeks old, they should be flying. That’s when they’ll start hunting on their own, targeting bugs or butterflies at first, Loucks said. Slowly, they’ll move on to bigger prey, namely other birds, and begin relying less on their parents for survival. By August, the chicks will be all grown up and ready to venture out on their own. DEC officials said peregrine falcons born in New York have been spotted as far west as Nebraska, as far south as Maryland and as far north as Ontario, Canada.

Delen Goldberg can be reached at dgoldberg@syracuse.com or 470-2274.

5/30/07

State wildlife officials on Thursday will remove several baby peregrine falcons from their nest on Syracuse's State Tower Building to examine the chicks and fit them with identification bands.

5/10/07
I am happy to report that Fancy and Groucho are the proud parents of three hatchlings!

4/13/07
Yesterday afternoon, I happened to look out the window at the nest box and saw Groucho flying circles around the STB.  He was swooping and diving.  I thought at first that the maintenance people had returned (they were on the tower for a few minutes on Wednesday), but quickly discovered it was not the case.  There was another falcon flying with Groucho.  And it wasn't Fancy.  A quick check of the website showed her still in the nest box (sitting on eggs I hope).  The intruder and Groucho continued swooping and diving around the tower for about twenty minutes.  I took time off to go out and watch.  At last they grew tired and the intruder retreated to the Verizon tower and roosted on one of the cone shaped antennas on the second level.  Groucho flew in close trying to encourage the intuder to leave.  Groucho even landed above it on the roof of the Verizon Tower.  I managed to get a good look at the intruder at this point and found it was an adult falcon, and judging by the size compared with Groucho, I would guess it to be a male.  After resting for about ten minutes, the intruder flew back towards the STB and Groucho took up his efforts to discourage him.  The two raced across the skies, meeting with talons bared several times.  Groucho was definitely the aggressor, and defended his territory well, but after several minutes appeared to tire.  That's when Fancy, who had come out to watch the combat, took matters into her own talons and took off in pursuit of the intruder.  She chased him out of my sight past the Verizon Tower and then returned to the nest box.  She was sitting on her eggs again when I left work, and Groucho was sitting on the rail of the Verizon Tower.  No sign of the intruder.  Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of this combat, though there may be a video.  I'll have to wait on that.  This combat was like two boxers going three rounds, with rests between.  It wasn't until the female intervened that the two males broke off the fight. 

4/2/07
This morning we had another female Peregrine Falcon that tried to invade the nest box.  Around 9 am, I recieved a report that Groucho was driving off another female while Fancy observed from the nest box perch.  Again about 11:30 am, I personally saw Groucho chasing another female away from the box while Fancy watched.   This is the third time in four years that I've seen this type of activity at this nest site, and it has always involved another female trying to take over.  Groucho and Fancy have a well established bond, which they reinforced after this latest attempt. 

Note:  It is usually a lone female who will attempt a hostile takeover of the nest.  There have been sightings of an extra female in Binghamton just last week, and two females fighting in the box in Buffalo a couple years ago, caught on the webcam. And several cases in NYC.

Rochester's Peregrine couple now has three eggs.

The photo above shows Groucho on the top left, about to swoop at the intruding female Peregrine Falcon.  A close up of the intruder indicates she was an imature female, and although no bands can be seen, she may have been one of last year's three offspring returned to the area.  Unfortunately, she never landed where she could be observed to determine if she was banded.  She hasn't been seen again since Monday around 11AM.  Photo by Robert (Jeff) Gilka.

4/1/07
Bird watchers report that the level of Falcon activity around the State Tower Building in downtown Syracuse may indicate that Fancy and Groucho, Syracuse's resident Peregrine Falcon couple, have mated and are expecting.  This would be the couple's fourth brood since 2004.    According to George Marleau, “We believe there are eggs in the nest.  Fancy has been spending more time there and Groucho has been delivering food.“  From their State Tower Building nest, they've already raised 11 offspring.