~Peregrine Falcons~

[Sage]

They do apparently mate for life though there are fights especially at mating or nesting season. The guys at UB have reported seeing various fights near the nestbox and one was on the cam recording when three eggs were in the nest.

YouTube - Peregrine falcon nest fight at UB

YouTube - Peregrine falcon nest fight at UB

You probably know how to get that video!

In this fight, I think the intruding male was Smoky who had been displaced by the defending male, Yankee, who was banded in Ontario Canada. Smoky is a smaller pefa and I also think he showed up at CT and tried to take over that site, but both Stash and Stella were at the box and he couldn't engage them.

They can fight to the death or the displaced male is badly injured. Our Statler male of many years, Handsome, was displaced and found a year later in a suburb, unable to fly. He could have been injured more in subsequent fights because he was found to far away to have walked! Shortly after Handsome disappeared from the Statler nest, the new male actually went through courting rituals, bringing Beauty songbirds and lining them up on the roof above the nest. These gifts were documented by the DEC. The new male immediately starting feeding the female and helped with the care of the nest which was on cam at the time. That building is bankrupt now and there is no way to gain access to the building so the box cannot be cleaned and of course there is no cam now either.

Do you have any Peregrines nearby to watch?

[BooBooBearBecky]

Sage,
There are falcons in WI, but not near my area. We have mostly eagles & hawks here.

I didn't know much about falcons at all, until I started following your updates to this thread. It's been a fascinating read.

p.s. I fixed your video link.

[Sage]

Thanks, BooBoo! I forgot to mention, Intruder male and Yankee on backs with poor BB not knowing what to do and her eggs between her and Yankee. Only one was broken in the fight.

[Sage]

And here is a shot of the nestbox with eggs showing during the fight

[Sage]

Strange things are happening in the Buffalo Peregrine world. BooBoo, it now seems that Stash and Stella have been replaced at CT. S&S might have migrated, leaving the site unguarded and open to new birds. If you're following the blog, details are being posted there.

RE: the bat question - an answer from the DEC

On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 10:12 AM, Jacqueline Walters <jrwalter@gw.dec.state.ny.us> wrote:
And to answer your bat question, it's not unheard of for Peregrines to eat bats. They mostly go after birds (77-99% of the time according to dietary studies), but they do eat the occasional mammal. :-)

[BooBooBearBecky]

Sage, I have another question....

When the 2 peregrine falcons were having an argument (fight), what were they fighting over? The nesting area? The female? Food?

Maybe Stash & Stella took a vacation?

[Sage]

Territory! In other words, the nestsite. We have more pix today; green over black on female at CT - that could be BB from UB; crazy here! Having dinner with Connie from the DEC today. More news later.........

[Sage]

Today's Peregrine pix! Females hanging out at their nestboxes

Stella, at Central Terminal, Buffalo

BB at MacKay tower, University of Buffalo

Still classified as "Endangered species" in NY

[havalotta]

Do they have an official count of them in the area?

[Sage]

Yes, at least the adults we know of. Every year we get another count of the young hatched and banded.
The area has mating pairs at UB, the Statler, Central Terminal, both north and south Grand Island Bridges, Niagara Gorge, and expect another new pair to use a nestbox at Holcim Cement, which is on the waterfront, where the Peregrines can find their favorite prey, ducks!