Today I accompanied the brave wildlife officials who annually band the Peregrine Falcon nestlings here in Providence – the one day I can get close up photos of the wild falcons that I can usually only admire from a distance – my favorite day of the year.
For complete information about the banding process, please watch this great video from the Providence Journal in 2008: click here to watch
When we arrived near the top of the 30-story tower, mom was inside the box feeding the eyases (nestlings). When she came to check us out she had leftover breakfast grasped in her talons (see above). The protective tiercel (male) arrived shortly afterwards. You can tell them apart by their ankle bands; the female is unbanded and the male is banded. His band number indicates he was born in Boston.
Neither of them looked happy to see us…
Check out those talons!
Joe Z is the man in charge – he installed the next box in 1996 and every year he’s the guy who bands the nestlings. Here you can see him gently removing one through a secret back door panel.
This year the female incubated four eggs, but only two hatched. The nestlings are measured, sexed and banded by Joe. At this age, 21 days after hatching, their ankles are already fully grown so there is no concern that they will grow too large for the bands being applied.
Two unhatched eggs were removed from the box:
Although their nestlings are being handled by strangers and the parents are obviously upset, it does not stop them from caring for the eyases once they are returned to the box. In fact, the parents might feel pride that they successfully protected their territory from invaders.
Here is mom returning to her nestlings:
As we exited, dad continued to watch closely – he sure is handsome:
Want more?
– watch these falcons grow up LIVE on ASRI’s streaming webcam
– my pictures of the falcon banding in 2011
– my pictures of the falcon banding in 2012
– all of my Peregrine Falcon blog posts
Lastly, here’s the beautiful view from 27 floors up:
19 Comments
Wonderful pictures again, thank you so much! What gender are the two eyases? (Just curious ;-) )
As usual your pictures make me feel like I am right there. Thank you so very much.
I’ll add a question along with Ingrid’s, can you give the band numbers also? (for record at forum). Thank you again for sharing this with us.
Thank you both, I sincerely appreciate the compliments. I’ll ask about the genders and tag numbers… stay tuned…
ok, here’s what I’ve been told:
Although one of the peregrines banded was a bit larger over-all, judging by leg & band size they are both male.
The band numbers are: 816-06280 and 816-06281.
WOW! Your pictures are amazing. Thank you Peter!
I especially loved the comment: “parents might feel pride that they successfully protected their territory from invaders.” Big sigh of relief for sure!
Thank you, Gigi, I appreciate it
Raptors are my favorite bird to photograph and I love your images of them so very much….
Thanks Rufus, I hope to run into you again sometime
Thank you for posting these Peter, they are gorgeous and what an amazing experience, it’s great to be able live it through your images.
Thanks, Hali – I love the adventure
My students have been watching along with me every day and this morning we saw mama feeding the little one’s breakfast then an empty nesting box. I figured it was banding and so we watched and saw them being put back in the nest and the not-too-happy parents protecting their young. :-)
Thanks for the comment, Karen, I was wondering what webcam watchers would think of the missing falcons! I think the signal was later knocked offline while removing the non-functioning camera that was inside the box. I hope the main camera is back online for your students soon.
Yes, they are very protective, aren’t they? Love your photos, had a great time, and my head still hurts.:) All worth it! Joe said I am now 1 of 5 people in NE hit by a peregrine. Well worth the title!
You’re very lucky you were wearing a helmet :)
sorry I didn’t capture the moment on film
Thank you Peter for the information, again thank you for all your great pictures over the years.
Hi Peter:
We met you at the home show and I told you I volunteered in Smithfield. We watched the live cam …we live at the residences :). Your pictures are beyond awesome!! Fabulous! Brought goosebumps to my arms. Thank you so much!
Wonderful photos Peter. Again, you make us feel as though we were there! Great documentation of an important banding project.
It’s always so fascinating to see the pictures and video of the eggs and growing nestlings. I’d love to be able to be up there with them! Great work, as ever.
Thank you all for the compliments, I appreciate it sincerely – it’s great to hear that people enjoy viewing my photos as much as I enjoy taking them.