Comments on: First Peregrine Egg at Pitt!

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:03:06 +0000

Kit, we were able to positively identify Dorothy as recently at March 10th.
I check both her and E2′s leg band colors and overall look and behavior when I view her on the webcam. You can’t read the bands from the webcam but the colors help. In both cases, I believe it’s still Dorothy and E2 at Pitt.
In 2008 Dorothy laid her first egg 6 days earlier than in 2007 and this year 5 days sooner than in 2008. We don’t know why but she certainly has a pattern going.

By: Kit McGlinchey

Kit McGlinchey — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:15:57 +0000

Kate, with the laying pattern being so different than Dorothy’s past history, has this bird been positively identified as Dorothy ? E2 as well ?

By: Rosie

Rosie — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:32:16 +0000

Yay!!! Another egg! WTG Dorothy!

By: Herk

Herk — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:36:17 +0000

Second egg showed up this morning.

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:02:17 +0000

Here are some answers to Traci’s questions:
>Why is the egg red rather than white?
I don’t know the answer to this but your theory that red makes it hard to see on the gravel is a good one.

>Dangers on natural cliffs? Dangers in urban settings?
At cliff sites, peregrines try to pick ledges that are so narrow and have such steep access that nothing can get to them on foot. Otherwise mammals, including humans, may take the eggs/chicks. If the site is only accessible from the air, their biggest danger is the great-horned owl, a bird so powerful he can kill an adult peregrine. There are no great-horned owls in the close vicinity of the Gulf Tower and Cathedral of Learning – and humans are kept away from the nests – so these are very safe sites.

>Do urban falcon’s young stick to urban areas or do they migrate to rural areas?
Young falcons born in urban settings travel all over the place and pass through many rural settings on their way. Satellite telemetry studies have shown they often go to the Atlantic, the Great Lakes or Chesapeake Bay for their first years of life. It appears from banding data that when it comes time to nest at two years old, they often try to find a site like the one where they were born – an urban place. This has slowed the complete recovery of the peregrine in the eastern U.S. because they have not yet reclaimed the wild nesting sites. They are still listed as endangered in Pennsylvania because they have not gone back to most of the cliff sites … yet.

By: Traci

Traci — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:28:14 +0000

Last night around midnight, I checked the webcam and Dorothy wasn’t at the nest and I panicked because I couldn’t see the egg. At first, I thought that white blotch (what I now know is poop) was the egg – broken. She came back but didn’t seem to be in a hurry to sit on where the egg ‘used’ to be.

But it dawned on me – this must be why the egg is the color it is, rather than white? like the eagle’s eggs? It blended in with that gravel so much I could have sworn it was gone.

I imagine in a natural cliff, the egg’s color would naturally blend in with the surrounding rock? Helping to protect it?

Which leads to another question – on a natural cliff, I would imagine small animals like a raccoon or fox? would want to eat any egg they found. Do urban falcons really have any predators to worry about, in regard to the eggs? besides other falcons wanting their nest?

Do urban falcon’s young stick to urban areas – or do they migrate to rural areas?

Sorry for all these questions!! and thanks for answering the others!!

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:36:08 +0000

J, here’s an answer to your question…
>Could the earlier date for her first egg mean she’s going to lay a larger clutch this year, perhaps 5 eggs instead of her usual 4?
Probably not. I don’t think there’s a link between start of egg laying and number of eggs – but I’m not expert.
More than four eggs is unusual for Dorothy. She has always laid four. In the 2002-2005 seasons all four eggs hatched. For the past three years (2006, 2007, 2008) only 3 of her 4 eggs have hatched.

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:27:12 +0000

Traci, sorry it took so long to answer your questions. Here’s some answers to…

>Is it normal to stay at the nest at night just before she lays an egg?
Yes. Birds lay eggs at any time of day or night, just as humans give birth at any hour of the day, so she stays at the nest to be sure she’s in the right place when it happens. The interesting part is that we couldn’t see it on camera until this year because Pitt changed the way they light the Cathedral of Learning (more light higher up) *and* this camera can operate in low light.

>Will they lay three eggs like the Gulf Tower couple?
Yes. In fact both female peregrines are likely to lay four eggs. Sometimes a fifth.

>How long before a chick hatches?
I put the answer on my new Peregrine FAQs page at … http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/peregrine-faqs/question-hatching/ (That’s what took me so long!)

By: Heather Jacoby

Heather Jacoby — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:30:49 +0000

Is there a reason that there isn’t a page where both falcon-cams can be viewed simultaneously – perhaps side-by-side to eliminate scrolling? It would be a nice option, if possible. I don’t know who to make suggestions to, or if it would be feasible. Perhaps the current format would be good for those with lower-speed connections or older machines.

Just a thought.

By: J

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:03:48 +0000

On checking the falconcam the past couple days, I’d noticed Dorothy seemd to be spending a lot of time just standing on the scrape seemingly doing nothing so I though she might be getting ready to lay an egg. Could the earlier date for her first egg mean she’s going to lay a larger clutch this year, perhaps 5 eggs instead of her usual 4?