Comments on: Peregrine FAQs

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 23:57:47 +0000

Tasha was last seen at 10:45am on the day Dori (a.k.a. Mary Cleo from Akron, Ohio) challenged for her territory. That was March 20, 2010. There has been no news of Tasha since then.
A solo female peregrine was seen at the 62nd St Bridge on the Allegheny River in late Spring 2010 but it was never identified — and then it was gone.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 20:49:17 +0000

Kate, do you know what happened to Tasha? Thanks for all of your information too!

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:30:48 +0000

The peregrines are indeed aware of the red-tailed hawks and vice versa. Peregrines consider red-tails a threat to their nest so they attack them if they fly anywhere near the nesting zone at the top of the building. In fact, the peregrines enforce a no-fly zone from the 20th floor of the CL downward. The red-tails must stay at or below tree height near the Cathedral of Learning. If they dare to fly higher they are attacked mercilessly. The peregrines always win.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:25:08 +0000

Hi Kate,

First off, awesome blog. I met you a couple of years ago when you were doing some bird watching at the Cathedral. Ever since then I have been fascinated with the peregrines and always take a look up to see them whenever I have a chance.
Today I saw a hawk (red tail?) chowing down on a dead squirrel on the Cathedral lawn which led me to a question: do the peregrines and hawks get along? I have actually seen a couple of hawks around campus so I know the two birds must be aware of each other.

Thanks!

Nick

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:20:46 +0000

Monika, I don’t know of any incident of an offspring/parent pair. I have heard of one incident of siblings pairing but do not know if they were born in the same clutch. I suspect not.
Keep in mind that peregrines are *not* social creatures. They do not know their extended family because they do not associate with them. As my friend Karen says, “They never have Thanksgiving dinner together.” Siblings from the same parents born in different years would not know each other at all.
Humans are social creatures, we know usually know our extended family, and we have taboos against mating with anyone too closely related. In some social groups, first cousins are too closely related. In others it is/was perfectly acceptable for first cousins to marry. Example: European royalty in the 1700s.

By: Monika

Monika — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:31:53 +0000

This might be a strange question, but would peregrines mate with their offspring/parents and/or siblings? If so, any idea how common the occurrence is?

By: Karen LaFrance

Karen LaFrance — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:43:50 +0000

Hi Kate. Very nice grisly history of peregrines! Nice to see so many peregrines in the Pgh area these days. Far cry from back in late 1980′s when Charles Bier and Steve Branca built the first nest boxes on the Gulf Tower….

Steve might correct me on this, but as I recall it was his access through the Allegheny Conference’s corporate leaders that opened up the Gulf Tower and that corporation to the idea of hosting the first peregrine nest boxes in Pittsburgh.

Keep up the good blog. Karen

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:51:31 +0000

There's a good explanation of hacking on the Virginia Dept of Game and Inland Fisheries' website. Look for the description in the middle of the webpage, the paragraph above the picture of a box on the right. The box is a "hack box." http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/birds/peregrine-falcon/

By: Mary McKinley

Mary McKinley — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:35:55 +0000

What does it mean when you say a peregrine was “hacked?” I must have missed it when you explained that earlier. Thanks so much for your blog. This is my first year following it. Mary McKinley

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:43:19 +0000

Peregrines kill their prey by biting the back of the neck & severing the spinal cord. Usually they take the head off.

A “properly prepared” prey item has no head and has had its breast feathers plucked. During courtship the males carefully prepare prey this way and offer it to their mates. E2 is so fastidious about food preparation that he’ll make Dorothy wait until he’s done.

These niceties are thrown to the winds after the chicks hatch. The parents are so busy that they often don’t bother to take off the head or pluck the prey before bringing it to the nest.