CeciliaonWed 11 June 2008 - 11:45:32
SteveonTue 13 May 2008 - 10:43:49
Ohio Division of Wildlife biologists are banding the four eyases this morning, Tuesday May 13. Watch the images as the drawbridge is brought up to prevent the eyases from getting to close to the edge of the ledge. The eyases will be brought into the Greenbriar Suite and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service bands will be attached to their legs. The bands have unique identifying numbers and codes so that the individual falcons can be identified in the future. A blood sample will be drawn for genetic analysis. The youngsters will then be returned to the nest unharmed.
Buckeye and S/W will be attendance at the ledge trying to see what is going on with their young. Within a hour or so after the banding all will be returned to normal on the 12th floor of the Terminal Tower and the eyases will be able to be identified for the rest of their lives. It is through these bands that we know that Onyx, who fledged from the Terminal Tower in 2006, now has a mate and is nesting at the Tower east building in Shaker Heights.
Watch the images as they update through the morning to catch all the action.
HarveyonTue 13 May 2008 - 09:49:36
As you monitor the falconcam images, you will see food transfers between Buckeye and SW several times a day. Often the identity of the prey is a mystery. The reason for this is that Buckeye will usually pluck the bird and possibly remove its head before bringing it to the nest and transferring it to SW. However this image clearly shows large feathers strewn about the nest box. The feathers have a conspicuous yellow hue to their shafts. This distinctive coloration and size allows to be identified as coming from the yellow-shafted version of the Northern Flicker, a common woodpecker. Flickers are highly migratory and they have been migrating through the region in large numbers over the past several weeks. They will often forage on the ground and in open habitats and as a result attract the attention of the Peregrines. Flickers clearly are a tasty treat for a hungry Peregrine Falcon family.
HarveyonFri 02 May 2008 - 15:02:26
Although the eyases have a generous covering of downy feathers at this point in their development, they are far from being thermo-competent, that is, able to maintain their body temperature without help from their parents and siblings. This image from Wednesday morning, 4/30/08 shows the youngsters huddled together for warmth while SW and Buckeye are not present brooding them. Ambient temperatures are in the low 40s here in the shadow of the Terminal Tower. By huddling closely together the young are pooling their body masses, increasing their collective volume relative to their surface area and conserving the heat that would normally radiate from their bellies and other areas of their bodies where there are gaps in their downy feather coverage. This increase in thermal efficiency conserves precious body heat on these cold April mornings between parental shift changes.
As the young get older and gain body mass and greater individual thermodynamic efficiency, they will be less inclined for a group hug.
HarveyonWed 30 April 2008 - 10:32:46
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