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SOUTH BEND -- Scarlet proved much less aggressive than her predecessor Monday, as a team of peregrine falcon experts removed her chicks from the nesting box atop the County-City Building for banding.
The new mother swooped and squawked but never attacked falconer Mike Jones or John Castrale, a biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Guinevere, by comparison, often aggressively dive bombed Jones and Castrale, occasionally drawing blood. She died in January after 11 years nesting in the city.
Castrale banded the chicks removed from the nesting box Monday and dusted them for mites. He also drew blood from each one. All common practice.
Though unharmed, the chicks — one male and one female — protested loudly, their cries carrying out into the hallway from the Common Council meeting room.
About 22 days old now, the chicks were sprouting newly formed wing and tail feathers. The female was much larger than the male, which is common of the species.
“All the flight feathers are coming out, all of the tail feathers are coming out,” Castrale observed. “Another week and a half and they’ll be flapping.”
“They look good,” said Carol Riewe, a local raptor rehabilitator.
Another three weeks or so and the birds should take flight, Riewe said. After that, they’ll stick around for about seven weeks and then strike out on their own.
The purpose of the bands is to identify the birds and track their movements, Riewe said. Previous falcons born in South Bend have shown up in Racine, Wis., Michigan City and Kalamazoo.
The chicks are the first for 2-year-old Scarlet, who arrived here from Madison, Wis., in March. Zeus, Scarlet’s mate, has been here for two years. He previously mated with Guinevere, who previously mated with Zephyr, who died in 2012.
As late as March, it was unclear whether any falcon chicks would be born in the city this year. In a period of about two months, Zeus lost Guinevere and then Diva, another potential mate from Youngstown, Ohio.
Scarlet swooped in at the last minute, though, and the two hit it off.
“I am thrilled about this whole thing,” Riewe said. “I think it is great.”
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"The time to protect a species is while it is still common"
Rosalie Edge
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Founder
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FAQ
WILL THEY POST EVENTUALLY UNDER THEIR "NEWS" SECTION?
THANKS KITTENFACE!!! I HAVE TO SAY, I THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO BE THE SAME SEX AS I ASSUMED THEY WERE ABOUT THE SAME SIZE. IT HAS BEEN NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH THEM TOGETHER IN SIMILAR POSES TO JUDGE, AS USUALLY YOU ONLY CATCH GLIMPSES OF BITS AND PIECES OF ONE OR BOTH. MAYBE, THEY WILL UPDATE THEIR "NEWS" UNDER CAM WITH BAND COLORS/NUMBERS SOON.
