Author: Matt Perry

Today was an especially active day for the falcon residents of Downtown Utica. The box was occupied for nearly the entire day with usually just one of the pair standing vigil. Ares spent much of the morning apparently dozing off and on. At least 3 bird meals were brought back to the nest, including a First-of-the-Season (FOS) Killdeer. That plover obviously received a poor welcome back following its migration from the south. It seemed like it was Ares’ idea to pass the plover off to his mate, but he he couldn’t quite get himself to do it – well not at the box anyhow. The day’s unprecedented action wasn’t over yet, when the pair was actually caught on tape mating on one of the perches! It was a quick affair, folks, as generally is the rule for birds. What was particularly fascinating were the calls made by Ares during the act. Watch the video clip below and if you don’t want to wait, advance 3 minutes into it and watch and listen.

A full month out from liking egg laying time, Astrid and Ares have been increasingly active in and around the nest area. Flight displays by both partners are being witnessed (unfortunately, none of our 3 cameras are able to pick up their aerial gymnastics.) However, all courtship behavior taking place  inside the box is being live streamed to this site. The nest box displays consist of the pair bowing to each other and engaging in calling and counter-calling. What’s most exciting to us is that for the first time we are able to hear these vocalizations!

Contributions to the Utica Peregrine Project have enabled us to purchase an outdoor microphone, which is now mounted inside the nestbox. We’re happy to report that the mic is working, but we have yet to figured out a way to reliably stream the audio on the site. Fortunately, videos posted on this website and on our Facebook page will now contain audio. Peregrine Falcons are very vocal birds and they produce a decent variety of calls and courtship time is one of their most vocal periods. Not having sound meant that we were missing an important part of their interactions.

Lately Ares has been bringing Astrid food offerings, which you could say is akin to taking her out to dinner. A few of these food handoffs have taken place inside the box and we’ve been able to record them for posting. Look for these on Facebook.

A month after fledgling and our 3 young Peregrine Falcons continue to been seen in their Urban Canyon. A few of our falcon watchers have continued visiting Downtown to witness the aerial feats of these now accomplished fliers. Although a least one of the youngsters has been seen in a practice dive (called a stoop), we have not been able to confirm that any one of the 3 has captured prey for themselves. The way they continue to beg and harass their parents seems to indicate that they still rely on them for food, but no doubt that is soon to change. Meanwhile individuals continue to visit the nestbox at unpredictable intervals. Yesterday Leda made 2 visits. It was evident that she had been eating well lately since her throat was bulging (in other words, she had a full crop).

Three weeks after fledging, the young Utica Peregrine Falcons are all still together and doing fine. Weeks of chasing each other and sparring is preparing them well for their future life of hunting and protecting territory. Certainly their flying abilities have improved markedly – so much so that the falcon watchers need not cringe when one of them comes in for a tricky landing. None of the family including the parents are tied to the nest box anymore, but once in a while one of them will pay a visit to the old homestead. Currently the young are spending the majority of their time in the artificial “canyon” that constitutes the small Downtown area. Their favorite buildings are the State Office Building and Hotel Utica, and the young birds do most of their chasing and other aerial stunts around these places. The parents are becoming more elusive of late. Probably hunting farther afield in order to keep up with the growing appetites of demanding young. In fact the begging screeches of the young falcons have become a common part of the Downtown sound-scape. Soon enough though the younsteers will be expected to hunt up their own grub. I expect that Ares may be counting the days until that comes to pass!

 

Utica’s Youngest Peregrine Falcons continue to hone their flying skills as they chase each other all around the downtown area. On Thursday morning I watched Indi and Tres chasing one another and engaging in some sparring. The size difference between these 2 fledglings is the most dramatic in the family – Indi being bigger than even her mother and Tres, undisputedly the smallest of the bunch. Later on Tres and Leda started in. Being more evenly matched in size, their ariel maneuvers were more synchronized and quicker paced. All of these birds are more experienced fliers now, so fortunately we don’t have to hold our breath anymore when they fly upside-down, lock talons or tuck in their wings and plummet toward the Earth. A bit later in the morning Leda was seen high on the steeple of Grace Church standing on one of his parents’ favorite perches. This was the first time we’ve ever seen one of these youngsters use that spot. I was not surprised that Leda was the first to figure out how to land there.

On Friday evening, Dave and Candis Cesari saw some interesting action. Tres flew in proudly carrying a bird in his talons (presumably he got the food from one of his parents). Tres landed on the State Office Building and began feeding, but before long his big sister Indi showed up and stole the food away! Easy come, easy go!