Luna Has Left the Fold, But the Other Three Juvenile Falcons Continue to be Seen

We’ve had one of our young Peregrines leave the fold since my last update. Luna, the smallest male, was last seen flying and sparring with his siblings on July 14^th. Although we don’t know for sure what has become of him, we have no evidence that he had been injured or killed. The incentive to leave the family is strong for a small male since he would have the hardest time obtaining food from the adults. More often than not, when he did get something he would lose it to one of his larger siblings. As of July 21^st we still have three juvenile Peregrines on their parent’s territory. They frequently return to the canyon where they hunt, spar, and make tremendous commotions. They are very loud birds! All three have been seen hunting. They do this alone and in teams. Sometimes they fly very low as they try to stir up prey. They are often out of our view, hunting on the outskirts of the territory. So far they all return to the canyon at least a few times a day and almost always by nightfall. The parents have been doing fewer ledge displays at the box just lately. They still spend a fair amount of their time keeping out of sight of the perpetually hungry gang of kids.