Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for February 10, 2019
Astrid and Ares were very active this morning, but mostly stayed in view of our cameras. At 8:20 AM, the pair shared a short ledge display at the nest box. Following the dance, Astrid left the box first, which is atypical. It’s possible she was trying to coax her mate into providing a food tribute. As far as we can determine, that behavior has yet to start, but we expect it to begin soon. Twenty minutes after their brief dance, Astrid caught a pigeon and took it over to the hotel ledge. There she plucked it and began feeding. Ares soon showed up and tried to get a share. This is how many of the winter meals go down in falcon town. Astrid secures the food and Ares tries to steal a chunk of it. She usually mantles the food and makes a big show of stopping him from getting any, but he almost always gets some in the end. If she really didn’t want him to have any, there’s no doubt that he’d be out of luck, but she allows him to abscond with something just about every time. It’s possible and maybe even likely that Ares helped catch the pigeon. We’ve certainly seen them engage in cooperative hunting before. If past is prologue, soon Ares will be providing most of the meals.