Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for February 13, 2019

Yesterday we had a little bit of excitement in the downtown canyon. There were three adult Falcons present at just after 10 AM. Ares remained at the box during the brief moment when the intruder was flying. He chirped a lot but did not leave his post. Meanwhile, Astrid did take flight but we weren’t sure if she pursued the stranger. If she did it wasn’t for long since she was back on the State Building only a short time later. It was an odd day to have an intruder since the weather was so harsh. Snow fell through much of the morning followed by freezing rain. Wind gusts were impressive. Today (Wednesday) the weather was a little better. It was warmer and there were breaks of between the snow squalls. Despite that, Astrid enjoyed two meals on the hotel. The first one may have been leftovers from the day before – we couldn’t be sure. She fed on it for a while and then ceded it to Ares. He promptly flew off with it (check out the video below). In mid-afternoon she had what looked like a new pigeon on the hotel. By then the wind picked up and really buffeted the PTZ camera. Between that and the intensifying snow squalls, we had a difficult time discerning what she was doing on the ledge. Ares perched near her for part of the meal but didn’t get anything. One thing was clear, Astrid ate very well today. Ares fed at some earlier point in the morning. When he first came to the box this morning, he already had what looked to be a big crop. We noticed no ledge displays today or yesterday. Although Ares zoomed by the nest box and possibly by Astrid at one point and that may have been a flight display.

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.

Here are some pictures from the past week