Peregrines

Falcons at the Capitol

Peregrines can reach speeds close to 200 mph in a downward dive. They use their speed and agility to catch birds in mid-air and their prey range in size from sparrows to ducks.

Dinan, a Commission biologist, wanted to see how many eggs had been laid. I wanted to get a picture of the eggs and perhaps the parents. The falcons wanted us out of their front yard, which looked like an uncleaned dinner table, strewn with wings and beaks of smaller birds they had preyed on.

Resembling miniature fighter planes, the peregrines dove at us at incredible speeds, veering off mere feet from our heads and then gracefully arcing upward to begin another run. Hunched close together, we were still ten feet from the nest box when the male scored a direct hit on a surprise bombing run. I felt a wet splat on my back and watched Dinan wipe peregrine feces from the side of his face.

"That's a first," he said. "I didn't know they would do that."

I hadn't either, but it turned out to be a day of firsts - the first day I had been intentionally strafed by a bird, the first time I had heard a peregrine call and the

Flying and nesting high above Lincoln, peregrines truly have a bird's-eye view of the city.

first time I had climbed to the top of the state capitol building. More importantly, although they never hatched, the eggs I photographed that June day in 2003 were the first confirmed peregrine eggs ever laid in Lincoln.

A member of the falcon family, peregrines (Falco peregrinus) are about the size and weight of crows, with females being larger than males. Feeding on a variety of bird species they capture in flight, peregrines can attain speeds of over 200 miles per hour during a dive and fly level at about 60 mile per hour, making them nature's fastest bird.

First-year birds are chocolate brown with heavy streaking on their bellies; adults have slate blue backs, white breasts speckled with black and distinctive black "helmets" on the crown and nape.

Peregrines are divided into three different races - Pacific, tundra and interior west - but only the latter two are seen in Nebraska. According to Commission biologist Kari Andresen, it is believed peregrines historically nested in the rocky escarpments of the Pine Ridge in western Nebraska, but there have been no documented peregrine nests outside of cities in Nebraska for more than 100 years.

Peregrines were once fairly common throughout the nation, but the population plummeted in the 1970s and 1980s due to DDT, a pesticide that worked its way up the food chain to peregrines and other raptors and caused thin egg shells and failed nesting. Listed as

Pat Harre of Lincoln (right) and her granddaughter Sara Harre and grandson Cody Wickizer enjoy a "Lunch with the Peregrines" program on the State Capitol lawn.

endangered in 1970, only 324 peregrine pairs were known to exist in North America by 1975. As a result of conservation efforts and protection by the Endangered Species Act, their numbers have rebounded and in August 1999 the peregrine was removed from the endangered species list.

Much of the conservation effort involved releasing captive-raised peregrines in large cities across the nation and establishing nest boxes in tall buildings after biologists realized that peregrines readily adapt to urban areas with ample food sources if they are provided the right habitat.

Peregrines prefer to nest as high as possible and their nests in the wild usually involve only a simple scrape containing some gravel on a rocky ledge. In order to simulate those conditions, biologists began installing nest boxes to the side of tall buildings across the country, filling the bottom of the boxes with gravel.

Funded in part by Nebraska's nongame state income tax checkoff and private donations, in the summer of 1988, eight captive-bred peregrines were released on the Woodmen

Biologist John Dinan holds the pair of peregrine eggs that were laid in a nest box on the state capitol building but failed to hatch during the 2003 nesting season.

Tower building in downtown Omaha. One of those birds, a male named Woody, returned to the Woodmen to set up a nesting territory and began using a nest box installed for that purpose. In 1992, he and his mate successfully nested for the first time.

Lincoln's experience with nesting peregrines began when a male peregrine was observed around the capitol building in August 1990. The following April a nest box was installed near the top of the capitol and a male and female frequented the area that spring, but no nesting occurred. In April 1992, a pair again was seen in the area, but after being

With piercing eyes and hooked peak, the female peregrine glares at an intruder from the edge of her 18th-story nest box.

courted unsuccessfully by the male, the female left in early May. Another female arrived soon thereafter, but again no nesting occurred and the male departed in August, as did the female a month later. Both male and female peregrines were seen near the capitol the next several years, but no nesting activity was observed and the nest box was removed when capitol building renovations began in 1999.

In March 2003, a pair again seemed to claim the capitol as their territory, so a new nest box was installed above the 18th floor and quickly adopted by the birds. The male, later identified by the alphneumeric code 19/K on its leg band, was hatched and banded in Des Moines, Iowa in 2001. The female, named Angel, had hatched in Minneapolis and had a leg band reading 40/B. Two eggs were soon laid in the nest box, raising hopes Lincoln would see its first-ever young peregrines. Those hopes were dashed, however, when the eggs failed to hatch.

The pair again established territory around the capitol in 2004 but did not nest. In 2005, 19/K and a young female, A/*Y, from Winnipeg, Canada set up house in the nest box. The box now had a roof to protect parents and young from the sun and inclement weather, and a video camera had been attached to the side of the building and pointed at the nest box in anticipation of its use. It turned out to be good call - two eggs were laid in April, and on May 19th, one of them hatched.

Using a mirror, Commission biologist Kari Andresen checks the status of eggs in the nest box as one of the peregrines stands guard.

The successful nest was greeted with excitement and interest. Workers and visitors at the capitol building often stopped in the capitol's rotunda to watch the peregrine family via a video monitor, and the Commission's web site showing the nest box photos received almost 180,000 hits over a 188-day period last summer.

Hatchling peregrines are called "eyases" and weigh about two ounces at birth. Scantily covered with white down at first, feathers replace the down coats in three to five weeks. The first year of life is the most dangerous for peregrines - about 60 percent of young birds die in the first year - but this chick thrived and was banded on June 8, 2005.

After a "Name the Chick" contest was held, Pioneer was chosen from among 746 submissions received from 22 states and from British Columbia in Canada. Seven-year-old Sophie Frohberg of The Woodlands, Texas, submitted the name after seeing the peregrines while visiting

As a peregrine tries to drive him away, Commission biologist John Dinan uses a video camera attached to a tripod to try and confirm the presence of eggs in the nest box..

her grandmother in Lincoln. She and her sister wore homemade T-shirts that read "Pioneer Winged Glory Welcome to the 18th Story" when they came back to Lincoln in July to take part in "Lunch with the Peregrines," a Commission-sponsored program where biologists bring spotting scopes and binoculars for participants to view the peregrines at the capitol. Last year approximately 150 people attended the event, Andresen said.

Peregrine's territories vary according to the quality of nesting sites available and the availability of prey, so the chances of additional nesting pairs establishing in the Omaha/Lincoln area are small, Andresen said. Power plant chimney stacks in other parts of the state are being considered for future nest box sites, Andresen said.

With the help of fellow Commission biologist Sam Wilson and Jessica Schell, a volunteer with Raptor Recovery Nebraska, Andresen attaches a band to the leg of "Pioneer" during a media event celebrating the first successful fledging of a peregrine in Lincoln.

That said, in late-March Andresen noted that all indications suggest the peregrines will use the nest box again this year. Both the parents and Pioneer remained near the capitol all winter, and she expects the parents to drive the younger bird away and renest beginning in April.

Even if no additional pair can nest there, Andresen said both Omaha and Lincoln will remain good locations for the species, and she fully expects the Lincoln nest box to be used on a regular basis in the future.

Sitting atop the video camera that monitors the nest box, 19/K stands guard for his mate and young offspring last summer.

"The food sources there are endless, with all the starlings, pigeons and other birds that live within the city," said Andresen. "It's basically a buffet for the peregrines."

To view Lincoln's peregrine nest box, go to http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/ wildlife/falcon.asp.

Photos and information about the Woodmen Tower nest box can be viewed at www.woodmen.com/falcons.

You can help wildlife species like peregrines by donating to the nongame checkoff fund at http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/ wildlife/programs/nongame/ngdonate.asp.