Thanks to all the peregrine falcon trackers in Maine, Utah and Washington for reporting news about your local falcons over the past weeks! As you'll read below, peregrine falcons have returned to several cities in the U.S. and Canada and are laying eggs! If you have access to the WWW you can even see a live view of falcons in their nest in Toronto, Ontario. (See details below).
Once again, fascinating migration data was gathered by satellite telemetry as part of peregrine biologist Skip Ambrose's study. We've provided his interpretation of the data below. As a Challenge Question for you we've left out a number in one of his sentences!
Challenge Question # 94
"How many miles did Falcon # 867 move in the 4 hours between satellite readings?"
(To respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions at the end of this report.)
Skip says the falcons should return to Alaska at the end of this month! Note his comments about the migratory birds that have recently returned to the Fairbanks area. Why do you think the peregrine falcons wait until later this month to return? Here is Skip's message from April 18th:
"An Alaskan adult female, #867, started migrating north on or before April 9. This bird is from a nest very close to the Alaska-Canada border. She wintered in Campeche, Mexico, which is at the base of the Yucatan Peninsula.
"On April 9, 1996, at 21:18 hours Zulu time (3:18 pm local time), she was headed northwest. On April 10, 1996, 01:26 Zulu time (7:26 pm later that evening), she was moving northwest. This means she was migrating after dark near the Gulf of Mexico, just inland from Veracruz. It looks like she moved about ( ) miles in that 4 hour block, so she probably was not flying constantly during that 4 hours.
"I hope we start getting a few more hits from Alaska birds in the next few weeks. A few migrants have shown up here: a red-tailed hawk, a merlin, and a few geese. Peregrine usually show up about late April, so we should get a few hits in the next few weeks during migration.
"I just got a call from the Lake Powell, Utah survey folks. They have seen six of the seven adult females we tagged last year. They were back on territory, with mates and doing fine. This is always a relief; we like to know that our research is not negatively affecting the birds, and having 6 out of 7 come back is great. The seventh falcon may be the same bird without her transmitter, we will keep checking on her.
"I will get you posted on any news!"
Regards,
Skip
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Satellite Data From Falcon # 867
April 9, 1996
Time: 21:18 (Zulu) 19.285 N, 96.433 W
Time: 01:26 (Zulu) 19.433 N, 96.932 W
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PEREGRINE FALCON FIELD OBSERVATIONS
From MAINE:
March 28, 1996
Our names are Nisse Greenberg and Jonathan Anderson and we are in
fourth grade. We live on Mount Desert Island where Acadia National
Park is located. Our local newspaper reported on March 28th that
the Perergrine Falcons are back again this year!!!!
Acadia National Park started a program to help Peregrine falcons to breed here. In 1990 they reintroduced the chicks to Jordan Cliffs. They took 20 chicks before they could fly, tagged them and brought them in a cage to Jordan Cliffs. They fed them through a tube so the peregrines would not depend on people for food. In 1991 a pair of peregrine falcons came to Precipice Cliff. The male was one of the original chicks, but the female was not. Since 1991 they have come back to breed every year. The Park closes Precipice Trail every year while the chicks are there so they won't be bothered. Nisse Greenberg and Jonathan Anderson Ms. Hersey, Grade 4 mhg4@emerson.u98.k12.me.us
From NEW YORK:
March 28,1996
2 PEREGRINE FALCONS continue around Niagara Square in Buffalo. The darker
of the two wears a leg band and may be a sub-adult.
From WASHINGTON:
March 11, 1996
Four eggs at Washington Mutual Tower in Seattle! On March 11th the
two falcons had returned to Washington Mutual Tower where they have
in past years built a nest and hatched chicks. For anyone visiting
Seattle, Washington Mutual Bank has set up remote control T.V. so
you can watch the falcons.
Tim Danskin
Mrs. Burke's 5th Grade
Benjamen Franklin School
sburke@orac.lkwash.wednet.edu
And from Wesley Harness of Grass Lake Elementary in nearby Kent, Washington Our resident Peregrines--named Stewart and Belle--live on the ledge of the 56th floor of the Washington Mutual Tower building in downtown Seattle. They just added their 4th egg to the nest yesterday (April 1) and the eggs are predicted to hatch in about 4 weeks. This is their 2nd year together. There is a tv monitor in the lobby of the Columbia tower where you can watch the birds and their nest. wharness@sun.kent.wednet.edu
From: ONTARIO:
April 15, 1996
We have a pair of peregrine falcons nesting in downtown Toronto. The
nest now contains eggs! The nest is located on the twentieth floor
of an office building. The pair raised two chicks at this same
location last year! There is an abundant food supply (pigeons!).
There is an excellent site on the Internet to learn about peregrine falcons, and to actually see this nest! The view, captured live, which changes four times a minute can be seen at: The World Wildlife Fund (Canada)
From CONNECTICUT:
April 3, 1996
The pair of PEREGRINE FALCONS are still being seen daily on the SNET
tower off exit 7 of I-95 in Stamford.
From UTAH:
April 5, 1996
Peregrine falcons are on the First Security Bank building. They are
building a nest in a box that the wildlife people built for them,
and they have 3 eggs they think that the eggs will hatch on May 6,
1996. We will report when they hatch.
April 18, 1996
Do you remember the Peregrine Falcons that live at the bank in
Downtown Salt Lake City? well, the male vanished. They don't know
what happened to him. The female left her 3 eggs to look for him.
The eggs can not survive with out the male and female. Because the
male usually hunts for food, while the female sits on the eggs. The
female does hunt, but not while she has eggs to take care of. So now
the female has to hunt for food and can't take care of the eggs.
Tommy East, Eastwood Elementary Salt Lake City, Utah teast5@ibm.net
From NEW YORK:
April 8, 1996
The PEREGRINE FALCONS in Syracuse are still being seen on many downtown
buildings and apparently have not nested yet.
From ONTARIO:
April 11, 1996
In Hamilton: The female PEREGRINE FALCON at the downtown Sheraton
Hotel is brooding three eggs. Cross your fingers. A PEREGRINE FALCON
was seen taking a BLUE JAY west of Hamilton.
How to Respond to Challenge Question #94:
1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line write: Challenge Question #94
3. In the body of the message, answer this questions:
"How many miles did Falcon # 867 move in the 4 hours between satellite readings?"
The Next Peregrine Falcon Migration Update Will be Posted on April 29, 1996
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