Peregrine E4

Fledged!

Tuesday, July 12 – E4's chicks fledged over the weekend! They're in the downtown area taking flying and hunting lessons from E4 and her partner, but since they’re out of camera range, we’re shutting down the camera on the Bell Tower. 

Thanks for watching, everyone! 

Monday, June 27 – For everyone who's been wondering what happened to the third chick on the Bell Tower...

The third chick, dubbed “Tiny” by peregrine expert Dr. Gordon Court, was moved to another nest to ensure his survival.

Tiny hatched 4 days after his brother and sister and is about 60 grams underweight, which is well below the bell curve for his age. This is to be expected with asynchronous hatching. Peregrine lay every 48 hours, so there may be a gap of several days between the first and last eggs hatching. Basically, Tiny had a tougher time getting food.

Tiny is at the Red Deer Tower, where the eggs were not viable. He is joined by another new male chick, Taio. So, now we have two peregrines that were at the bottom of the totem pole sitting happily at the top.

Thursday, June 16 – This morning, we had a great view of the male feeding the chicks. They’ve started walking around (perhaps “waddling” is a more apt description at the moment) and becoming a bit more demanding when it comes to feeding time, which makes for entertaining viewing. Edmonton is having rainy and chilly weather at the moment, but that doesn’t seem to be affecting anyone in the Bell Tower eyrie.

We are trying to find out more about the male. His band is hard to read, but with luck we’ll get a good look at it soon. Also, if you’re wondering how to tell E4 and her partner apart, look at their tails. E4’s tail is barred, but the male’s tail is solid black.

Nest Visit

Tuesday, June 14 – Dr. Gordon Court checked the nest yesterday to make sure all is well and removed the dead egg. While not overly impressed with the interruption to her chicks' morning feeding, E4 was gracious enough to allow Dr. Court to approach the nest and leave with all his fingers intact.

According to Dr. Court, the nest site E4 chose is really surprising. This is the first time in 31 years that peregrines have deviated from the two nest sites they've been using in alternate years since first nesting on the Bell Tower. Like all falcons, peregrines do not build a nest. They usually scrape out a small bowl-like hollow in soft soil or sand. In nest boxes at man-made sites they use 1/4 inch pea gravel. This is what E4 has available to her in her traditional nesting spots on the Bell Tower. Dr. Court, who knows E4 very well, says, "In her typical 'Rambo-esque' style, however, E4 chose to build a scrape in landscaping gravel, with some of the stones nearly as big as her eggs!"

Three of the four eggs hatched. During his visit to E4 yesterday, Dr. Court confirmed that the fourth egg didn't hatch because it was punctured by the gravel.

Hatched!

Wednesday, June 8 – Last week between Thursday and Friday (June 2-3), E4 hatched three of her four eggs. She’s been a very diligent mother so far, feeding her chicks regularly and keeping them warm. We’ll post updates and any other interesting peregrine information here for the next few weeks as she raises her chicks. For a firsthand view, check out the live web feed.  

Found – The Elusive E4

Wednesday, June 1 – We’ve located the elusive E4! She’s been hiding in plain sight all along. A contractor working on the Bell Tower stumbled upon her. She’s nesting in a duct that everyone thought was closed off from the outside, so it wasn't checked when we originally went looking for her a few weeks ago. Dr. Court and all of us at ACA are very relieved that she's okay, and we hope to keep everyone updated about her and her chicks' welfare this summer.  

E4 has laid 4 eggs, and they’re hatching this week. Dr. Court is expecting chicks by Friday, June 3! We’re trying to get a camera on the Bell Tower as well, but that may not happen this year given the time constraints we’re facing.

If you didn’t know E4 was missing, keep reading to find out about her earlier antics. 

Missing Peregrine E4

Monday, May 16 –In preparation for the peregrine web cam installation this week, internationally recognized peregrine expert, Dr. Gordon Court, went to check the nest on the Bell Tower.

We haven't gone up until now as we did not want to disturb the birds. We’ve had lots of sightings reported though, so we were fairly confident everything was going well for E4 and her mate.

Imagine our surprise when Dr. Court announced that there are no birds and no nest! According to Dr. Court, there are two things that could have gone wrong. Either E4 mated with a new male and didn’t succeed, or as she and her new mate were working out a routine for feeding and incubation, the eggs were exposed for too long, making them vulnerable. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in the peregrine world. He did see some scrapes suggesting an attempt at a nest.

Right now, what happened to E4 is a mystery – Dr. Court has checked other sites where she could be, but she's not there. He is working on finding out where she’s gone. We’ll keep you posted if we find out anything more.

Critical Stats

Identity: Known as E4

Bio: Born and raised on a natural sandstone cliff, Red Deer River, summer 2002

Age: 9

Sex: Female

Recognize her: E4 is an extremely beautiful falcon – a classic example of an anatum peregrine. The photo was taken when she was much younger. Her cere (the fleshy part at the base of her bill) and feet are far more yellow now and she has developed a real salmon hue to her ventral plumage (the underside of her body).

Status: Arrived – possibly from Brazil

Likely destination: Bell Tower in downtown Edmonton. She has yet to be defeated in a nesting battle and has been nesting there since 2004.

Special Skills: Considered the world’s fastest animal, a peregrine in a dive can go over 300 km/h. A deadly aerial hunter and fearless flyer, E4 is no exception.

Notable Achievements: Only female peregrine to raise 5 young in Alberta's history (2010).

Definitely a “top gun” – has held the Bell Tower since 2004. Peregrines compete most ferociously for this territory, sometimes resulting in death of the combatants.

Target: Pigeons, window-washers, gulls, grebes, small songbirds, insects