Check out the falcons
The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery’s “Falcon Cam” can be accessed by going to boonshoftmuseum.org. Click on “Program Highlights” and look for the Falcon Cam.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife’s program that has banded peregrine falcon chicks in downtown Dayton for more than 20 years came to a happy end Tuesday morning at Liberty Tower.
The program is no longer needed because the once-endangered raptor has established itself in Ohio to the point where it officially will lose its “threatened” status in July.
“It’s a great thing for the biodiversity of Ohio,” said Diane Malas, a Division of Wildlife biologist who banded three chicks in front of a few dozen onlookers. “It shows that the population is doing well and we don’t have to monitor them quite as closely.”
Fifty-three peregrine falcon chicks have fledged (grown to the point they could fly) downtown since 1993.
If the three banded Tuesday — named after Ohio presidents McKinley, Harrison and Grant — fly in a few months, that number will grow to 56.
Malas retrieved the three-week-old chicks from a box nest placed atop the 20-story Liberty Tower as their annoyed parents squawked and swooped in close. The adult male, Daniel, is banded; the female is not.
“This pair was not very aggressive,” Malas said. “I’ve had the female adults come into the box as I’m taking the chicks out and wanting to grab me with their talons. It can vary from that to them swooping down, 15, 20 feet away. They all have different personalities.”
Malas said seven pairs of peregrine falcons are active in southwest Ohio. Statewide, there are a few dozen pairs that fledge about 70 chicks each year.
The falcons are banded in order to keep track of them.
“We’ve had birds in Ohio show up in Texas,” Malas said. “Peregrine means ‘wanderer’ so they’re known to travel.”
The box nest in Dayton was erected in 1992 and two falcons began nesting there a year later. The raptors are active downtown and prey on other birds, sometimes diving as fast as 200 mph.
“You may see them swooping down and see a little explosion of feathers when they capture their prey,” Malas said.
The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, one of the partners in the falcon monitoring project, has a camera focused on the nest 24/7.
“It’s been an amazing program for a long time and we really enjoy seeing the chicks up close,”said Liz Toth of the Boonshoft. “This could be the last time, but it’s happy news.”
Peregrine falcons were placed on the federal endangered species list in 1970, in part because of poisoning from DDT, a pesticide that was banned in 1972. Ohio became involved in the restoration project after a pair of peregrines nested in downtown Toledo in 1988.
Peregrine falcons are cliff nesters and Malas said most of them in this region live at power plants along the Ohio River. They normally grow to 15 inches in length with a 40-inch wingspan. The birds have been known to live as long as 15 years.
“They are used to nesting in high locations so they’ve adapted to using these nest boxes we’ve erected on top of downtown buildings as a substitute for a cliff in a more natural setting,” Malas said.
The falcons impress Liberty Tower maintenance worker Ed Wiles.
“Watching them dive is amazing,” said Wiles. “I’ll come up here and change the flag and they’re on me like right now. You’d think they own the place. They’ll dive-bomb me all the time when I’m changing the lights on the ledge.”
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