Rfalconcam Forum

Still a work in progress, but updates are in red. Please let me know if any corrections or additions are needed. Thanks!

A  Archer (25/V black/black, silver USFWS) Resident tiercel Rochester, NY 2009-early 2012 (hatched 2006 in Port Colborn, Ontario).  Mariah and Kaver's grandson. His father is Freedom (hatched 2002). He was a mate to Mariah for a very brief time in 2009 before pairing with Beauty. Injured in 2012 and replaced by Dot.ca. Has not been seen since.

anthropomorphizing   attributing human characteristics, motives, and emotions to animals; a favorite watcher activity

ASB Andrews Street bridge.

B  Beauty (81/Y black/green, silver USFWS)Resident falcon Rochester, NY since 2009  (hatched 2007, Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA)  First seen with Zephyr (M/K's offspring) in the winter of 2009. She then fought Mariah for territorial dominance in downtown Rochester in 2009.
Fought with Unity for territorial dominance in downtown Rochester February 2012.  Released from rehab and returned to downtown Rochester the same date Unity was hit by a car. Bonded with Dot.ca and successfully hatched Orion with him 06/20/2012.

BBRR  Braddock Bay Raptor Research  Hawk watch and banding station on the shore of Lake Ontario

BL Bausch & Lomb  Building in downtown Rochester, NY; occasional perch

Brooding Keeping eyases covered by the adult’s body until they can regulate their own body temperature.

BS   Brighton Site. A private building in Brighton. A regular stopping place for winter vistor PeFas. Currently scrape location of Pigott and Dot.ca.   

BSB Broad St. bridge

BST   Unbanded tiercel who spent a good part of the winter with Pigott at BS
   
BYF   Big yellow feet.  A characteristic of nestling birds of prey-their feet appear large and unwieldy in relation to their body.

Cabot-Sirocco   Hatched in 1997 to Victoria & Pounce-Kingsley in Toronto, ON. First mate of Mariah (1998-2002)

Cache   Storing of prey in various locations for later consumption.

CB  Charbay Peregrine falcon seen at Charlotte, NY & Irondequoit Bay

cere Fleshy part of the upper beak containing the nostrils

Chase   White building with columnar façade near B&L and Xerox.  Becoming a favorite perch in 2012.

CMNH   Cleveland Museum of Natural History   Forum where we followed Seneca (Rochester, NY 2008) and her nest with Cheyenne in 2010

Courtship behavior   bowing & ee-chupping, tandem flying, presenting gifts of prey

CPF     Canadian Peregrine Foundation     Our neighbors to the north who keep watch on many Rochester offspring residing there

Crop   an area of the throat used for food storage and later consumption

DC  Dot  Dot.ca (13/Y black/black, silver USFWS) Resident tiercel downtown Rochester at the Times Square building 2012 through present. The son of Jack & Angel, hatched 2010 at the Sun-Life Center Etobicoke, ON. Also bonded with Pigott at BS.

Diamante (21/R black/green, silver USFWS) Hatched Rochester NY 2008 to M&K. Nested 2012 at the Central Terminal Buffalo, NY with Gleig, sister of Pigott.

ee-chup    a sound of affection.  Heard often with the adults

Egg turning   during incubation the adults will turn the eggs regularly prevent the embryo from sticking to the shell and to insure proper development

eyas     newly hatched peregrine falcon

falcon    small to medium-size birds of prey with long pointed wings;  female peregrine (falconry term)

FWC     falcon watch central    Stairs on Broad St. across from the Blue Cross Arena that go down to Aqueduct St.  Next to the Thomson Reuters building and the Philippone building

FCT     Frontier Communications Towers     Favorite perch. This is across from City Hall. A/B seemed to bring their fledglings there.  Calidora (hatched 2010) used to frequent the tower, screaming for food from her parents.  

FF     Falcon Flakes     The dedicated watchers who keep an eye on the peregrines no matter the weather

fledgling    A young peregrine after it makes it's first flight

Food exchange   transfer of prey from one bird to the other.

GVAS     Genesee Valley Audubon Society     Sponsor of Rfalconcam

Hack   release of a young bird (usually raptors) from an artificial nest box.  Usually after they've been rescued/rehabbed or something happens to the parents before they're flighted.  It was used in the reintroduction of peregrines to the east coast-eyases hatched in captivity were released from hack boxes.

Hard incubation   full time incubation beginning when the penultimate egg is laid.  Insures that the eggs will hatch at roughly the same time.

Hatch   The eyas uses a protuberance on its beak (egg tooth) to chip around the wide end of the shell.  The adult will most often not assist.  The adults will eat the empty  to replenish calcium stores.

HSBC     building across from Xerox     A building in downtown Rochester.  Often, A/B areseen there at night.  It is across the street from Xerox. A/B will consistently perch on certain columns of the Xerox building at night.

IB     Irondequoit Bay     Large bay on the shore of Lake Ontario

Jail Tower    Communication tower on the Monroe County Jail building.  A favorite perch.

kakk    if done in a hurried manner, can be an alarm call but regular kakking can also be done for attention

Kaver     Wild hatched. Second mate of Mariah (2002-2008) Known affectionately as QTP2T. An extraordinarily faithful mate.  In 2006 when Mariah was injured he successfully hunted for her and the newly hatched eyases.

Kestrel      A small falcon species; very colorful with a red dish brown back and blue-grey head; most common falcon in North America

KO     Kodak Office   Kodak Tower, the highest building in the complex, was the original nestbox site and birthplace of close to 50 peregrine eyases

KP     Kodak Park     Properly, Eastman Business Park. Mariah had been seen for awhile after she relinquished territory.  It is a few miles down the same road as Kodak Tower. Unity nested there in 2011 with Archer.  All eggs failed to hatch. Both a male and female PeFa have been seen there on and off.

Linn (91/V black/green, silver USFWS)   Hatched Rochester, NY 2007 to M&K. Nesting at the Yellow Pages building Scarborough, ON with Reuben.

LP     Lady Pefa     See Unity

LT   Lake Tower Apartment building a mile or so north of downtown Rochester. Female PeFa seen there several times during the winter 2012-2013.

M&K; M/K     Mariah & Kaver     Resident peregrine pair 2002-2008

Mariah     Peregrine Falcon matriarch-- first falcon on Kodak tower (1998).  First mate was Cabot Scirocco (1998-2002), then with Kaver (2002-2008).  She spent most of her time at Kodak tower until the nestbox was moved to Times Square in 2009.

Mercury    Statue across the road from Times Square Building.   Favorite perches are the money bag in Mercury’s outstretched hand, his heel, and the base of the statue.

Midtown Plaza     Going, going, almost gone.  An almost nest site for Mariah and Archer, then Archer and Beauty. Watchers witnessed many a coming and going of Falcons at the Midtown Tower, which is the only section of Midtown that will remain in the future.

NB     Nestbox     Manmade box with gravel substrate used to simulate the peregrine's preferrednest site of a gravel ledge on a cliff face

OCSR    Old Changing Scenes Restaurant.  Properly the First Federal Building     place where falcons seem to go but not for mating or nesting.  Mariah  and Kaver (M&K) used to store food in the elevator shaft of that building. This is still used as a cache.  Fledglings in 2010 also would go there with their parents.

ORB     Orange Rail Building.  A building at Kodak Park where Unity and Archer perched in 2011.

Orville      A round white stone from the original scrape on Kodak Tower that was often mistaken for an egg.  During the long days of waiting for the eggs to hatch the stone was given the name Orville.  When the nest box was moved, Orville was taken to the new nest box to proudly oversee the newest generations of Rochester Peregrines from the back left corner. Sadly, Orion dropped Orville to the sidewalk in 2012. Orville has been in rehab since and it doesn't appear he will be able to be released into the wild. He will remain an education rock.

Pebble picking   While incubating eggs, picking at the gravel in the scrape, often pulling the gravel in closer.

PF or PeFa Peregrine Falcon

Pigott   (43/X black/black, green/red USFWS)Hatched Hamilton, ON 2011 to Madame X & Surge. Bonded with Dot.ca 2012 with a scrape at BS. Unknown if she laid any eggs.


Pip   The initial hole in the eggshell made by a hatching eyas.  The eyas will often rest after pipping before starting to work on the rest of the shell.  It can take quite some time between pip and full hatch.

Powers Building    Another nestbox site after the box was removed from Kodak.  Birds have been seen near there but the nestbox has not been used.

Quest   (96/V black/green, silver USFWS) Hatched Rochester, NY 2008 to M&K.  Outfitted with a transmitter that is still broadcasting her position.  First nested in Toronto, ON 2011 across from Harlequin Enterprises with Kendal, producing one fledgling named Harlequin.  A new nest box was installed by CPF in 2012 season.

Raptor     birds of prey that generally hunt on the wing, using powerful talons and beak as well as keen eyesight to capture prey

RFC     Rfalconcam The place that brings all the falcon fans, both on the ground and on the internet, together!

RFW     Rochester Falcon Watchers Dedicated volunteers who help educate the public about the Rochester PeFas and other wildlife.  Trained to assist the PeFas if needed.
 
RM&T     Rhea Mae & Tiago     Rhea Mae (P/*T, black/red, silver USFWS)(Rochester, NY 2006 to M&K) is nesting with Tiago (29/H black/black, silver USFWS) at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto, ON

RTH      Red-tailed hawk; large hawk with brown back, pale chest and brick-red tail; probably the most common hawk in North America

scrape     Peregrine falcon nest; the depression scraped in the gravel to hold the eggs during incubation

Seneca   (95/V black/green, silver USFWS)  Hatched in 2008 to M&K.  Nested in 2010 with Cheyenne at Brookpark Rd. Bridge near Cleveland, OH.

Stoop    PeFa signature hunting maneuver.  The wings are pulled in and the PeFa dives from height.  As it reaches it’s prey it turns and strikes the prey with it’s feet.

Stormin’ (30/Y black/black, silver USFWS)Hatched 2009 Sheraton Toronto (RM&T) Currently nesting with Haven at Canada Square. Took over and successfully reared eyases with Haven in 2011 when Irving, the resident male, was lost.

talon tag   a game played by juvenile PeFas where they touch and release talons in flight.  Preparation for food exchanges

tiercel     male peregrine

TSB    Times Square Building  Corner of Broad and Exchange in downtown Rochester, NY.   Site of the nestbox seen on Rfalconcam

TV   Turkey vulture

U    Unity, formerly known as Lady Pefa.  Identified by VID band in 2011 as Unity, hatched 2009 University of Toledo, OH. Her Mother, Belle, is a full sister of Beauty. Nested with Archer at KP-no eggs hatched.  Fought with Beauty for territorial dominance in downtown Rochester February 2012.  Killed by a car 04/06/2012 after laying an egg with Archer and bonding with Dot.ca.

USFWS     US Fish and Wildlife Service     Issues the sequential numeric bands used in bird banding.  On peregrine falcons, the band color often indicates the region the bird was banded

UT   Unbanded tiercel courting Beauty for a couple of weeks before Dot.ca returned

VID band     Visual ID band Colored band with numbers &/or letters large enough to read with a spotting scope or strong binoculars

wailing     used by eyases/fledglings when begging for food.  Adults will also wail when laying on eggs to indicate change from one adult to another

Wildlife rehabilitator    A person licensed to care for sick and injured wildlife. Their goal is to release the animals back into the wild. Some provide sanctuary to unreleasable wildlife.

Wild Wings     Rehabilitation center and sanctuary for injured and unreleasable birds of prey

Thanks-fixed. You get bug eyed with this after a while LOL!

I think Carol knows more about Orville's condition than anyone. Hopefully she'll chime in

Yes, Orion thought it was time for his friend Orville to fledge.  He found out quickly that rocks can't fly.  Poor Orville. 

Thanks for the updates, Ei!

Orion was the first juvie (that I remember) who actually picked up Orville and carried him. Through the years Orville got shoved in a corner many times and buried under leftovers, but Orville was never taken out of the nestbox, except for the move from Kodak to Times Square. As much as we would love to see Orville rehabilitated, he ended up like Humpty Dumpty, and a replacement would never be the same. Plus in this age of legalities, a new Orville would be a liability. Sad, but true.

I've edited the glossary to show the band numbers & colors of birds shown there.

All the band numbers for all the birds related to here are shown in the family tree Learn More/history/family tree above.

I'll see if I can put a quick list together with just name & number over the weekend.

I think he wanted someone to play talon tag with  :secret2:

With Rosetta having blue feet, maybe BBF should be added to the glossary? Just a thought..

Glossary 2014!

A    Archer Resident tiercel Rochester, NY 2009-early 2012 (hatched 2006 in Port Colborn, Ontario).  Mariah and Kaver's grandson. His father is Freedom (hatched 2002). He was a mate to Mariah for a very brief time in 2009 before pairing with Beauty. Injured in 2012 and replaced by Dot.ca. Has not been seen since.

anthropomorphizing   attributing human characteristics, motives, and emotions to animals; a favorite watcher activity

ASB Andrews Street bridge.

B  Beauty Resident falcon Rochester, NY since 2009  (hatched 2007, Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA)  First seen with Zephyr (M/K's offspring) in the winter of 2009. She then fought Mariah for territorial dominance in downtown Rochester in 2009.

Fought with Unity for territorial dominance in downtown Rochester February 2012.  Released from rehab and returned to downtown Rochester the same date Unity was hit by a car. Bonded with Dot.ca and successfully hatched Orion with him 06/20/2012. Continues to nest with Dot.ca.

Billy    Hatched at Central Terminal, Buffalo in 2013 to Glieg and Diamante (M&K 2008). Banded black/green 77/AX. Seen winter 2013 and likely spring 2014 at various spots north of downtown Rochester.

BBRR  Braddock Bay Raptor Research  Hawk watch and banding station on the shore of Lake Ontario

BL Bausch & Lomb  Building in downtown Rochester, NY; occasional perch

Brooding Keeping eyases covered by the adult’s body until they can regulate their own body temperature.

BS   Brighton Site. A private building in Brighton. A regular stopping place for winter vistor PeFas. Was the scrape location of Pigott and Dot.ca.  

BSB Broad St. bridge

BST   Unbanded tiercel who spent a good part of the winter with Pigott at BS

BYF   Big yellow feet.  A characteristic of nestling birds of prey-their feet appear large and unwieldy in relation to their body.

Cabot-Sirocco   Hatched in 1997 to Victoria & Pounce-Kingsley in Toronto, ON. First mate of Mariah (1998-2002)

Cache   Storing of prey in various locations for later consumption.

CB  Charbay Peregrine falcon seen at Charlotte, NY & Irondequoit Bay

cere Fleshy part of the upper beak containing the nostrils

Chase   White building with columnar façade near B&L and Xerox.  Becoming a favorite perch in 2012.

CMNH   Cleveland Museum of Natural History   Forum where we followed Seneca (Rochester, NY 2008) and her nest with Cheyenne in 2010

Courtship behavior   bowing & ee-chupping, tandem flying, presenting gifts of prey

CPF     Canadian Peregrine Foundation     Our neighbors to the north who keep watch on many Rochester offspring residing there

Crop   an area of the throat used for food storage and later consumption

Diamante Hatched Rochester NY 2008 to M&K. Nested 2012 at the Central Terminal Buffalo, NY with Gleig, sister of Pigott.

Dot.ca   Resident tiercel downtown Rochester at the Times Square building 2012 through present. The son of Jack & Angel, hatched 2010 at the Sun-Life Center Etobicoke, ON. Also bonded with Pigott with a scrape at BS. Also Dot and DC.

DT   Downtown watch area

ee-chup    a sound of affection.  Heard often with the adults

Egg turning   during incubation the adults will turn the eggs regularly prevent the embryo from sticking to the shell and to insure proper development

eyas     newly hatched peregrine falcon

falcon    small to medium-size birds of prey with long pointed wings;  female peregrine (falconry term)

FWC     falcon watch central    Stairs on Broad St. across from the Blue Cross Arena that go down to Aqueduct St.  Next to the Thomson Reuters building and the Philippone building

FCT     Frontier Communications Towers     Favorite perch. This is across from City Hall. Parents like to bring their fledglings there.  Calidora (hatched 2010) used to frequent the tower, screaming for food from her parents.  

FF     Falcon Flakes     The dedicated watchers who keep an eye on the peregrines no matter the weather

fledgling    A young peregrine after it makes it's first flight

Food exchange   transfer of prey from one bird to the other.

FST   Falcon Sucking Tree- A mostly dead tree extending from the High Falls gorge east wall that seems to suck in any falcon that finds itself near it. Named by watcher dale from Chicago.

GVAS     Genesee Valley Audubon Society     Sponsor of Rfalconcam

Hack   release of a young bird (usually raptors) from an artificial nest box.  Usually after they've been rescued/rehabbed or something happens to the parents before they're flighted.  It was used in the reintroduction of peregrines to the east coast-eyases hatched in captivity were released from hack boxes.

Hard incubation  full time incubation beginning when the penultimate egg is laid.  Insures that the eggs will hatch at roughly the same time.

Hatch   The eyas uses a protuberance on its beak (egg tooth) to chip around the wide end of the shell.  The adult will most often not assist.  The adults will eat the empty  to replenish calcium stores.

HSBC     building across from Xerox     A building in downtown Rochester.

IB     Irondequoit Bay     Large bay on the shore of Lake Ontario

Jail Tower   Communication tower on the Monroe County Jail building.  A favorite perch.

kakk    if done in a hurried manner, can be an alarm call but regular kakking can also be done for attention

Kaver     Wild hatched. Second mate of Mariah (2002-2008) Known affectionately as QTP2T. An extraordinarily faithful mate.  In 2006 when Mariah was injured he successfully hunted for her and the newly hatched eyases.

Kestrel      A small falcon species; very colorful with a red dish brown back and blue-grey head; most common falcon in North America

KO     Kodak Office   Kodak Tower, the highest building in the complex, was the original nestbox site and birthplace of close to 50 peregrine eyases

KP     Kodak Park     Properly, Eastman Business Park. Mariah had been seen for awhile after she relinquished territory.  It is a few miles down the same road as Kodak Tower. Unity nested there in 2011 with Archer.  All eggs failed to hatch. Both a male and female PeFa have been seen there on and off.

Linn   Hatched Rochester, NY 2007 to M&K. Nesting at the Yellow Pages building Scarborough, ON with Reuben.

LP     Lady Pefa     See Unity

LT   Lake Tower Apartment building a mile or so north of downtown Rochester. Female PeFa seen there several times during the winter 2012-2013.

M&K; M/K     Mariah & Kaver     Resident peregrine pair 2002-2008

mantle when a bird of prey on the ground or on a perch spread the wings and tail, usually to cover captured prey.

Mariah     Peregrine Falcon matriarch-- first falcon on Kodak tower (1998).  First mate was Cabot Scirocco (1998-2002), then with Kaver (2002-2008).  She spent most of her time at Kodak tower until the nestbox was moved to Times Square in 2009.

Mercury    Statue across the road from Times Square Building.   Favorite perches are the money bag in Mercury’s outstretched hand, his heel, and the base of the statue.

Midtown Plaza    Going, going, almost gone.  An almost nest site for Mariah and Archer, then Archer and Beauty. Watchers witnessed many a coming and going of Falcons at the Midtown Tower, which is the only section of Midtown that will remain in the future.

NB     Nestbox     Manmade box with gravel substrate used to simulate the peregrine's preferrednest site of a gravel ledge on a cliff face

OCSR    Old Changing Scenes Restaurant.  Properly the First Federal Building     place where falcons seem to go but not for mating or nesting.  Mariah  and Kaver (M&K) used to store food in the elevator shaft of that building. This is still used as a cache.  Fledglings in 2010 also would go there with their parents.

ORB     Orange Rail Building.  A building at Kodak Park where Unity and Archer perched in 2011.

Orville      A round white stone from the original scrape on Kodak Tower that was often mistaken for an egg.  During the long days of waiting for the eggs to hatch the stone was given the name Orville.  When the nest box was moved, Orville was taken to the new nest box to proudly oversee the newest generations of Rochester Peregrines from the back left corner. Sadly, Orion dropped Orville to the sidewalk in 2012. Orville has been in rehab since and it doesn't appear he will be able to be released into the wild. He will remain an education rock.

Pebble picking   While incubating eggs, picking at the gravel in the scrape, often pulling the gravel in closer.

PF or PeFa Peregrine Falcon

Pigott   Hatched Hamilton, ON 2011 to Madame X & Surge. Bonded with Dot.ca 2012 with a scrape at BS. Unknown if she laid any eggs. Has not been seen recently...last recorded sighting 03/25/2014.

Pip   The initial hole in the eggshell made by a hatching eyas.  The eyas will often rest after pipping before starting to work on the rest of the shell.  It can take quite some time between pip and full hatch.

Powers Building    Another nestbox site after the box was removed from Kodak.  Birds have been seen near there but the nestbox has not been used.

Quest    Hatched Rochester, NY 2008 to M&K.  Outfitted with a transmitter that is still broadcasting her position.  First nested in Toronto, ON 2011 across from Harlequin Enterprises with Kendal, producing one fledgling named Harlequin.  A new nest box was installed by CPF in 2012 season.

Raptor     birds of prey that generally hunt on the wing, using powerful talons and beak as well as keen eyesight to capture prey

RFC     Rfalconcam The place that brings all the falcon fans, both on the ground and on the internet, together!

RFW     Rochester Falcon Watchers Dedicated volunteers who help educate the public about the Rochester PeFas and other wildlife.  Trained to assist the PeFas if needed.

RM&T     Rhea Mae & Tiago     Rhea Mae (Rochester, NY 2006 to M&K) is nesting with Tiago at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto, ON

RS     Russell Station. Decommissioned power plant on the shore of Lake Ontario. Billy was seen here winter 2013.

RTH      Red-tailed hawk; large hawk with brown back, pale chest and brick-red tail; probably the most common hawk in North America

scrape     Peregrine falcon nest; the depression scraped in the gravel to hold the eggs during incubation

Seneca     Hatched in 2008 to M&K.  Nested in 2010 with Cheyenne at Brookpark Rd. Bridge near Cleveland, OH.

ST       Seneca Towers. Apartment building on the east side of the Genesee River a bit north of downtown. A banded juvie PeFa and unbanded adult PeFa seen perching here.

STJ & STT    Seneca Towers Tiercel & Seneca Towers Juvie

Stoop    PeFa signature hunting maneuver.  The wings are pulled in and the PeFa dives from height.  As it reaches it’s prey it turns and strikes the prey with it’s feet.

Stormin’ Hatched 2009 Sheraton Toronto (RM&T) Currently nesting with Haven at Canada Square. Took over and successfully reared eyases with Haven in 2011 when Irving, the resident male, was lost.

talon tag   a game played by juvenile PeFas where they touch and release talons in flight.  Preparation for food exchanges

tiercel     male peregrine

The Hole     Parking lot between several downtown buildings across Exchange Blvd. from the Times Square Building. Best line of sight for several favorite perches at once...MMB...OCSR...NB...

TSB   Times Square Building  Corner of Broad and Exchange in downtown Rochester, NY.   Site of the nestbox seen on Rfalconcam

TV  Turkey vulture

U    Unity, formerly known as Lady Pefa.  Identified by VID band in 2011 as Unity, hatched 2009 University of Toledo, OH. Her Mother, Belle, is a full sister of Beauty. Nested with Archer at KP-no eggs hatched.  Fought with Beauty for territorial dominance in downtown Rochester February 2012.  Killed by a car 04/06/2012 after laying an egg with Archer and bonding with Dot.ca.

USFWS     US Fish and Wildlife Service     Issues the sequential numeric bands used in bird banding.  On peregrine falcons, the band color often indicates the region the bird was banded

UT   Unbanded tiercel courting Beauty for a couple of weeks before Dot.ca returned

VB   Veterans Bridge   Bridge over the Genesee across from Seneca Towers. Favorite perch of STT & STJ

VID band     Visual ID band Colored band with numbers &/or letters large enough to read with a spotting scope or strong binoculars

wailing     used by eyases/fledglings when begging for food.  Adults will also wail when laying on eggs to indicate change from one adult to another

Wildlife rehabilitator    A person licensed to care for sick and injured wildlife. Their goal is to release the animals back into the wild. Some provide sanctuary to unreleasable wildlife.

Wilder building   Low brick building across the street from Times Square. Green copper caps on the rounded roof corners and a green copper strip below the roof line are favorite perches.

WGS    Wilder green strip (see Wilder building)

Wild Wings    Rehabilitation center and sanctuary for injured and unreleasable birds of prey

Xerox          Building in Downtown Rochester.  It is across the street from HSBC . Beauty will consistently perch on certain columns of the Xerox building at night.