Mount Clemens' peregrine falcon chicks named after inspirational women

[Donna]

Mount Clemens— Three female peregrine falcon chicks were dubbed Diana, Edna and Rosie today by Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.

He named the birds after Diana Kolakowski, Macomb County's first female to serve as chairwoman of its Board of Commissioners, Edna Miller, the county's first female clerk and register of deeds, and World War II icon Rosie the Riveter.

"All of these women predated the idea of women taking on traditional male roles," Hackel said.

Kolakowski became the county Board of Commissioners' first chairwoman in 1996 and served nearly 25 years as a commissioner, representing a district in Sterling Heights. She died after knee surgery in 2009 at the age of 65.

Miller became the county's first woman clerk in 1964 and served in the post for 28 years. She died in 1996 at the age of 73. Miller was also the wife of the City of Warren's first mayor, Art Miller.

Rose Leigh Monroe, associated as a "Rosie the Riveter," was a widowed mother of two in the 1940s who moved from Kentucky to Ypsilanti to work as a riveter building military planes at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory.

She starred in a promotional film about the war effort because of her name and she fit the image of the widely distributed poster that featured a woman in a bandanna and overalls.

Hackel said he chose the name because many women such as Monroe took jobs during the war in military factories in Macomb County, including his grandmother.

Hackel gave the trio of birds their names after officials with the state's Department of Natural Resources and the Detroit Zoological Society tagged them with identification bands and gave them a quick physical this morning.

The fledglings live with their parents, Nick and Hathor, in a nest on an 11th floor ledge of the Macomb County Building, 10 N. Main at Cass in downtown Mount Clemens.

The birds of prey have made the ledge their home for the last seven years and have produced offspring there.

The birds were on the brink of extinction worldwide by the 1950s because of the use of pesticides with DDT. However, efforts to restore their numbers got them off the endangered species list in 1999.

Peregrines are the size of crows and prey on small birds. They can also fly up to 180 miles per hour, according to the state DNR.



(Their cam has been deactivated)