http://video.buffalonews.com/player/?id=1262# Nice video
Be on the lookout for an over-aggressive mother falcon, who has been dive-bombing people near the University at Buffalo South Campus on Main Street while trying to protect her chicks as they take wing.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation fielded at least four reports about the feisty falcon over the weekend.
The peregrine falcon combatively swooped around two passers-by Saturday, before the couple took shelter under a tree and called police, said Connie Adams, a wildlife biologist with the DEC.
The falcon also attacked a worker on the roof of Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Bailey Avenue.
“No one got hurt,” said VA spokeswoman Evangeline E. Conley.
It chased a teenager Sunday evening on Winspear Avenue.
Then, it boldly turned its talons on an 80-pound bulldog as the canine walked with its owner. The attack on the dog left its owner with a $275 veterinarian bill, Adams said.
“For a 2z-pound bird to land on and attack an 80-pound dog, it’s really remarkable,” Adams said. “We have never seen this level of aggression before.”
The culprit, a peregrine falcon named BB, has been nesting atop the 135-foot smokestack at the Mackay Heating Plant at UB for the past three years.
In fact, BB and her mate, Yankee, have been gaining an online fan base as a result of a webcam UB installed in the nest last month at the urging of the DEC.
Adams says BB probably is protecting her three chicks, who have just left the nest and are learning to fly. She’s clearing the way for them.
One of the chicks also was found alive Monday morning on the ground near the Mackay tower, which would help explain the mother’s behavior.
“I’m guessing that chick was on the ground Sunday night, that’s why the female attacked so aggressively,” Adams said. “This was was not a bird looking for prey. It was a bird trying to drive away potential threats to her chick on the ground.”
That said, BB’s aggression was over the top, Adams admitted.
UB and the DEC have cautioned people to stay clear of the nesting area on the South Campus for a couple of weeks as the chicks continue their flying lessons.
“They’ll just get farther and father away from the tower,” Adams said. “The parents sort of leave with them, escorting them to the coast, where the birds will migrate south and end up in South America for the winter. Our birds [BB and Yankee] will then return.”
Adams doesn’t not expect any more incidents, but the DEC is monitoring the situation.
The agency could take action if the protective mother exhibits more aggressive behavior.
“When the lines are crossed, you have to consider all your options, and one of the options would be trapping and removing her,” Adams said. “But that would absolutely be a last resort.”