Grand Forks Falcons

[Donna]

|Two falcons return to campus on the UND water tower near the Hyslop.

Published: Friday, April 23, 2010

Updated: Friday, April 23, 2010

They are the fastest creatures on the planet, reaching speeds of 200 miles per hour, and two of them are right here on campus. This year two Peregrine Falcons are nesting on the UND water tower for the first time in this university’s history.
They had previously been nesting on the “Smiley� water tower, but as we all know, it has been taken down. So, last fall their nest was moved to its new location, with hope that the birds would find it, and thankfully, they did. It was moved with the efforts of avid bird watcher Tim Driscoll.
 

The two resident falcons are named Roosevelt, a male, and Terminator, a female. They lived on smiley in 2009 as well, but before winter came, they fled. Driscoll moved their nest, and Smiley came down.
This has been the third year that Grand Forks has hosted perigrine falcons, and Roosevelt has not always been the dominating male. In 2008 Terminator had an other mate named Bear.
 

In 2008 while living on the smiley water tower, Bear and Terminator gave birth to a baby falcon named Ozzie. He was named Ozzie after the man who painted the smiley face on the old water tower, James W. “Ozzie� Osmundson.
Sadly, Ozzie the falcon passed away not too long after he was born. He struck an electric wire, which caused his death in July of 2008. He was the only offspring of Bear and Terminator.
 

Unfortunately, it is presumed Bear has died because he has not returned to accompany Terminator for another summer.
But a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do, so, in 2009, Roosevelt and Terminator mated and have been together ever since. Last year they hatched three new baby falcons, and they should hatch another three this year in May.
 

The reason these falcons are held so dear to so many enthusiastic hearts is because they were once on the endangered species list. They were put there mainly due to the use of DDT in the years following World War Two. DDT is a chemical pesticide, and it has alarming and terrible effects on bird eggs. It makes the shells weak and difficult for the birds to survive hatching.
 

But since the ban on DDT in the 70’s, there has been a spike in population for the peregrine falcons and other birds alike. So, here they are, on our home UND water tower and off that dreaded list.
It’s fitting that the first yeear they’re here is the same year UND forfeited the old mascot, the Fighting Sioux name. This makes me wonder, maybe we have another mascot just watching over us on the water tower.
 

These birds are birds of prey, and they typically eat smaller and medium sized birds in the area. They rarely feed on small rodents like mice, voles, and squirrels; however, I wonder if this would make an exception for the gopher?
This week we’ve been honoring Earth, and it could only be made more incredible if we honored our new guest on the water tower, the peregrine falcon, as well.

[Donna]

Their old hangout may be gone, but a pair of peregrine falcons that’s called Grand Forks home every year is back, area birdwatchers say.

Instead of nesting on the old Smiley water tower, torn down in their absence, the falcon named Terminator and her partner of one year, Roosevelt, are now nesting on the UND water tower down the street, birder Dave Lambeth said.

Terminator was spotted in town at the end of March and Roosevelt a couple of weeks ago.

Lambeth hasn’t checked in on the couple but expects that Terminator is laying eggs and may start incubating them this week. In the next few days, he said, birdwatchers will probably see the pair hanging out by their nest box on the tower’s east side.

Peregrine falcons usually have three to four eggs. The birds won’t start sitting on the eggs until the last of the eggs have been laid, Lambeth said, so they may rest outside the nest on occasion.

He cautioned against driving and bird watching.

“The temptation is to try and take a look as you’re driving over the Columbia overpass; I know from personal experience,� he said.

In late May, raptor experts will visit the nest, tag any hatchlings they find and assign them names, Lambeth said. And by mid-July, the young birds will probably be old enough to start prowling the railings on the water tower and practice flying.

Records at the Midwest Peregrine Database indicate that Terminator and Roosevelt had three young in 2009: Ethel, Alice and Smiley. All three reached fledgling stage, when they’re strong enough to fly, but Ethel died, likely when she flew into a power line and got electrocuted.

The status of her siblings is not known.

Another of Terminator’s young, Ozzie, also died from electrocution in 2008.

Lambeth said deaths from power lines was always a greater danger at the Smiley water tower site, where Washington Street passes under the railroad tracks. The UND tower, where Columbia Road passes over the tracks, is a safer site and there are plenty of university buildings on which to land, he said.

It doesn’t really surprise him, he said, that the birds decided to stay in Grand Forks even though they lost their home atop Smiley. Birds raised in nest boxes such as Terminator and Roosevelt tend to prefer raising their young in similar boxes, he said, and the one on Smiley had been moved to the UND tower.

No doubt the falcons sought the highest points in the area and stumbled on the nest box in its new location on campus, he said. There aren’t that many high points in the area and, “a mile to a falcon isn’t very far�

[Donna]

It’s a family tree that would make the Brady Bunch blush. Three parents, 10 kids and one unhatched egg.

Although this family sounds dysfunctional, it is loved by many local birders.

The proud peregrine falcons parents — Terminator, the mother, and Roosevelt, the father — are back and added three more babies to their growing family history.

The three new falcons, Eve, Beverly and Ansell, are now learning to fly near their home at the UND water tower.

“They are now roaming around a little bit, and flying pretty well,� local birder Dave Lambeth said. “The first few days are critical because they have way more speed than they know how to handle.�

The three eggs hatched about June 5, although there was also one egg that went undeveloped and didn’t hatch, according to Tim Driscoll, the director for the Urban Raptor Research Project.

He named the new falcons and banded them in late June, after they had matured to the point where he could tell their sex. The banding process helps to identify them once they start to migrate in the fall.

There are two females — Eve, named after a local birder, and Beverly, named after a friend of Dricoll’s who died in a bicycle accident in 2005. The one male was named Ansell, named after Driscoll’s father.

“I do feel a little bit selfish picking them,� he said. Driscoll said next year there might be a contest if the parents return to Grand Forks to breed again.

The birds are working on flight lessons and soon will learn to hunt, Driscoll said. In their early stages of flight, Driscoll said he’s witnessed birds of this sort chasing butterflies or doing other silly activities.

“It's doubtful they can hunt on their own yet. It's a slow process,� he said. “They look like a young, dumb teenager. But they get better. They get better at flying and hunting.�

He expects the babies to be out of the home and migrating by September, with Roosevelt staying as late as October.

Storied past

Terminator arrived in Grand Forks from Brandon, Man., four years ago with a male falcon named Bear, from Fargo. They laid a few eggs, but only one hatched. The only child was named Ozzie, after James W. “Ozzie� Osmundson, who painted the wink on the smiling face tower, where the birds used to call home.

The young, fledgling Ozzie eventually died, taking one of his first flights into electrical wires.

When Terminator returned the following year she had a new mate — Roosevelt, one of Bear’s brothers. Driscoll said he assumes Bear to be dead, since he didn’t return with Terminator after their first hatch.

Since then, Roosevelt and Terminator have had nine babies, including the three hatched this year.

With the new babies fledged and flying about, Driscoll said the maturing process can be long and tough.

“Their landing is basically a crash landing into a railroad car or into a building or something,� he said. “Ozzie was just downright unlucky."

GrandForksHerald

[Donna]

Wildlife expert attributes temporary loss of flight to coincidence in falcons hatched in Grand Forks

No one really knows why two of the three young peregrine falcons hatched atop the UND water tower this spring lost their ability to fly, but the female, “Stella,� seems to be all better now after a two-week stay at the University of Minnesota Raptor Center in St. Paul.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/273179/

Shaky we have 2 other topics for this site, could be merged. 

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2243.0

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2191.0   

[Shaky]

Topics merged.

[Donna]

Topics merged.

Thank you! 

[patsy6]

Wildlife expert attributes temporary loss of flight to coincidence in falcons hatched in Grand Forks

No one really knows why two of the three young peregrine falcons hatched atop the UND water tower this spring lost their ability to fly, but the female, “Stella,� seems to be all better now after a two-week stay at the University of Minnesota Raptor Center in St. Paul.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/273179/

Shaky we have 2 other topics for this site, could be merged. 

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2243.0

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2191.0   

Wow, that's weird.  I'm glad Stella is okay and I hope George is, too.

[Donna]

George the peregrine falcon from Grand Forks took flight again last week, a month after he mysteriously stopped flying.

He was taken to the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center in St. Paul in mid-September after he turned up grounded at Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Since now is about the time he would migrate and leave his parents' hunting territory, the Raptor Center released him down in the Twin Cities instead of bringing him back to Grand Forks, said Julia Ponder, the center's executive director.

George's sister Stella was also grounded last month, but she only needed to stay at the Raptor Center for two weeks before being released back in Grand Forks. The cause of her inability to fly was unknown as well.

The two are members of a peregrine falcon that have nested for several years on UND's water tower.

Working theory

George was thin and dehydrated when he came to the Raptor Center but otherwise there seemed nothing wrong with him, according to Ponder.

The center does see birds that can't fly occasionally and the reasons are often not clear, she said.

Ponder theorized that the birds simply hurt themselves in a way that doesn't leave a mark -- maybe they struck a window and got stunned -- and couldn't hunt.

"For you or I, we lay in bed and somebody brings food and we get better," she said. "For birds, if they can't hunt they can get down pretty quickly."

A week-long injury could prove very dangerous, especially for a novice hunter like George, she said.

He, Stella and a third sibling, Anson, hatched this year.

Ponder said the first year is the most dangerous for peregrine falcons, the rough rule of thumb being only half will survive. It's possible the survival rate is actually even worse, she said.

After the first year, they tend to do much better.

Return flight

It's unlikely George or Stella would return to Grand Forks after the winter, according to Ponder.

That hunting territory belongs to their parents, Terminator the Matriarch and an unnamed male who arrived here this past summer.

After they can fly and start to hunt on their own, young peregrine falcons usually hang around their parents' territory and get help hunting before their first migration, according to Ponder.

When they head back north in the spring, they'll usually come back to the general vicinity of the area they hatched in, but will try to carve out their own territory.

Territory size can range from a few miles to more than a dozen miles. Scientists say it may be based on how much game is available.

Most of Terminator's children are not accounted for, but Eve, hatched in 2011, was found injured in St. Paul in May, according to the Midwest Peregrine Society's database. The Raptor Center treated and released her near Alexandria in June.

Grand Forks Herald

[AlisonL]

Yesterday I found a note on a birding list which mentioned that the current resident male at the Grand Forks, North Dakota nest, Marv, had already returned home. This is his earliest return ever, by at least two weeks.

Marv was born at the Fargo nest in 2013, one of three chicks that year. In 2014, at just a year old, he showed up in Grand Forks. He and Terminator raised two chicks. Last year, they raised four chicks together.

So although Marv is not even three years old, this will be his third year at the Grand Forks nest.

Terminator has not yet returned, but it is too early to expect her to show up. She usually returns in April.

But this year, a new female has shown up at the nest. She appears to have a solid black band, which would mean that she is a Canadian bird.

Unfortunately, there is no webcam at the Grand Forks nest.

[AlisonL]

From the Grand Forks Herald today:

New female falcon in town may mean a Terminator turf war over Marv and the nest box

By Brad Dokken

In a sure sign of spring, a male and female peregrine falcon have converged at a nest box on the UND water tower, but the female's identity is a mystery, and her presence could result in a turf war when and if Terminator—the female peregrine who has nested in Grand Forks since 2008—returns to the site.

Grand Forks raptor expert and licensed bander Tim Driscoll said the male is Marv, which he confirmed by the band number on the bird's leg. This will be Marv's third season of mating in Grand Forks.

Driscoll names the peregrines he bands, saying it's easier to remember the birds by name than by a band number. Grand Forks and Fargo have the only two confirmed peregrine nests in North Dakota.

Driscoll said the new female has a black-colored band on her leg, but he hasn't been able to get a get a look at the band number to learn more about her past. She may have been produced in Winnipeg, he said, because banders in the Manitoba capital traditionally use black leg bands.

Driscoll, by comparison, uses bands that are black and red.

Female peregrines are larger than males, he said, and the birds don't travel together during migration.

Marv returned on Monday to Grand Forks, Driscoll said—two days earlier than last year. In 2014, his first year in Grand Forks, Marv flew April 21 into town. Terminator, who was hatched in 2006 in Manitoba, traditionally hasn't shown up in Grand Forks until late March or early April, Driscoll said.

Feathers could fly

This will be Terminator's ninth year of nesting in Grand Forks if she returns, Driscoll said. And if she returns and the mysterious female still is here, feathers might fly—both figuratively and literally.

The anticipation of the drama that could unfold is part of the fascination, Driscoll said.

"We don't know if Terminator comes back, but if she does, the basic assumption would be there'd be a bit of a territorial fight," Driscoll said. "The assumption would be (Terminator) would win because she has more at stake because it's her nest box."

That's not a given, though, he conceded.

"To make it more complicated, she's got Marv, and maybe he won't take to this new lady," Driscoll said. "He's letting her sit in the box, but that doesn't mean he will mate with her. It's never this simple, but generally speaking, when there are territorial disputes, it's female-on-female and male-on-male."

In the meantime, Driscoll said he's going to keep trying to get a better look at the number on the new female's leg band, which is easier said than done.

Worst-case scenario, a new female is better than no female, he said, but Terminator is his sentimental favorite.

"It's better to have her here than no Terminator, but she's not even late yet, so I'm not too worried about that," Driscoll said. "If things hold, we expect her to show up in a couple of weeks.

"I hope we have a few more years of Terminator left."

The new female, above, and Marv, below. Photo by Dave Lambeth.



http://www.grandforksherald.com/outdoors/wildlife/3982973-new-female-falcon-town-may-mean-terminator-turf-war-over-marv-and-nest-box

[AlisonL]

Terminator is home!

From the Grand Forks Herald today:

Peregrine life returns to normal in River City

By Brad Dokken

The love triangle that threatened to turn Grand Forks' peregrine falcon nest into a bit of a soap opera has been terminated—you might say—and life appears to be settling back into a normal spring groove atop the UND water tower.

Grand Forks raptor expert Tim Driscoll on Monday said he has confirmed the identity of Terminator, the matriarch of Grand Forks' contribution to the peregrine recovery, who was spotted back in town Thursday.

She also has been seen copulating with Marv, her male counterpart for the past two years.

Peregrine falcon pairs don't migrate together but often return to the same nesting site.

A possible turf war had emerged a couple of weeks ago when a year-old female named Bristol—hatched and banded in 2015 in Winnipeg—showed up vying for Marv's affections before Terminator had returned to the nest box atop the UND water tower.

They'd even been seen doing what the birds do in the spring.

But then a female showing all the markings of Terminator flew back into town Thursday, and that was the end of that.

First and only

Terminator is the first and only female peregrine to nest in Grand Forks and has raised young since 2008, first on top of the Smiley Tower, and since 2010, on the UND water tower.

Driscoll was able to confirm Terminator's band number over the weekend.

Whether the two females ever fought over Marv isn't known for sure, but Bristol now has skipped the country and has taken up residence with a new male falcon in Winnipeg.

Driscoll said he talked to a Winnipeg raptor expert who confirmed the tryst; news travels fast on the falcon front.

Bristol didn't waste any time, either.

"Here's what I'm sure of — Terminator is at the site, she and Marv are getting along well, and Bristol has been ID'd by her band number up in Winnipeg," Driscoll said. "That's exactly what I was hoping: (Bristol) has a positive ID from our end, we know for sure she was here, and now she's in Winnipeg and Terminator is here."

The female was dubbed Terminator in 2006 after she was banded as a chick in Brandon, Man.

Driscoll and others who band peregrines often name the birds because it's easier to remember a name than a band number, which in Terminator's case is T/2. He banded Marv in 2013 in Fargo, naming the male after Fargo TV personality Marv Bossart, who died in April of that year.

Terminator's return to Grand Forks was the earliest ever, but that's no surprise, given the early spring. Previous years, she first was sighted in Grand Forks on April 9, 2008, with subsequent first sightings April 10, 2009; March 27, 2010; April 7 or 8, 2012; March 26, 2012; March 26, 2013; April 6, 2014; and March 29, 2015.

Happy ending

All things considered, the outcome of this peregrine saga was as positive as Driscoll could have wanted.

Terminator's back with her mate, and Bristol appears to have made a quick rebound.

"She's hanging around with an experienced male," Driscoll said. "We'll let that settle in and see what happens."

Call it another success in the storied recovery of a species once on the brink of extinction. Fargo and Grand Forks have the only known nesting peregrines in North Dakota, while Minnesota has more than 50 nesting sites across the state, the Department of Natural Resources says.

Driscoll credits the efforts of captive breeding programs and reintroduction efforts across North America for the species' rebound after the chemical DDT decimated populations in the 1950s. Grand Forks was a latecomer to the recovery story, Driscoll says, but he now looks forward to the peregrines' return every spring.

"As soon as that happens, you get this sense of relief like, 'OK, we're good,' " he said. "I say goodbye to them (every fall) and say, 'see you next year.' "

http://www.grandforksherald.com/outdoors/3996670-peregrine-life-returns-normal-river-city

[Donna]

Glad it all worked out! Thanks!!