San Jose Peregrines

[huddiecat]

My friend who lives in the San Francisco Bay area, and who I have converted to a bird/crow/falcon watcher sent me this link about the 5 new peregrines who hatched.
Suzanne

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/04/05/falcon-chicks-hatch-in-san-francisco-san-jose/

[Donna]

   
San Jose City Hall falcon chicks: It's three males and a female

If falcons wore clothes, the baby chicks atop San Jose City Hall would be wearing three blue sweaters and one pink.

In his annual trek up to a ledge outside the 18th floor of the downtown building Thursday morning, UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group biologist Glenn Stewart banded the legs of the peregrine falcon chicks in an effort to study them in years to come. And he also determined their sex: three males and one female.

Stewart is thrilled that the Bay Area has an "all-time high" of 30 known peregrine falcon pairs roaming the skies, and he said there are about 250 known falcons in the state. That is actually not a low number overall, said Stewart, reminding people that these falcons are at the "top of the food chain" and eat hundreds of smaller birds each year.

Several falcon lovers and city hall workers came to witness the early morning event, where Stewart used a rope to scale along the wall of the City Hall building to get close to the chicks as their parents, named Clara and Esteban Colbert, squawked and yakked angrily as he neared their brood. One homeless man, who didn't want to give his name, marveled at this urban birding experience.

"This is natural beauty," he said. "It's amazing."

As for the four babies, San Jose children have already been invited to name the young falcons, and the winning names will be announced May 6.

This is mama falcon Clara's fifth nesting season in Silicon Valley. The popular falcon family, first spotted at City Hall in 2007, and their annual mating and birthing rituals, are tracked by devoted followers and can be followed on a live webcam at www.scpbrg.org.

The chicks are expected to learn to fly some time in the third week of May.

[Falconatic1]

Yesterday, Sunday May 15, 2011, three of the San Jose peregrine juveniles fledged.  Their names: Ahote, Hermes and Unita.  It is with a heavy heart that I report to you that Unita, the only female in this clutch, suffered a collision with a building on her first flight, and did not survive. 

The first to fledge, Ahote, landed on a sidewalk outside San Jose City Hall, where a policeman and a bystander saw him, and called animal control, per our fledge watch procedure.  Animal control called our biologist from the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, Glenn Stewart, who came to the scene with other fledge watchers, and placed Ahote into our high-tech transport device (a cardboard apple box with holes in it). Ahote was escorted up to the roof of City Hall, where he was sprayed down with water to keep him from bursting out of the box and trying to fly immediately.  He was released onto the roof, and is still there. 

Hermes is on the roof of one of the San Jose State University buildings, and fledge watchers are there.

The fourth juvenile, Shadow, remains at the nest box. He slept alone for the first time in his little life last night. Clara, his mom, took care to feed him.  This morning he has been out of the box and up onto the ledge, flapping and looking over the edge, but he's back in the box at present.

Best wishes to Beauty and Archer, and keep us all in your prayers for successful fledging of our remaining three.

Debbie Z
Falconatic 1

[Donna]

So sorry Debbie about Unita, those first flights can be so dangerous. I wish the rest good flights and happy tales where ever they may go. Keep us posted.

[Bonnie]

I read it soon after you posted.  SJ is my birthplace and I go there in late June and always see the fledglings at SJSU.  The watchers are distressed at best.  It is very difficult as this group knows

[Bonnie]

I just learned that they haven't been able to find Hermes for a couple of days.  Anyone have updates?

[Annette]

I just learned that they haven't been able to find Hermes for a couple of days.  Anyone have updates

Yes, there is an update

Hermes located on B of A bldg. Parent with him and breakfast has been served!

[Kris G.]

I just learned that they haven't been able to find Hermes for a couple of days.  Anyone have updates

Yes, there is an update

Hermes located on B of A bldg. Parent with him and breakfast has been served!

Good news!

[Donna]

There is sad news to report from the top of the San Jose City Hall building.

Unita, the only female falcon to be born earlier this year on the 18th floor ledge of City Hall, has died.

She was 40 days old.

"It takes equal measures of luck, skill and strength to survive out there," said Glenn Stewart, a biologist with the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, who monitors the peregrine falcons born in the Bay Area. "This was purely bad luck."

Stewart said Unita took her first attempt at flying Sunday, as her mother was returning to the ledge nest box with a pigeon to eat. Unita lunged for her meal, and apparently couldn't handle flying and grabbing for the food at the same time, Stewart said. She slipped and crashed into the Rotunda.

She was pronounced dead a short time later.

"She wanted to be first for the food," Stewart said. "But her feathers weren't fully developed. She probably had another two inches of growth. She should have waited a few days."

Unita is survived by her three brothers: Hermes, Shadow and Ahote, and her parents, Clara and Esteban Colbert.

The falcons are named each year by San Jose schoolchildren.

Members of this beloved falcon family have been living at City Hall since 2007. Their every move is monitored on a webcam and in person by Stewart and his scientific team, along with a group of volunteer falcon lovers, nicknamed the Falconatics.

This is not the first year a young falcon has died. As Stewart explained, learning to fly, or rather land, is challenging for young birds of prey, and they can die both in the wild and in urban settings.

A male falcon chick was found dead in May 2010, and in June 2008, a falcon female named Cielo died after she suffered a clumsy landing and crashed into City Hall. "The fact is, only the strongest and luckiest survive to breed," Stewart said. "That's why these birds lay four eggs each year."

Oh that poor girl, so sorry! 

[Bonnie]

The other three males seem to be doing fine. I wish them very good luck and hope to see them flying about SJSU campus in July.

[MAK]

 

[Carol P.]

Fly Free Unita.   

[Donna]

Two juvies on a ledge.

[MAK]

   Yikes!!! 

[carly]

Not sure if any of you follow this falcon cam but there has been some drama here.  Clara and EC have 3 eggs so far and have been dealing with another intruding pair.  EC has now not been seen since yesterday, one egg is damaged and Clara is on cam looking lost and occasionally chasing off another falcon.