Ogdensburg, NY Welcomes a Rochester Falcon
Photo courtesy of Jim Pisello
It seems that every time we turn around we get more news about one of Mariah’s offspring. The latest comes to us courtesy of Barbara Loucks at the DEC. She emailed us recently with the following report.
I just got a report this morning that one of the falcons at the [Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge in Ogdensburg, NY] had its band read by our long time peregrine/eagle observer Mary Beth Warburton as black over red, M over sideways T, which I looked up while still on the phone with her. It was banded on June 1, 2006 at the Kodak site in Rochester. Mary Beth originally thought this bird might be a male based on size, and when I checked my notes this was the runty bird of the three females banded that year – but we had to band it as a female based on leg size.
This points out yet another peril of [naming wild birds] – as “Sabrina” may turn out to be something else! Time will tell as to whether this bird is indeed a female or a large male. There is no proof of nesting yet and this bird is new this year to the site.
Mary Beth will keep us informed as things progress. She thinks this is the bird that was dive bombing an immature female earlier in the week at the bridge; moments later the two birds were joined on the Canadian side by a third and pigeons were scattering everywhere.
Yet more great news! It sounds like Sabrina might need to be renamed, if it turns out the other bird keeping company with “her” is a female. Luckily, Dan Stiehler, the long-time Rochester falcon watcher who named Sabrina in 2006, also submitted a male name, Valiant. So, if it does turn out that Sabrina is a he rather than a she, we have a fitting name for him. Hopefully Mary Beth will be able to observe Sabrina and the other falcon mating. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear any more news from New York’s northern border!
All the recent revelations and sightings of Mariah and Kaver’s offspring might be leaving everyone a little confused. Our friend Tom Hoehn (Cornpoppy) from Kodak decided to help us make sense of everything by updating the Rochester Falcons Family Tree. Take a look and see how much clearer it all becomes when it’s mapped out…
Tags: ogdensburg, sabrina
April 19th, 2009 at 6:39 AM
So happy to hear it!! Someone make sure and tell Dan!
April 19th, 2009 at 7:01 AM
Wow! Mariah and Kaver’s offspring and grand-offspring are really showing up lately. I am so glad to hear from some of the birds we watched in the nestbox in years past. I am hoping someone can ID the new female in Rochester soon.
Thanks for posting this update on Sabrina!
April 19th, 2009 at 7:25 AM
LOL!! Love it Cornpoppy!! Too funny. 🙂
Nancy in UT
April 19th, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Is there any way to have the banding labels listed on the family tree?
April 19th, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Thanks for the genealogy,.
I’m curious about the high female to male ratio – almost 3 to 1. In peregrines is this typical, an aberration or unknown? If typical, any speculation as to reason, e.g., higher rate of death among females?
M_C-S = 9F/5M
M_K = 18F/11M
Total = 27F/16M
April 19th, 2009 at 12:05 PM
bluhawk: I had the same question as up in Canada here the ratio of females to males also seems to be 3-1 from the sites I observe. I guess that’s why there are so many territorial fights the past few years between females or perhaps we just know about them more now due to technology.
April 19th, 2009 at 1:20 PM
@bluhawkk- That question came up last year when we discussed the biology of falcon reproduction. There’s a theory that may supply an answer, but it’s not universally accepted. Read about it here.
April 19th, 2009 at 2:23 PM
Great depiction of the family tree, thanks Tom!
April 19th, 2009 at 2:28 PM
Thanks for the family tree Tom.
April 19th, 2009 at 3:31 PM
I love the family tree! Just one thing: we know the name and origin of the unknown male. It was Tybropa-Cree from Canada.
April 19th, 2009 at 4:03 PM
that is so exciting..thanks for the news. I wonder?????
April 19th, 2009 at 4:21 PM
This is all so confusing this year. I’ve been a Mariah and Kaver fan for years! I was totally heartbroken when Kaver didn’t come back this year. Could Kaver’s absence added with the removal of Mariah’s nesting site she’s used for years, been a part of her downfall? Could all of these changes have just been too much of a distraction for her or was it simply her age, two against one (totally not fair!) and nature taking its course? Also, is there some way to account for all of the Kaver and Mariah offspring? Does anyone keep track of them and how do we find out how many have made it and how many have been lost?
April 19th, 2009 at 4:57 PM
i CHECK THIS SITE A FEW TIMES A DAY, FOR ALL THE UPDATES. THANKS TO EVERYONE. YOU ARE KEEPING ALL OF US WELL INFORMED. IT AMAZES ME HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE SO CONCERNED . GREAT! AS FOR ALL THE SIGHTINGS OF MARIAH & KAVERS OFFSPRING… WELL , MAYBE THEY SENSE SOMETHING HAPPENED TO MOM SO THEY ARE COMING A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME … JUST A FUNNY THOUGHT I HAD.
April 19th, 2009 at 6:05 PM
That’s too funny about the perils of accidentally mistaking sexes of juveniles and giving them names accordingly. Maybe “Sabrina” just likes to wear female plumage! 😉 (Sorry, Sabrina! Couldn’t help myself!)
Well, I guess in the future we could try to give any “questionable” juvies gender-neutral names or reserve the tradiononal “wind” names for those we can’t be 100% sure about?
April 19th, 2009 at 9:09 PM
According to the updated family tree, is there speculation that the new female in the area is Grace, Mariah’s daughter from 2007?
April 19th, 2009 at 9:29 PM
@kris-some of the watchers have thought so
April 19th, 2009 at 11:52 PM
On the family tree, how many do we know of have died. I know several had transmitters that did not make it. Trying to get an idea of those who potentially are still out there or not.
April 20th, 2009 at 12:05 AM
@Barb-I only recall Isaura, Hafoc & Skye
April 20th, 2009 at 3:33 AM
and Gahastey.
April 20th, 2009 at 1:38 PM
It would be useful if the updated information (known deaths, known territories) were actually posted in the history section of this website.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:13 PM
THANKS for all you do Jim, Carol and all!! I was thinking the male name could be Sabre – similar to Sabrina, but like the Hockey team. I received this story in my email today and thought you all would like it.
Freedom and Jeff
Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer. She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing doesn’t open all the way even after surgery, it was broken in 4 places . She’s my baby.
When Freedom came in she could not stand and both wings were broken. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vets office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tub e feed her for weeks.
This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn’t stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn’t stand in a week. You know you don’t want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn’t want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn’t bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just a bout in tears by then. That was a very good day.
We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington . We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV . Miracle Pets even did a show about us.
In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair – the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.
Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone.
So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and dressed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn’t said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don’t know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.
On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power course through his body. I have so many stories like that.
I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom.
Hope you enjoy this.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:08 PM
@jess & cornpoppy-Love the new family tree! Just one thing…or 2…Male X needs to be corrected…he was Tybropa-Cree who had a brief fling last year with Linn (2007) before moving to Rochester. There was yet another tiercel before him-briefly-who wasn’t ID’d.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:26 AM
Good for Sabrina!
Great updated and enhanced genealogy table. Rivals the Hapsburg’s!
ezsha, Shaky has the bands covered, http://shakymon.com/bandtable.html
Debbie, wonderful story. When I did my rotation at Clifton Springs long term care a little dog named Trooper had the run of the floor. He took over where the MD’s left off.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:09 PM
Hallo to our falcons in Ogdensburg! I’m 30 minutes away, and didn’t realize we had falcons up on the bridge! I’ll have to take a drive over one of these days with my son (who also watches this site with me), and see if we can get a peek at a Rochester offspring!! Thanks for this update 🙂
August 20th, 2009 at 12:39 AM
Maybe Sabrina is a lesbian and found herself a nice girlfriend! 🙂 It happens in humans and the behavior has been observed in lots of other animals! 🙂
December 1st, 2009 at 11:41 PM
[…] may recall that back in April we learned that Sabrina, from Mariah and Kaver’s 2006 brood, had taken residence in a nest box on the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge. Two strong signals on the morning of […]
April 7th, 2010 at 8:06 AM
As it turns out, Sabrina is indeed a male! Ceck out the Imprints link in the comment above for more information.