A flash mob materialized after only 2 days’ notice on the evening of Memorial Day in downtown Tacoma to check on the happy family of peregrines, Murray and Harriet and their four chicks, three males and one female, Jake, Chris, Eeyore, and Hope. The names were picked in a contest drawing by Tahoma Audubon and were assigned after banding revealed the genders of the chicks.

Fergus Hyke, chief observer and photographer of this nest, at left with many of our group.

Lots of you came and were not disappointed! Guests of honor were Fergus Hyke, a professional-level photographer who has been monitoring the birds from his office in their building on behalf of FRG (Falcon Research Group, Bud Anderson’s organization), as well as TAS President Jerry Broadus and local raptor expert Roger Orness who participated in the banding operation.

Murray the Peregrine

This turned out to be one of the first days that the chicks left the nest, “branching” out onto the art-deco ledge of the 17th floor of the Heritage Bank Building, best viewed from various spots on 12th Street looking north. We were treated to Peregrines flying over our heads, negotiating the canyons of skyscrapers expertly, while Rock Pigeons went about their business with an eye to the sky. One of the falcons spent considerable time plucking a pigeon one building east of the nest, feathers snowing down like cottonwood seeds. Soon pieces were brought to the chicks, who were enthusiastic eaters. The parents used the food to lure the chicks ever further from the comfortable and luxurious penthouse provided by falcon lovers.

Jerry tells the group about banding the chicks at the nest (arrow)

This drama will be ongoing, and all of you are urged to look up from this intersection in Tacoma and see what’s happening and tell your friends, but soon!

Raptor expert Roger Orness with Willettes

It is thought that the chicks will fledge within a couple of weeks. This will be a time of vigilance for all of us, as we watch for chicks suddenly appearing on the busy roadway. Jerry says they are approachable and can be picked up at that stage. Take it into the building. The security people can get it to Fergus or someone to put it back in the nest box.

Some of Fergus’ great shots of this family close up, as well as by others who have been able to see these birds head to head are on the Tahoma Audubon website at http://www.tahomaaudubon.org/Peregrine-Falcons-Downtown-Tacoma, as well as on the TAS Facebook page.

More photos by others taken from the ground are on the TAS FLICKR site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tahomaaudubon/albums/72157681477342223

More photos have been added recently by Heather Roskelley, who seems to be specializing in bloody prey shots!!

Downtown Tacoma has been the site of almost continuous Peregrine nesting attempts since the 1990s, first on the Murray Morgan 11th Street bridge, just a stone’s throw from the current nest. In fact, the dad of the current family, “Murray,” was fledged and banded on that bridge 13 years ago, so he’s getting to be an old guy. He’s had many mates over the years and has had great success at the present nest box site for the past several years. Jerry tells us there is another Peregrine family under the highway 509 bridge right now who also have 4 chicks.

Happy Peregrine family shares dinner

Dad Murray goes to work after dinner

What a wonderful adaptation this proud species of raptor has made since coming back from the brink during the DDT years!
Go there! See them!

NEWS FLASH!  Just after this was posted, the Tacoma News Tribune published a story on the Peregrine family:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/outdoors/article153431734.html

UPDATE – JUNE 16, 2017:  After Chris’ sad demise, it was heartening today from Jerry & Fergus to hear that Hope was out of rehab after her fledging misadventure.  Roger is also out there, still waiting to see whether she’ll be okay.  A watcher in a nearby building said she was holding her wing a little askew.  X-rays have shown no break.

Yesterday during the Tall Ships’ arrival, a Peregrine was seen flying in the area by Diane and Adam, although they were not very close.

New photos have been posted on both websites above (Tahoma Audubon and FLICKR).

ABC teamed with Tahoma Audubon and the Slater Museum at UPS to bring back one of our favorite speakers from 2015, Sievert Rohwer of UW/Burke Museum, to explain molt migration to us. He decided we understood his previous talk on types of molt, so instead of reviewing, he plunged directly into molt migration. It was a privilege to have him return to see us, as we learned a lot last time and felt we had made a friend.

Sievert Rohwer and Peter Wimberger with ABCers

Peter Wimberger, director of the Slater Museum, introduced his previous professor to the crowd and presented him with a Slater Museum T-shirt!

ABCers Diane & Faye assist Sievert with his new Slater Museum shirt

Professor Rohwer got right into it with evidence that previous researchers had gotten it wrong, assuming that since they knew the pattern of molt migration in eastern species — that western species would have a similar pattern. Wrong! Turns out Sievert’s team found Lucy’s Warbler molts on its wintering grounds in Mexico and not in the U.S. before migration, and they were just the first inkling of a larger pattern. The Adolfo study turned over the old paradigm by studying specimens from every collection they could get, showing western molting birds to be much more likely in Mexico than the U.S.

Western molt migration discovery

And these passerines weren’t just molting in Mexico, but in the coastal lowlands. Some older studies had been skewed by the fact that collectors liked the mountains, but birds didn’t. There was a true difference from eastern U.S. neotropical migrants who molted before flying south. Our western birds followed the Mexican monsoons. Sievert vividly recounted how rich in birds an area would be, then his team would go elsewhere, only to return 2 weeks later and find the area devoid of birds after the swarms stripped monsoon growth bare. Many of the birds had the ability to put on huge stores of fat overnight that allowed them to lead this kind of life.

Coastal lowlands species richness

Seasonal monsoon precipitation

Painted Buntings’ migration patterns showed molting grounds and wintering grounds that didn’t match up, as shown by new monthly population maps. These are more up-slope movements, and again the maps show this trend when overlaid by elevation and moisture. (See https://peerj.com/articles/1871/#supp-1)

Painted Bunting migration animation

A disturbing piece of research has revealed that passerine females who molt down south have a rougher time of it than the males, arriving later for a shorter molt cycle, finding the males have eaten all the best food, and then being stuck having to grow a set of primaries simultaneously instead of taking their time.

Sievert spiced up his slide show with giant grasshoppers being eaten by beetles and other grasshoppers, as well as tarantulas and instructions on how to catch them!

Sievert offered instructions on catching tarantulas like this

Species discussed included Lucy’s Warbler, Lazuli Bunting, Indigo Bunting, Bullock’s Oriole, and then when Sievert was trying to tie up his talk, he started in on Yellow-billed Cuckoos. Apparently they used to breed all over the western U.S., but they really haven’t decreased in the way we think up here in Washington. Instead, cuckoos found lots of food closer to where they molted and quit coming north. Unless you’re talking strictly about Washington State, these birds are not endangered at all, but very common! We need to know more about this, Sievert!

Sievert’s last slide posed the question, “How did collections fail us?” This turned out to be a major theme for this research. Numbers of specimens and times of collection in the past bore little correlation to where the most birds were and what they were doing. Thanks to Sievert Rohwer, that is changing.

Sievert Rohwer with ABC program whiz, Kay Pullen