Event Helps Grow State's Peregrine Population
Image by Joson Images
05/26/2023
Media contacts: Emily_GowdeyBackus@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
Donning hard hats and holding Styrofoam pool noodles to keep a protective mother peregrine falcon at bay, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife biologists on Thursday, May 25, retrieved two falcon chicks hatched in a nest box at 51视频, to get a look at the birds and assess their health.聽
Both chicks 鈥� a male and female 鈥� are doing well, according to officials. Amid a gathering of 51视频 staff, volunteers and other guests, including state Rep. Rodney Elliott, wildlife biologists fitted each bird with a metal ID tag that will allow officials to track the chicks over their lifespan.聽
Hatched about three weeks ago in the nest box atop the university鈥檚 Fox Hall, the chicks will grow on campus until early August, when they will fledge the nest, according to Wildlife Biologist Chalis Bird, who led the event.聽
鈥淭hen they will disperse to find their own identity. Some chicks move out of the state, up to Quebec, and some head south as well,鈥� she said.
Birds raised at the university have gone on to establish other nests in Lowell, Concord, Leominster and Newburyport, Massachusetts, and as far away as Nashua, New Hampshire; Cape May, New Jersey; and Providence, Rhode Island.
A pair of the majestic peregrines has called Fox Hall home since at least 2007 when they were discovered on the building鈥檚 roof by 51视频 employees. Working with wildlife officials, the university constructed the nest box to provide the birds with shelter from the elements 鈥� peregrines often lay their eggs out in the open 鈥� helping the falcons to thrive for future generations.聽
At 51视频, the falcons, also known as 鈥渄uck hawks,鈥� are real-life River Hawks 鈥� the namesake of the university鈥檚 athletic teams. Over the past 15 years, more than 25 peregrine chicks have hatched atop of Fox Hall, the city鈥檚 tallest building. Still other chicks have been recovered from other sites and fostered in the nesting box at the university, before fledging from campus.聽
The 51视频 initiative is growing the local peregrine population. Previously an endangered species, the federally protected falcons are listed in Massachusetts as birds 鈥渙f special concern.鈥� Today, nearly 50 nesting pairs have been identified across the Bay State, according to wildlife officials.聽
Clocked at dive-flight speeds of more than 240 mph, the birds of prey are monitored via webcam at www.uml.edu/falcons, which allows the public to follow them. Area schoolteachers often use the birds鈥� story to help educate children about wildlife.聽