Peregrine Chick Season Has Begun!

Peregrine falcon chick with color/project band

Two peregrine falcon chicks were banded, and blood taken for ongoing study, at Wells Fargo Plaza in Bloomington, MN today.  There are two bands placed on the chicks' legs; one is a federal band that has a nine-digit number (in the photos it will appear purple), and one is a bi-color project band (in the photos, it is black over red). The second band can easily be read with a spotting scope or binoculars for ease of observing and identifying the bird throughout its life.

Peregrines have successfully fledged from this site since 1997.  This site is a great example of the immense accomplishment of the peregrine restoration efforts started by Dr. Patrick Redig and Dr. Harrison "Bud" Tordoff.

As most of our followers and friends know, the Midwest Peregrine Society is housed at The Raptor Center.  TRC staff provide leadership, technical advice and administrative support for the project, which includes 13 Midwest states and two Canadian provinces.  The history of the project, as well as a searchable database for the public to look up individual birds, sites and state information, is here.  A recent Minnesota Daily article on the project is here. 

Peregrine falcon chick with federal band being placed on the leg.

The lobby of the Wells Fargo Plaza
has a camera on the nest box