4 Cathedral of Learning peregrine falcon chicks banded by game commission

PITTSBURGH — Four chicks of the peregrine falcon pair Carla and Ecco were banded Wednesday morning at the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus.

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The Pennsylvania Game Commission performed the banding as part of ongoing conservation efforts to track species populations. This marks the third consecutive year Carla and Ecco’s offspring have been banded by the game commission.

Nested on the cathedral, the falcon family is the star of the National Aviary’s FalconCam. This year, the Peregrine Falcon duo successfully raised four chicks for the first time since their pair bond began. The chicks hatched between April 24 and April 27, under the watchful eyes of the adult falcons and FalconCam viewers, before being deemed ready for banding.

Patricia Barber, an endangered bird biologist for the game commission, has banded Carla and Ecco’s past two broods. The intricate process of bird banding involves placing a small, lightweight band with an identifying number on a bird’s leg. Researchers use these bands to track species populations.

The ideal banding time for falcon young is between 22 and 30 days old, when they are large enough for adult-sized bands but have not yet developed flight feathers. Barber said the longevity of the nesting site at the Cathedral of Learning offers significant returns in understanding a bird species’ life cycle.

“The Cathedral of Learning is one where we have been tracking birds for decades, since DDT recovery and the fact that we have that long-term data collected is so important,” Barber said. “You can’t truly understand how a species ages, their reproduction and growth of population, unless you have that information tracked. Banding in the nest allows us to plan ahead for when the juveniles come back as breeders, and it is setting them up for success so that they are successful!”

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During the banding, Barber performed a health exam on each chick, including measuring leg thickness and overall weight. Based on these measurements, she suspects there are two confirmed females and one confirmed male, with one chick being either a large male or a small female. The chick with an unconfirmed sex was fitted with a female-sized band to ensure it stays on properly for avian conservationists to record.

In most birds of prey, including peregrine falcons, females are larger than males, making weight and leg thickness useful indicators for sex determination. Leg thickness also guides the selection of the appropriate band size to ensure a comfortable fit.

Peregrine falcons previously faced extinction in the United States, with an all-time low of 324 nesting pairs remaining in North America in the mid-1970s. The widespread use of harmful pesticides, including DDT, led to thin-shelled eggs that often broke during incubation. A complete ban on DDT and coordinated conservation efforts have allowed this species to rebound to more than 3,000 known breeding pairs across Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

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Robert Mulvihill, an ornithologist at the National Aviary, emphasized the importance of access to species like the Peregrine Falcon.

“As someone who has dedicated their life to saving birds and protecting their habitats, having direct access to certain species like the Peregrine Falcon and their movements is so important to the work we do,” Mulvihill said. “We (at the National Aviary) are incredibly thankful to the PGC and their team for agreeing to band Carla and Ecco’s offspring these past three years. The data collected from the bands – now worn by a total of nine chicks raised by this Falcon pair – is beyond helpful to our plight of keeping these remarkable raptors thriving in the wild.”

Rachel Richelieu, vice chancellor for communications and marketing at Pitt, highlighted the long-standing presence of the falcons on campus.

“For more than 20 years, Peregrine Falcons have made their home at the Cathedral of Learning and having a front-row seat to the chicks’ development has been a gift to the Pitt community,” Richelieu said. “Banding the chicks is a testament to the shared effort between Pitt, the National Aviary and the Pennsylvania Game Commission to support the region’s Peregrine Falcon population. We look forward to continuing to watch Carla and Ecco’s third brood grow until they take to the sky later this summer.”

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