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Berkeley, CA
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Raise your hand if you want to watch all three of our cams at the same time!
We are very excited to announce the launch of our new website: calfalcons.berkeley.edu
Come check it out, and learn all about Annie, Grinnell, and their history at @UCBerkeley!
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“Loafing” is the scientific term for when a bird is displaying relaxed behaviors not specifically related to feeding, breeding, or predator evasion. As you can see, New Guy really knows how to loaf. We’re hoping for some uneventful weeks full of loafing ahead of us
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When a mated Peregrine dies during the breeding season, the most likely outcome of the nest is abandonment. In rare cases, a new mate can come in, establish a bond with the remaining individual, and adopt the chicks. It is *possible* that we are witnessing this right now.
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We are all deeply saddened to report that Grinnell was found dead in downtown Berkeley this afternoon. We are devastated and heartbroken.
His cause of death isn't known, but he was probably struck by a car given where we found him.
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Uh... this is something we've never seen before. Annie is... back!
We've never, in our years of monitoring Peregrine nests had a female disappear during the peak of breeding season and reappear a week later like nothing had changed. Especially with so much competition around.
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Annie has never successfully hatched all four eggs in any year we've monitored her. There's always been an egg that didn't make it. Nox was the exception to that: a tiny little bundle of fluff that hatched out of his egg as hundreds of people watched live on BAMPFA's big screen
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The new male briefly incubated the eggs. We’re still hoping to see prey deliveries, but this is a very good sign.
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Welcome to the family, Chick 4!!!
This is the first time Annie has ever hatched all four eggs she's laid. It should make for a very chaotic and exciting year!
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#Fauci crashing lunch. He really needs to work on his landings.
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Peregrine Falcons, like many apex predators, adapt their hunting targets as prey populations shift. For example, during shorebird migration, they often go after sandpipers. There’s a very brief time each year around now that they almost exclusively hunt a very strange bird.
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Your daily prescription of two minutes of squirming fluff is here!
All four chicks are looking great. They are getting frequent meals and are growing and developing well. It's already starting to get difficult to tell the younger one apart!
Great job, Annie and Archie!
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Annie chasing a Red-tailed Hawk out of her territory today. Amazing photo by Moon_Rabbit_Rising on Instagram. Give her a follow for more!
instagram.com/moon_rabbit_ri…
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One year ago today, we lost Grinnell. Grinnell helped raise 13 chicks over five years. He was a devoted partner to Annie and a constant presence at the Campanile starting in 2016 (often staring directly into the camera). We miss you, Grinnell!
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Alden checking if he can take over incubation for Annie. Annie lets him know she's not going anywhere.
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We have a pip! One chick has made the first tiny crack in the egg and is breathing outside air.
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Some gorgeous shots of Lindsay exploring the library roof.
Huge thank you to Moon_rabbit_rising for the photos:
instagram.com/moon_rabbit_ri…
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Dear @UCBerkeley,
Would it be possible to air condition the Campanile?
Sincerely,
Two melty chicks
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From the desk of Dr. Zeka Glucs, of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group:
I wanted to share a bit about the CalFalcons banding day from my POV yesterday. I arrived with my banding partner, raptor biologist Gavin Emmons and we went up the tower...
cont.
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If you're a busy person who wants to watch a falcon nap for a half an hour but can't devote a half an hour to watching a falcon nap, this video is for you!
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For the first time at this nest site, we've seen co-feeding, with Annie and Archie sharing feeding duties! Full length video of this meal can be found here:
piped.video/uixJNLcWkws
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We had another drone flying incredibly close to the Campanile about an hour ago.
To all drone operators: please do not fly near the Campanile. Flying drones on campus is prohibited. Harassing wildlife can lead to nest abandonment, injury, and death. Please stop.
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The youngest chick is testing out some revolutionary new acrobatic techniques for getting food. They still need a bit of practice...
So far, everyone is growing very well and look very healthy. All of them are eating well, which is very nice to see at this age.
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Annie (top in all pics) defending the nest site against an intruding female. Lou helped out, too (he’s the small one in the pic of 3)
Incredible photos from instagram.com/moon_rabbit_ri…
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🚨🚨🚨🥚#1!!! 🚨🚨🚨
Annie was quite a bit earlier this year than she ever has been. The earliest previous egg was laid on March 10th!
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The past three years, we have celebrated Father's Day with this silly little photoshop of Grinnell. Father's day typically has fallen at a time in the breeding season where everything was winding down a little bit, the chicks were all flying and learning to hunt on their own.
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Annie and Grinnell performing a head bow display today. This courtship behavior helps strengthen the pair bond and is one of the key courtship behaviors seen during the breeding season.
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Sad news to share with you all: Lindsay was found dead today on the west edge of campus. Lindsay was last seen at the Campanile in the first week of August and it appears that she likely died not too long after those observations.
p: instagram.com/moon_rabbit_ri…
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At least one chick is celebrating Earth Day with a Birthday! Annie and Archie's first chick just hatched a few minutes ago. A second egg has a very substantial pip, so seems to be making good progress.
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What a year! For the first time ever, four chicks need names, because "Moommmm, 2447-05485 stole my pigeon foot!" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. By popular vote, we are returning to themed names for this season (names for all four chicks should be related to each other).
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Luna just fledged-successfully landed at Bancroft Library! Congrats to all on successful first flights!
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And now we have Aurora’s first flight! She flew well and joined her sister on Evans Hall. Just waiting on Nox now!
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So today, we celebrate Alden and Grinnell, the two falcon dads who made this breeding season possible! Happy Father's Day, Alden and Grinnell! We hope you're grilling up some nice pigeon wings for the family today, Alden.
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Nox was rescued from the water at Berkeley Marina today by Bay Raptor Rescue and is on his way to @wildcare for some rest and recovery.
We'll keep you all in the loop if we hear any more about his health.
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Lindsay's really grown up since banding day, but she's still sitting the same way...
Banding day photo by Dr. Zeka Glucs, @SCPBRG
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We have three eggs! Annie laid at 11:47 last night. Here's Grinnell working on fitting another egg under him this morning.
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Archie gives some quiet encouragement to his chicks. If you look close, you can see one of the chicks moving inside the pip.
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Backed into a corner by Annie, Archie "gracefully" vaults over a chick to make his escape.
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We are deeply saddened to receive the news from UC Davis that Nox passed away last night. They will be performing a post-mortem to determine the cause of death, which is still unknown.
We will be posting an in memoriam later today when we have time to honor Nox properly
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Very exciting news out of Vallejo, CA - Zephyr had been resighted! This marks only the third Cal Falcon chick resighted.
Huge thank you to Carissa Bamford for the photo and report!
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As Annie’s 7th brood hatches on the Campanile, her grandchicks are hatching on Alcatraz!
Larry (Cal Falcons class of ‘18) has just hatched four chicks at her nest. This will be her third brood on the island.
Despite last month's stormy weather on @AlcatrazIsland, four peregrine falcon chicks have just hatched after a month-long incubation period. That's the biggest brood in the island's recorded history!
Read: nps.gov/goga/learn/news/pere…
ALT Chicks in a nest surrounded by rocks next to a peregrine falcon
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Annie and Grinnell ring in 2022 with a courtship display on the Campanile balcony. We have not seen the new male in a couple of weeks, so right now it seems like Grinnell has retained the territory.
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Eclipse returning the tower today. After resting all day yesterday, he's been a flying machine today, making several very impressive flights and landings.
Still waiting on his siblings!
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Pip Pip Hooray! We have our first pip sighting as the chicks are starting to hatch. The pip is the first hole in the egg made by the chick, allowing it to breath outside air for the first time. From pipping to fully hatching takes ~24 hours.
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The chicks are getting huge! Lou and Annie have been stuffing them full all day.
Mark your calendars for May 5th. We will be banding the chicks early that morning and kicking off our annual chick naming contest later that day!
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Archie, I hate to tell you this, but if you're going to have trouble getting four eggs under you, you're going to have a heck of a time in a couple of weeks when you've got a squirming pile of fluff to deal with!
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In a scene that may bring back traumatic flashbacks for parents everywhere, Annie was hit by friendly fire while trying to innocently do bird yoga today. Culprit still at large and should be considered winged and dangerous.
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Family portrait!
If you can't make it to our Hatch Day celebration, but still have burning Peregrine Falcon questions (or just want to tell us how cute those babies are...), we are just about 2 hours away from our live Q&A on YouTube!
piped.video/watch?v=djziCx5g…
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Given the timing of this within the breeding season, it is doubtful that this nest will succeed with Annie alone. Over the next few days we will write a more complete remembrance. As you can imagine, like all of you, we are in the process of digesting this difficult news.
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We wanted to send a huge thank you to @BAMPFA for hosting our hatch day party yesterday! It was so fun to see such an amazing turnout.
Hopefully we will see one or both of the remaining eggs hatch in the coming hours, but for now we hope you're all enjoying these two fluff piles
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Alden never stops hunting. Although he should maybe learn when something is too small for the chicks.
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Archie got an unexpected visitor on the tower!
Recent research actually shows that Hummingbirds prefer to nest NEAR raptor nests! Hummingbirds are too small to be much of a target for raptors and raptors chase away crows, jays, squirrels, and other threats to hummingbird nests.
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Alrighty, so that was fast... Grinnell Jr. hopped out the window, immediately flew in a quick loop and landed back on the nest level. He then flew again a minute later and is now in a tree. Both chicks have passed the first major test and had successful first flights!
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Alright, all three chicks are out and about - let's break down what's going to happen next.
Although the chicks have passed one of their most dangerous moments (first flight), they still have a lot of work ahead of them. The first year of a Peregrine's life is very dangerous
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Banding was a great success. All the chicks are in excellent health. We have 2 females and 2 males this year. One of the males is the youngest chick (hatched 2 days after his siblings). More details soon. Be sure to join us for a banding Q&A at noon today
piped.video/watch?v=VawyMN3L…
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After 9,478 votes, we are excited to announce the winning name for New Guy: Alden!
Alden Miller, his namesake, (pictured here - sort of - with his collection of birds) was a student of Grinnell and succeeded him as director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.
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Peregrine Falcons are extremely territorial - they take exception to anyone violating their space and will often pursue much larger raptors. Yesterday, Annie felt that a subadult Bald Eagle had strayed a little too close to her space and very politely escorted it off of campus.
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Grinnell Jr. really working out those wing muscles this evening. Crazy to think he'll be flying in just about a week!
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Fledgewatch just arrived on scene and found Lindsay happily perched on top of the Library. Congrats on the successful early morning first flight, Lindsay!
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Some of the really awesome acrobatics we've been seeing over campus. Part of flight school is a game called "talon tag", where chicks will try to "catch" their siblings or parents mid-air.
Huge thank you to moon_rabbit_rising for documenting:
instagram.com/moon_rabbit_ri…
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Amazing moment captured of Eclipse flying back to the Campanile and stopping to say hello to visitors at the Carillon level.
After stopping here, he flew again, gaining height and landing above the nest level. Amazing progress!
Huge thank you to @shekoufeh_21!
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Eclipse has made a second flight! This time he took a long flight around Evans hall before landing on the Physics building!
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Peregrine Falcons, like many raptors have strong sexual dimorphism - females are bigger than males. Although the chicks are still growing a lot, their legs reach adult size fast, so we use that to id sex. Can't guarantee anything, but the right chick sure has massive talons!
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A very unexpected flurry of excitement today. Grinnell was hanging out on the Campanile when a different Peregrine showed up! She was a juvenile female and unbanded, so we don't know where she came from. She was probably checking out potential territories and saw the Campanile
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