The Falcons Are Back!

A few days ago, I went up to our rooftop deck to have a cup of tea, when, to my surprise, a very rare and strikingly beautiful Peregrine falcon landed not 15 feet from me, on a roofing gutter. It took a few glances at me and then flew away toward the Space Needle. Seeing the bird made me want to head to Google to find out which exact bird I’d seen (its foot was tagged). Today, I found out that the bird lives on the 56th floor of a building only a few blocks south of me, on University Street.
Seattle’s Washington Mutual Tower has been home to a breeding pair of Peregrine falcons before. From 1994-2005, love-birds Stewart and Bell raised many a clutch of baby falcons. In 2005, they both passed away, and the next year, no falcons occupied the roost on the 56th floor of the tower.

Last year, two different females apparently attempted to breed on the tower and we think that both laid eggs in the nest box. As a result, a total of eight eggs was laid in the nest box.

This was one of the largest clutches of peregrine eggs on record (four eggs are normal) and the remaining female was unable to incubate them successfully. Unfortunately, the site was subsequently abandoned and all of the eggs failed to hatch.

This spring, there is a new pair of adult peregrines perching at the nest box. They have made a “scrape” or shallow depression in the gravel which usually indicates that they are preparing to breed. We have a camera on the box and once again, the image is being piped to the branch lobby where people can observe the nesting activities as they happen.

If you’d like to find out more about our new breeding pair of falcons, check out the Falcon Research Group’s website at frg.org. To see the live image feed from the nesting box, click here (I’ve included a screen-capture from the feed. Your mileage may vary — you may or may not catch the falcons at home.)

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