FalconCam

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Banding

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FalconCam

The three Peregrine falcon chicks born last month at Boswell Energy Center have now been named Liberty, Freedom and Justice. The chicks were banded on June 18 by Bob Anderson and Ann Reis of the Raptor Research Project (RRP), Decorah, Iowa. The bands signify that the bird is from the Midwest and also allows them to be identified and entered into a University of Minnesota research database. The banding will make it possible to track the birds’ activities over their lifetimes, furthering our knowledge of this once-endangered species.

Now in its 20th year, the RRP has banded its 1,000th peregrine as a direct result of working with electric utility personnel to place nesting boxes on stacks at several Minnesota utilities, including Boswell – one of the first utilities to join the program. Minnesota Power also has a nesting box at the Hibbard plant in Duluth – where three additional falcon chicks were banded by RRP in early June.

This year’s chicks are the 17th brood to be born at Boswell to patriarch Bandit and his mates, Skydancer – who failed to return to the nest in 2001 – and Windsong. In the last few years, about 50 percent of all Peregrine chicks born in the upper Midwest were hatched at secluded homes atop stacks at power plants. The electric industry has played a key role in Peregrine falcon recovery efforts here in Minnesota and the upper Midwest.

Boswell Energy Center Brian Borgman
with a Peregrine falcon chick that's just received two leg bands to identify it for researchers. Borgman assisted two raptor experts with the banding process.

For the last 15 years, a pair of migrating Peregrine falcons has been returning to a nesting platform 220 feet up on a 350-foot stack at Minnesota Power’s Boswell Energy Center near Grand Rapids, Minn., to raise their offspring.

Back in ’91, in an effort to help preserve this endangered raptor, Minnesota Power employees at Boswell installed a nesting platform on a stack. In ’92, a lone male — ultimately named Bandit—found refuge on the nest, and in ’93, Bandit and a female dubbed Skydancer raised two chicks in the nest, the first ever in Itasca County. Since then, 44 chicks have been raised on the platform.

Skydancer did not return to the nest in ’01. We speculate that she most likely died, as a Peregrine’s life span is about 10 years. Bandit found a new mate that was

later named WindSong by several Minnesota Power customers who took part in a naming contest. WindSong and Bandit raised four chicks their first year together, and three chicks the second year. We expect Bandit and WindSong to begin sitting on eggs sometime in April. The eggs usually hatch some time in early May. The proud parents will raise them at the Boswell nest through the summer. Chicks are banded when they’re three to four weeks old for tracking purposes.

Peregrines, the fastest raptor on earth, migrate in winter vacation spots from Little Rock, Ark., to the tip of Argentina. Sometimes, Peregrines will winter at a power plant if there is enough open water and an adequate nearby food supply, such as pigeons.
Peregrines seek private, high, out-of-the-way homes for nesting, mating and pursuing their prey. In the last few years, about 50 percent of all Peregrine chicks born in the upper Midwest were hatched at secluded homes atop stacks at power plants. The electric industry has played a key role in Peregrine falcon recovery efforts here in Minnesota and the upper Midwest. And, for the first time since 1960, Peregrines are now returning to breed on high cliffs throughout Minnesota, a more natural habitat.
We expect a pair of Peregrines to find Boswell Energy Center home for years to come.