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Current Salt Lake City date & time: Aug 20, 3:46 am
HE PEREGRINE FALCONS have returned to Salt Lake City this year and once again nested on the northeast corner of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
The falcon pair produced four eggs this year. Three of the eggs hatched during the week of May 18. (The first eyas, or nestling, hatched at about 11 a.m. on May 20. The second eyas hatched at about 6 a.m. on May 21. The third hatched at about 2 p.m. on May 21.)
Disaster strikes
Sadly, the first two eyases to hatch expired on the morning of May 21 and the third eyas died on May 23. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists are uncertain why they died, but a major swing in temperature may have been a factor. (The temperature plummeted from 93° F during the afternoon of May 20 to about 45° F by mid-morning on May 21.) In addition, the fourth egg appeared to have a hole in it. The dead eyases and the egg were discarded by the adults.
Tests have indicated that the eyases did not die from biological infections. Further tests are still pending for chemical toxins. Environmental factors, like the temperature changes, might also have played a part in their deaths. When we find out more information, we will post it.
Peregrine information
Peregrine falcons do not build nests from grass, or twigs. Usually, they create a scrape (a shallow depression in the substrate) on ledges, cliffs, or in this case, a high, protected spot on a downtown Salt Lake City building. Once established, a nesting site may be reused year after year, although alternative nesting sites have been utilized as well.
Peregrine falcons have used nesting locations in downtown Salt Lake City since 1984. With the help of Salt Lake City Peregrine Falcon Watchpost Team members, from 1986 through 1990 and 1995, 11 of 16 young learned to fly and dispersed to the wild. From 2004 through 2007, eight of
11 young successfully departed to wilder haunts. Five of the six youngsters fledged from 1991 through 1993 did so from a nest site located just north of Salt Lake City.
Peregrines are hunters extraordinaire that prey almost exclusively on birds caught in mid-air. Considered the world's fastest animal, the species can reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour during vertical dives. The pigeon population of downtown Salt Lake City provides ample food, but through the years more than 35 other bird species have been found to have fallen prey to these magnificent, awe-inspiring flyers. Many falcon prey species are not normally found in urban environments, indicating that the falcons forage both within and beyond the confines of the big city.
The peregrine falcon was removed from the federal Endangered Species List in 1999. The Utah peregrine population is recovering statewide, and the species continues to enjoy protection under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
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