PA Environment Digest

The Department of Environmental Protection and Game Commission will hold its annual Peregrine Falcon banding event from 12:30-2 p.m. May 27 in the Rachel Carson State Office Building’s auditorium in Harrisburg.

Viewers can watch the event live through a webcast on DEP’s website. Although not a public event, DEP is inviting teachers, non-formal educators and students to attend where biologists will weigh and band the newly-hatched nestlings, called eyases.

Biologists will retrieve the young peregrines from the nest located on the 15th Floor of the Rachel Carson State Office Building.

Students and teachers will witness the biologists placing an alphanumeric metal band around the left leg each of the eyases’ with a falcon-specific code. The band code will be used by wildlife officials and bird enthusiasts to monitor the birds once they leave the nest.

In addition, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife band will be placed on the eyases’ right leg registering each on a federal banding database.

This banding is a unique opportunity for teachers, non-formal educators and students to witness firsthand wildlife management techniques to reintroduce and monitor endangered species in the Commonwealth.

Since 1997, a pair of Peregrine Falcons have made their home on the 15th Floor of the Rachel Carson State Office Building. While their numbers are increasing, Peregrine falcons remain an endangered species in Pennsylvania with 21 pairs having successfully bred in 2009. Through reintroduction programs, Peregrines have adapted to life in urban environments like Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Williamsport.

Each year, DEP and the Game Commission track the activities of these amazing birds of prey and share educational information with the world.

The falcon pair successfully has reproduced since 2000, and this spring, the female falcon again laid a clutch, of five eggs. The female has laid a clutch of five eggs for a number of years. Egg production is determined by nutrition, which indicates that there is a high-quality food base, and the male is an adept hunter and provider.

Online viewers will be able to see the banding of the eyases and learn how biologists use alphanumeric bands to study peregrine falcons as they migrate, pair with other peregrines and set up breeding territories. Fans also can follow the Peregrines this year through Twitter at www.twitter.com/FalconChatter.

To register for Peregrine Falcon banding event, mid-state educators should contact DEP’s Environmental Education and Information Center at 717-772-1644 or send email to: adevine@state.pa.us by May 13. Space is limited, so registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

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