The Department of Environmental Protection and Game Commission this week announced that its annual Peregrine Falcon banding event will be held from 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., May 22 in the Rachel Carson State Office Building’s auditorium in Harrisburg.

Viewers can watch the event live through a webcast on DEP’s website. You can watch past falcon banding events through the Falcon Focus GreenTreks webpage.

Although not a public event, mid-state teachers, non-formal educators and students will attend the event where biologists will weigh and band the newly-hatched nestlings, called eyases.

When the falcon eggs hatch, the young falcons will “pip” through their shells, after which the female will eat the shells to clean the nest and regain calcium. On May 22, 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 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 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. In Pennsylvania, Peregrine Falcons, a state endangered species, were extremely rare for many years. Yet, 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, or nest, of five eggs. This is the third straight year that the female has laid clutch of five eggs. 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.

For more information about the Peregrine Falcon banding event, contact DEP’s Environmental Education and Information Center at 717-772-1644 or send email to: adevine@state.pa.us .

Links: Pittsburgh Falcon Nest

Peregrine Falcon Lays Eggs in Allentown

Online Video: Falcon Focus GreenTreks webpage.

4/11/2008