First Hatch of the Season for Utica’s Peregrine Falcons
The first hatch of the Utica Peregrine Falcon’s 2018 breeding season happened at approximately 7:02, Wednesday morning. A second hatch occurred only hours later at 10:37. The hatched eggs are two of four that the female falcon laid back in early April. The falcons occupy a nest box located on the 15th floor of the Adirondack Bank building in downtown Utica.
Both hatches were monitored via streaming internet cameras. Members of the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project had predicted the hatch day based on when the parent birds began incubating the eggs. Peregrine eggs normally take 29 to 34 days to hatch once incubation commences. The relatively long hatching process began Tuesday evening when a hole appeared in one of the eggs. The hole, called a “pip”, was created when the chick within the egg used its egg-tooth to break through the shell. Soon after, begging calls began to be heard from the chick within the pipped egg.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Utica’s falcons (named Astrid and Ares) have produced young. In 2014 this pair became the first of their species ever known to successfully raise young in Utica or Oneida County. Peregrine Falcons remain listed as an Endangered Species in New York State. Back in 2013, in an effort to assist in the falcons’ recovery, a specially designed nest box was installed on the 15th floor of the Adirondack Bank Building in Downtown Utica.
The Utica Peregrine Falcon Project was formed to safeguard and monitor the birds and their nest site. There are currently over 75 pairs of Peregrines known to be nesting in New York State. About half of those nests are in cities. Updates on what is occurring with the falcons as well as streaming video from the Utica nest site is available from the UPFP’s website:
Uticaperegrinefalcons.com