Once-endangered peregrine falcon chicks hatch in downtown Rockford for seventh-straight year

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our free e-newsletter

ROCKFORD — The city has a new quartet of young birds of prey who will soon be learning to fly over downtown.

Four peregrine falcon chicks hatched about three weeks ago on an eighth floor ledge of the Iconic Energy building. On Tuesday, the fluffy white hatchlings were banded as part of the Chicago Peregrine Program’s study of the once endangered raptor.

Photos: Four peregrine falcon chicks banded at Iconic Energy building in downtown Rockford

Peregrines typically nest on cliffs hundreds of feet in the air, but the former News Tower on the edge of the Rock River has served as a nest sight for two peregrines since 2018. Peregrines were named the city’s official bird in 2020 in honor of the successful urban nesting.

“Illinois is a plain state. We’re not a cliff state,” said Mary Hennen, director of the Chicago Peregrine Program at the Field Museum. “It’s the adaptability to the urban environment — and they’re using these building ledges like a cliff ledge to nest on — that has given them another habitat to use.”

The chicks, three male and one female, were banded Tuesday by experts from the Field Museum with help from the Sinnissippi Audubon Society, Wisconsin Sea Grant and Iconic Energy staff.

There were also two student volunteers — Anika Korsky, 9, and Lia D’Astice, 7, of Maria Montessori at Marsh — who got to play a small role in helping Hennen prepare to band the city’s official bird. Their school also submitted two of the names for the falcons as part of a naming contest run by the Sinnissippi Audubon Society, which also operates a 24-hour camera focused on the nest site with the help of Iconic Energy.

“I love when the schools are watching the camera. I love when they’re submitting names and getting actively involved in it,” said Jennifer Kuroda, president of the Sinnissippi Audubon Society. “That can lead to conservation and love of nature. It’s just great to have the schools watching the camera.”

This is the seventh year that peregrine falcon Louise has nested at the downtown building. She’s had three mates during that time, and this is the fourth year she’s returned with Brian. They are the only known nesting peregrine falcons in Winnebago County.

The bird’s numbers have been rebounding since they were on the brink of extinction because of egg-thinning pollutants such as DDT. The raptors were placed on the federally endangered species list in the early 1970s and removed in 1999. Still, they’re a rare sight in Illinois. There are just 30 known mating pairs in the state, according to Hennen.

“A lot of people think there are more peregrines than what there are. There’s really not,” Kuroda said. “For us to have a breeding pair in Winnebago County is really significant. It’s the only known pair in Winnebago County and they chose Rockford … in the most perfect building on top of it, with the most perfect view.”

Historic names

Each of the chicks was named through a contest run by the Sinnissippi Audubon Society. More than 100 names were submitted before it was whittled down to 10 for a public vote.

The names — Monty, Lewis, Lincoln and Libby — all have ties to Rockford.

The winning names of Monty and Lewis, after educator Maria Montessori and Rockford co-founder Lewis Lemon, were chosen by students at Maria Montessori. The name Lincoln was submitted by students at Lincoln Middle School and the name Libby pays homage to Libby Gardner, a Rockford native who was one of fewer than 1,100 women to fly for the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II. A mural of Gardner is adjacent to the Iconic building.

There have been 21 total chicks now hatched in Rockford, and they have often carried names with ties to the city such as Nelson after the Nelson Knitting Factory, Peaches after the famed women’s baseball team and Freddie VanTweet after 2012 Auburn High School graduate and NBA champion Fred VanVleet.

Three of the birds hatched on April 27 and one on April 28. They’re banded after three weeks because their legs are fully grown by that time.

As part of Tuesday’s banding, researchers also collected downy feathers and drew a small amount of blood from the birds for future study.

“It’s like archiving a library book. It might not be used right now for research, but somebody could come along and say I want to see if they’re carrying blood-born parasites,” Hennen said.

The banding and blood-draw process takes less than an hour, and the chicks are returned through an eighth floor window to their nest as quickly as possible. A protective Louise swooped and squawked outside the window until her chicks were returned.

“If there was any question that the parents wouldn’t take the chicks back, we wouldn’t be doing this to begin with,” Hennen said. “A short time out is fine. If anything, they successfully chased us away at the end of the day.”

The chicks are covered with fluffy white down until their feathers come in after roughly three weeks to a month.

After that is flight. Peregrines typically make their first fluttering flight attempts roughly 40 days after hatching.

It’s a precarious time for the young birds, most of which don’t make it to their first birthday. Peregrines have a 60% mortality rate within their first year of life.

The Sinnissippi Audubon Society hosts a fledge watch each year to keep eye on the local birds’ first flights to protect them from fluttering into traffic on State Street or other potentially deadly landing spots.

Once the birds are mature, they become the fastest hunters on the planet capable of diving at their prey at 200 miles per hour.

https://www.rockrivercurrent.com/2024/05/21/photos-four-peregrine-falcon-chicks-banded-at-iconic-energy-tower-in-rockford/

Watch the falcons in Rockford

You can watch the Sinnissippi Audubon Society’s Nest Cam atop the Iconic Energy building to see Louise and Brian and their three chicks here.

Volunteer for fledge watch

Sinnissippi Audubon Society runs fledge watch to keep the young birds out of harms way while they attempt their first flights. Volunteers take two-hour daily shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

If you’re interested in participating, email info@sinnissippiaudobon.org.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas