Three fierce, feathered sisters are ready to soar—literally. High atop the W. E. B. Du Bois Library, UMass Amherst’s latest brood of peregrine falcon chicks received their official identification bands on Friday, May 23. The baby peregrines—also known as eyasses—are aptly named Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup after the iconic flying superheroes from “The Powerpuff Girls” cartoon.

The naming came courtesy of an online contest hosted by the UMass Amherst Libraries, which invited the campus community to choose names for the newly hatched raptors. The Powerpuff Girls theme quickly took off, with voters embracing the perfect parallel: three bold sisters with a mission and wings.
 

In a high-altitude operation, MassWildlife biologists and climbers accessed the library’s rooftop nest box to band “The Powergrine Girls” with lightweight leg bands that allow researchers to track the birds’ movements, health and survival over time. Each received two bands: one silver, issued by the federal government, and the other green and black, issued by the state, with unique ID codes.

“We’re doing this just in time,” said Lauren Hubbard, the libraries’ associate editor of digital content and a member of the university’s falcon team, noting that the chicks ventured outside of their nesting box for the first time on banding day.

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This is the second year that the UMass falcons have been back atop the library in a newly renovated nest box after spending two years at a temporary location on Thompson Hall. These new digs do a better job of shielding the raptors from the elements.

“Because of climate change and all of this nonsense with the weather, the new box with the narrower entrance has been absolutely critical in having successful hatches,” explains Richard Nathhorst, research facilities manager, who helped launch the UMass falcon program in the 1980s. 

The banding is part of a broader effort to monitor peregrine falcons, a species that was once endangered due to pesticide use but has made a dramatic recovery. Today, nesting programs—like the one at UMass Amherst—help keep populations stable while offering a front-row seat to one of nature’s most thrilling comebacks.

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The three falcon sisters are still covered in fluffy down, but in just a few short weeks, they’ll be flapping, gliding and eventually diving at over 240 miles per hour—the fastest creatures on Earth. Much like the animated Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, they'll soon be using their wings to patrol their skies.

However, the trio’s mom, Merriam, and dad, Webster, aren’t empty nesters quite yet. They’ll continue to show their offspring the ins and outs of being a falcon until the fledglings leave to find their own territory in late summer or early fall.

Anyone who is interested can follow along with the chicks’ progress and growth in real time thanks to the UMass Falcon Cam, which streams online 24/7. The UMass Amherst Libraries have also developed a Common Core pre-K-12 curriculum on peregrine falcons available to all educators.