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Two Falcon Chicks Banded on Du Bois Library Roof
State wildlife experts banded the two peregrine falcon chicks from this spring’s nesting on top the W.E.B. Du Bois Library on Tuesday, June 4.
The birds, a male and a female, hatched earlier this spring.
Tom French and David Paulson, of MassWildlife, removed the chicks from their nest through a door at the back of the box and then banded the birds as the parents flew and called above.
The bands, which are coded by color and carry letters and numerals, allow wildlife researchers to track the movements and histories of the birds over time. The black and green bands attached to these falcons indicate to researchers, from a distance, that these birds are from the Northeastern United States.
Peregrine falcons have been nesting on campus since 1998 and continuously at the library since 2003 in a man-made nest. In 2018, only one egg was produced and was inviable due to weather conditions.
A new falcon cam was deployed on May 6, funded by donations. A live feed of the falcon’s nest can be viewed at https://www.library.umass.edu/falcons. A photo album from the banding can be viewed on Facebook.