Tag Archives: falcons

2021 Falcon Banding Report!

John Howe and friend on Xcel Energy's Monticello stack in Monticello, MN.

This year, we banded 80 falcons at 29 sites in four states: a record for us! 11 sites were on cliffs, nine were at power plants, four were at grain mills, four were on buildings in the cities of Duluth, MN; La Crosse, WI; Dubuque, IA; and Peoria, IL and one was on a water tower at 3M! Want to learn more about our falcon banding work? Follow the link to our 2021 Banding Report: https://raptorresource.org/raptorresource/pdf/2021BandingReport.pdf

How do we know falcon Zooey’s age?

March 10, 2021: Zooey from the back

How do we know that falcon Zooey is two years old? Peregrine falcons have two distinct age-related plumages: juvenile and adult. Juvenile falcons have heavily barred underparts and brownish topsides (“brown birds”), mature falcons have pale undersides with black-barred bellies and blue/slate topsides (“blue meanies”), and two-year-old falcons like Zooey have a mix of adult and juvenile feathers. I love this stage! Tail Feathers (Retrices) Like all peregrine falcons, Zooey has twelve tailfeathers that are numbered one to six from

What Bird Is This?

January 4, 2021: A Merlin at the North Nest

What bird is this? It’s a Merlin! This surprise visitor delighted watchers at Decorah North yesterday by perching, eating, preening, and showing off its yoga skills before flying away. According to most sources, North America is home to five falcon species. From largest to smallest, they stack up like this: Gyrfalcon Peregrine Falcon Prairie Falcon Merlin American Kestrel Like Peregrine falcons, Merlins feed primarily on other birds that they catch in the air, although they will also eat mammals, insects,