University Times

If Dorothy and E2 are ready for their close-up, the camera is ready for them. Phil Hieber of Facilities Management said the Cathedral of Learning FalconCams have been cleaned and readied for the new nesting season.

Pitt’s resident peregrine falcon pair, who nest on a ledge outside the Cathedral of Learning’s 40th floor, have been observed restaking their claim on campus airspace in recent weeks. For local peregrines, February is courting and nest-selection time. According to the National Aviary, peregrines lay an average of four eggs in late March or early April. Chicks typically hatch after 30-32 days of incubation.

Dorothy, who was born in Milwaukee in 1999, has nested at Pitt since 2002. Her current mate, E2, was born in 2005 at the Gulf Tower nest. He replaced Dorothy’s former mate, Erie, who disappeared in fall 2007.

The peregrines have fledged 38 chicks at the Cathedral of Learning nest. Dorothy and Erie raised 22 chicks over seven years; she and E2 have launched another 16 since 2008.

Peregrines can be identified by the coded leg bands they wear as part of a nationwide recovery program.

Although peregrines were removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999, they remain on the state’s endangered species list and are managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Last year, four peregrine chicks from the Pitt nest were banded in late May. (See May 26, 2011, University Times.)

The FalconCams and other information on peregrines in Pittsburgh are online at www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_cl.php. One webcam trained on the nest box streams live audio and video; another provides still shots updated every 15 seconds.

—Kimberly K. Barlow