The Diction-Aerie!

We'll get to the fun stuff pretty quickly, but I wanted to write a quick note on abbreviations. Why do we call the active Decorah eagles nest N2B? What in the world is DN1? Do other nests use the same nomenclature?

In general, we use nomenclature to label eagles and nests. In Decorah, our first nest was never online and was not included in the initial nest count. Mom and Dad occupied N1 from the fall of 2007 to the summer of 2012. In the fall of 2012, they began building N2. They lived in N2 from the fall of 2012 to the summer of 2015, when N2 fell in a storm. If we were following the rules, we would have named the nest we built for them N3 (since three follows two) or N4 (since it is the fourth nest on their territory). But since Bob had just passed away, we named it N2B in his honor. Mom and Dad North are on DNN3, or the third nest built in the Decorah North territory.

Eaglets are given a territorial signifier and long count number. This makes it easy for us to differentiate between our nests and reminds of us of how many eagles have been produced at each territory. Unhatched eggs are not counted. Young that die in the nest are counted. So:

• The first eaglet to hatch in Decorah this year will be D26 (the 26th eaglet produced by Mom and Dad Decorah).
• The first eaglet to hatch at Decorah North this year will be DN4 (the 4th eaglet produced by Mom and Dad North since we started counting, and possibly the 4th, period).
• The first eaglet to hatch at Fort St. Vrain this year will be FSV34 (the 34th eaglet produced on this territory, although it appears we had at least one female turnover).

Other nests may or may not use the same nomenclature system. If the moderators use names, they probably don't. But if the moderators use numbers, the numbers are indicating a count of nests, eaglets, and/or adults. Names like D26, E9, and M15 provide context and information once you know how to read them! And now for the fun...

Presenting....The Diction-Aerie!
With Eggstraordinary Graditude to chatters, and many other EAs who contributed to our eggspanding vocabulary of Eagle-ese / Eaglish we proudly present the Decorah Eagles Diction-Aerie for you to print out, mantle over, and devour the knowledge presented by the Fledge-U-Ating Eagle 101 Classes of 2011-2016. A huge thanks to Sherri Elliott, who posted this for the first time in 2011, and has kept it up to date ever since!

Air-obics - Extending wings and catching a bit of air.
Anthropomorphism - projecting human characteristics onto animals.
Apteria - area on breast with no feathers; aka -brood patch.
Babylets – The fuzzball stage of baby eyas.
Balloon Mantle - a puffball of feathers exhibited by E3.
Bantling – A baby mantle … not a full juvenile mantle yet – coined by ElfRuler.
Beak-A-Boo – D14’s beak was often the only thing seen from his hiding spot.
Beak Bonk - depending on level of intensity can be a slight bump to a sibling or a one-two lead up to a TKO.
Beak Geeks - a term for people who avidly watch the eagles everyday!
Beak Kisses - ahh, one of our favorite spectator sports.
Beak Lips -  area of beak sides to corner of mouth.
Beak Off - eaglet beak joust.
Beakering - sibling disagreements.
Beakathon – 3-Way Beak contest of power.
Beakdown – A beak squabble resulting in a take down of a sibling.
Beakoff - eaglets fake fighting with their beaks.
Bedreagled Eaglets - raggedy look after bad weather.
Benihana Dad – aka Bunnihana Dad – No one can defurr and slice and dice better than Dad!
Big Gulp Protein Smoothies - swallowing a whole fish.
Bird Nerds -  another term for people who avidly watch the eagles everyday!
Birshimi - mystery prey of the bird variety.
Bling - unidentified accouterments brought to the nest from Nest Depot - usually brightly colored.
Bobbleheads - self explanatory, but especially adorable dressed in fuzzy white natal down.
Branch Office  -  Mom & Dad spend most of their time in this space adjoining the nest after the eaglets grow into juvies.
Branching - eaglets hopping from one branch to another prior to fledging.
Breakfish -  first meal of the day that is fish.
BreakFur – the first meal of the day that is furry.
Cameraflague – D14 was expert at hiding above the camera and cables.
Cameritisi Permanentitis Bugitis -  bug on camera lens, also known as camera bugs.
Camming – jumping on the camera.
Cere -  fleshy, membranous covering of the base of the upper mandible.
Claw Floss - name given to Pinky, the baling twine. from 2011.
Chef's Surprise - When eagle bodies obscure the meal being served.
Chicken of the Tree – not tuna … squirrel served in the Cottonwood.
Chicklet - affectionate name for our hatchlings ... see also Babylet.
Circe du EEEaglee’ – Feats of aerobic performance (or feets).
Cleaning Coma - behavior emulating Dad’s cleaning skills, but generally tiring quickly, lapsing into face plant.
Clown Clomp - comical eaglet first steps learning how to walk.
Clown Feet - oversized feet/talons that the eaglets haven't grown into yet, nor know what to do with.
Clutch - total number of eggs laid, or birds hatched during a single nesting period.
Convocation - group of eagles in tree or on ground.
Corn Husk - outer dried corn covering coveted in nest.
Corn Husk Pillow - said item used as head rest.
Corn Stalk - building material for nest crib rails.
Clutch - number of eggs laid in a nest.
Crittergetter – Mom & Dad’s wings used when combating an intruder.
Crop - area in neck where food gathers first before entering stomach if it is full.
Crop Plop - aka Crop Flop - falling over or laying down, usually proceeded by a food coma.
Crop Prop - the ability to use the enormous crop to prop up a bobblehead.
Crop rotation - food moving from the crop to the stomach for digestion (and filling up again).
Cuddle Huddle - all the e's close together for safety/warmth in a group.
Cuddle Puddle - horizontal E cuddle sprawl.
Cuddlelet  - one hatchling all cuddled up by itself.
DDD-ia Pets - just add water to little eaglets.
Decorah - the idyllic location in Iowa where our family set up its Home-Tweet-Home.
DecorahLand - A magical place at the top of a Cottonwood Tree.
Decorah Drop - nap flop.
Decorah Front Porch - our place to watch the EEeee's.
Decorah Shimmy - back and forth motion that Mom/Dad use to position themselves over the eggs/eaglets.
Decorahating - beautification of the nest.
EA'S - Eagle Addicts, aka: Eagle-holics.
E-Bots – hatchlings more ambulatory at age 4+weeks.
E-ddicts - those who watch eaglets and stay in pajamas all day.
E-Gulp - swallowing food whole.
E-Heap - pile of eaglets.
E-Lump - same as cuddle huddle.
E-Pology - Submission bow or another act of 'sorry' after a sibling altercation.
E-Team - long suffering worrywarts who love eaglets.
E-Ticket Ride - the Decorah Eaglet antics are the ultimate ticket to fun in DecorahLand.
EEE-Mail - self explanatory.
E.N.S. - Empty Nest Syndrome
EWOT - Eaglet Without Transmitter (believed to be D18 from  2014).
EWT - Eaglet With Transmitter (believed to be D19 from 2014), now known as Four.
Eagle Condo - eagles in penthouse, smaller birds in lower stories.
Eagle Kneivel - daredevil or showoff behavior.
Eagle Time - no time that has anything to do with human time.
Eagleholics Anonymous -12 step recovery program for eagle addiction.
Eagleholics - (Eagle-holics) people that are avidly watching them daily.
Eagleology – online camera course in eagle watching.
Eaglestock/Eaglefest - 300+ million viewers united on web cam broadcast.
Eagle-ese - our unique vocabulary, also known as Eaglish.
Eagleibrium - balance achieved only by eagle walking.
Eaglemaniacs - people who eat, drink and sleep eagles, with not much real sleep actually occurring.
Eagleicious Delicious - any delightful E behavior.
Eagletecture - construction skills used by Dad to create the nest.
Eagletude - any display of eagle attitude.
Eaglish - all the words we made up for this dictionary.
Eagulp - swallowing food whole.
Ealergies - involuntary sneezing reaction.
Eeelie Button – D14 gave us the first view of the protuberance at belly of the outtie left from yolk sac cord.
EEElympics - athletic feats of prowess.
EEEnsane - an affliction of most Eagleholics.
Eggnant - Mom's condition prior to egg lay.
Elebenty Billion – an enormous number .. coined by our ElfRuler.
Ellergy – eaglet sneezesEyas – eagle hatchlings
Eyas stage - fresh from nest.
Face Plant - off balance eaglet plopping into nest face first, perhaps going into food coma.
Feaking - cleaning a beak on a stick or branch.
Feathairdresser - wind redecorating Mom's hair.
Featherline  - the eee’s hairline feather growth giving them distinguishable identifiers.
Fish Fledge - result of food fight when intended meal accidentally goes off the nest bowl.
Fish Flops - any of the EEeee's wearing a skewered fish are said to be wearing fish flops.
Fishapalooza - a buffet bounty consisting of 4 or more fish brought to the nest in rapid succession.
Fishereagle - Dad, Dad, Dad!
Fishcicles - a serving of frozen fish nestovers.
Fjerky - fish jerky
Flap Mob – siblings rushing to mantle over new food item brought in.
Flapadoodle - Amusing flurry of wing flaps performed by Mom or Dad while sitting (incubating) the eggs.  Generally occurs in middle of night and scares the heck out of everyone watching.
Flappathon - endurance contest of eee 's getting pumped up.
Flatabit – aka Goodyear Rabbit – unmistakable steel belted rabbit roadkill.
Fleaping - flapping & leaping - aka hoppersizing
Fledge - taking the leap from branches to the air of the big beyond.
Fledge Fest - gathering of Eagleholics making road trips to witness fledging.
Fluffles – new tail feathers emerging in a ruffle pattern.
Fly-By - parent checking in, but not landing, and with or without food.
Fly-By-Fake-Out - parent flying by with food to lure E's out of nest.
Flying monkeys - teenlets similarity when wingersizing to the Wizard of Oz flying army. Hum the song: oh weeee oh...ohhhh oh when seeing this behavior.
Food Coma - state of suspension E's go into after eating too much.
Food Fledge – result of food falling/ going overboard from nest.
FOUR - our 3rd transmittered eaglet (believed to be D19 from 2014).
Fret of chatters - a group of chatters worried about the eagles.
Flapping Jacks - eaglets exercizing their wings.
Flash Chat – If something important happens on the nest, there is an immediate convocation of chatters and mods to discuss and view.
Fledge - when the juveniles are ready to leave the natal nest.  Unforunately, Eagleholics are unable to due the same.
Fledge-U-Ation - eaglets graduate to fledging.
Fritching - itching new emerging feathers.
Full-Feathered - a loving way to describe Mom Decorah's 'plus size'.
G.F.Z. - gnat free zone -- a mythical place in Decorah.
Gnat - larger than noseeums and especially fond of the eagle's head area resulting in eagle neck jerk twitching.
Gnat Gnat - a term of endearment used interchangeably for nite nite by EAs.
Gnat Off - miracle deterrent for gnasty gnats.
Gnat Scat Boogie – the eee’s headtwich dance.
Gnatercizing - shaking off the gnats.
Goodyear Rabbit – flat rabbit road kill.
Grub Buddy – sibling feeding food to another sibling … D11 did this often to its siblings.
Guest Nest - aka N1 as when FOUR (believed to be D19 from 2014) took over N1.  Kind of like having your kid move out ... but to the detached garage.
Guy-liner - one way to identify Dad is black liner around his eyes.
Hallux - rear locking talon, also known as eagle thumb.
Hard Penned - feathers firmly attached to bone.
Home-Tweet-Home – The nest.
Homeland Seggurity - mythical agency in charge of nest enforcement rules and regulations.
Hoo-Coos - soft little vocals from the eaglets.
Hoppersizing - up and down movement, usually in conjunction with wingersizing.
Hop-Squash - exhuberent nest hop resulting in a sibling step on. Usually E2 gets hop-squashed.
Hoppiness - what else would you do after a good feed and found you had wings?
Happy-Hop!
Hover Mantle - mantling behavior parallel to the prey of the day.
Hovering - catching air with outspread wings while staying in a fluttering suspended motion.
Hugbrella - wingstretch from one e to another.
Kettle - group of eagles in the air.
JuvEEE's - our beloved eee 's and ddd 's just before ready to fledge.
JuvEEE Court – Justice of the Peeece presided over the matter of D14 allegedly dislodging a cam mount screw and breaking the cam on Trunk Tower in 2012.  The case against the daredevil was thrown out by the EEE-Pellet Court and the darling was eeequitted.
Juvie Jump – another name for the game of leap eaglet.
Juvie sprawl - juveniles taking up extra nest space spreading wings out while napping.
King of Mulch Mountain - EWOT (believed to be D18 from 2014) defending city mulch pile, aka N3.
Leap Eagle - hopping over a sibling.
LEGO Eagle - pixilated image of our eagles.
Lumpasizing - E's staying close together or sleeping in a pile.
MODA - new acronym for is it Mom or Dad when a very rainy 2014 day prevented a positive ID by chatters and mods.
M.O.D.S  - Master Ornithological Data Searchers; also gatekeepers of the RRP FB page or chat.
Mantle - The action of a bird spreading its wings, fanning the tail & arching over prey, to hide it from other predators, including other birds or siblings. From Old English/Norse for cloak. (E3 delighted us with several distinct mantles: Balloon Mantle and Ninja Mantle).
Mantle Fluff ... not a mantle, not a bantle, but a puff of the feathers to intimidate and claim first noted by D18 at 6 weeks old.
Master Mantler - E3 showed extraordinary mantle diversity.
Mest – the nest in disarray from active juveee’s.
Moist Fowlettes - wet eaglets.
Momblock – Mom’s windbarrier for the babies.
Mombrella - Mom covering her eaglets with her wings, mostly in inclemate weather. (see also poptent).
Moonwalk - backup walk prior to a poop shoot.
Mousepad – off-season nest at night turns into a mouse pad.
Mulch Mountain - City of Decorah's mulch pile site.  It's where D18 was found a week after his fledge.  Also the place where D19 (EWT) (FOUR) was relocated to be with her sibling.  AKA N3 (Nest 3).
Muskrat jerky - poor thing which gets picked on by the eee’s when unearthed from the nest.
N1 – the original Cottonwood nest used from 2007/08 thru 2012.
N2 – the New Nest, aka: Yonder Nest used in 2013 and 2014. Subsequently destroyed 7-18-15 after a microburst toppled the top 20ft of nest tree.
N2B - (in Bob's memory = N2Bob) starter, human-built nest constructed and installed in a cottonwood tree just 75ft from the former N2 site, and has been adopted by Mom and Dad Decorah for the 2016 season.
N3 - temporary mulch pile nest taken over by EWT & EWOT in 2014.
N.W.Z - the state of zen Eagleholics try to remain in during each season.
Name That Prey - a favorite chat game of guessing what prey has just bee brought in by the P's.
Nare - nostril holes on the beak.
Neck Biter - D19 from 2014 wasn't a beak bonker as much as she was a back of the neck biter.
Nest Depot - wherever Mom & Dad can find new decor for the nest; ie- horsehair, corn husks, branches, straw.
NestFlix - the nightly video round-up.
Nest Bowl - the deeply insulated vault within the nest that corrals eggs and/or hatchlings.
Nest Guests - anyone watching the UStream video.
Nest Potatoes - eagles lazily lounging, usually after eating.
Nestcapades – any eee antics of a comedy nature.
Nestflix – the videos taken during the day of our famileee.
Nesterpiece Theatre – after dinner play antics .. sometimes accompanied by a food free for all.
Nestication - staying put in nest or branches; too relaxed to pack and fly off.
Nestogarbage - nest garbage or debris.
Nestoration - The act of rearranging or redecorating the nest.
Nestovers - uneaten food found in the nest.
Netiquette - a level of decorum expected on Decorah RRP Facebook page.
Nictitating Membrane - transparent inner eyelid, also known as the third eyelid protecting the eye.
Numb Butt - affliction caused by sitting at the computer too long.
Ninja Mantle -  heightened Zen-Like state of mantle & hover (first exhibited by E3 on 5-29-11).
O.C.N.D. – Obsessive Compulsive Nestoration Disorder.
Obstacle Occlusion - varying perspectives of the reality of the nest.
Outstinkt - eaglets knowing instinctively to PS out of the nest.
Owl - urban legendary creature purported to have attacked eagle nest; totally mythical.
P.I.P. – People In Panic waiting for impending pip.
PS - poop shoot - evacuation of the bowels.
Pancake - flat eagle in sleeping position.
Pantaloons - feathered leg eaglet britches.
Pantree – the nest storage locker where extra food is stowed.
Peaglets – piggy little eaglets clamoring for food.
Pet Pillow - using your sibling as something to rest a part of your body on.
Pffffftt! - the distinct sound coming from a PS.
Pickup Stalks - eaglet version of child's game played with cornstalks.
Pinky - the name given to the pink/red bailing twine brought into the nest that inadvertently wound around E2 (D1’s) foot in 2011.
Pip Squeek - a new emerging hatchling.
Pipping Toms – Eaglholics watching for pipping to start.
Pole Dance – D14’s wiggles on the Trunk Tower in front of the camera.
Piscivore - fish eater.
Poop Art - original whitewash gouache on the nearby trees; a takeoff of the 1960s  Pop Art Movement.
Poopcasso - PS artist.
Poptent - Dad standing over the chicks with wings spread keeping them safe from snow/rain/wind or predator.
Porch Peeps - The E's adoring EA's who sit on an evereggspanding porch overlooking the beloved cottonwood tree to pay homage to our eagles.
Post D-Epartum Depression - condition to what will happen to Eagleholics when eagles leave the nest.
Predicure - manicure for a predator.
Prey Buffet - whatever the parents happened to bring for dinner.
Prey Toy - meal tidbit used as plaything.
PSFS - Print Screen Finger Syndrome synonymous with copy, print and save web stream photo captures.
Puddle 'O Eaglet - description when too big for a cuddle puddle.
Puffmallows – the hatchlings first puffy and fuzzy phase.
R.O.T.N.S.O.L. - Rolling On Nest Squeeing Out Loud.
RWS - restless wing syndrome.
Raptor - a bird of prey, regal in the birddom. (Latin, one who seizes, from rapere).
Re-Decorahations - Eagles can redecorate, or nestorate, but only in Decorah can you Re-Decorate for the next nest season!
Raptortherapy - what all Eagleholics need after each season is over.
Reverse Sexual Dimorphism – In most cases when size differences exist between the male and female of a species, it is the male that is the larger of the two sexes. But in a few species, such as birds of prey and owls, it is the female is the larger of the sexes, and such a size difference is referred to as reverse sexual dimorphism.
Rictus - wide open mouth.
Riding The Rails – First perching times on the crib rails.
Rockem’ Sockem Baby Bots – Hatchlings pecking order squabbles with siblings.
Rug O’ War – A food item tugged between two eaglets trying to claim said item as their own.
Rumpicitis – Eagleholic affliction from sitting for 13+ weeks.
SED's - abbreviation for Sweet Eagle Dreams or Sweet Eaglet Dreams.
Screeching - sound associated with food frenzy.
Screech-fest - sound associated with food fest.
Screagling - screeches made by the eee’sScreeeeeeee - typed sound the eee’s make in one or multiple vocalizations; can interchangeable  with squeeeeee.
Scree-Geee’s – D12, D13, D14’s scree band.
Screeenami Siren – the screee alarm alert by juvies at an impending food drop.
Screeescendo – ear piercing frenzy of little eee vocalizations.
Separation Eagxiety - the anxiety that the last eaglet feels when it is left in the nest alone, sans siblings.
Shaking Juvie Syndrome - trying to get the gnats off ones head by shaking it.
Shell Helmet  - D20 emerged rolling out of its shell in 2014 and wearing a shell hat.
Snack Pack - another name for the eaglets crop, courtesy of "TeamCarnes 2nd grade class" in the 2015 season.
Snite - an eagle or eaglet sneeze.
Snuggle Huggles – simultaneous spooning and hugging while planted in a pile resting.
SOAR - Saving Our Avian Raptors - premiere rehab faciity in Iowa and present temporary lodging for injured eaglet D20 aka SOAR Baby.
Speggulation - wondering when those eggs will ever pip and hatch.
Spicules – knobby part of talons to hold onto slippery fish like suction cups.
Splish Splash -  three eaglets taking a bath in rainstorm 6-18-14
Sprawled Eagle - eaglet sleeping with wings spread covering a larger mass area than spread eagle.
Spread Eagle - eaglet sleeping with wings spread (see also sprawled eagle).
Squabbit - what we call the newest furry snack when we can’t  figure out if it is a squirrel or rabbit.Squeeep – babies vocalizations characterized as between a squeee and a peep.
Squeeeisnart – Mom & Dad’s fast and furious filleting of food at chow time.
Squeeesame Street - mythical play place for eaglets.
Squerky – unidentified leftover meal of either squirrel or rabbit jerky.
Squibetti - long entrail strands from mystery food source.
Squibbit – aka Squabbit – unidentified meal of squirrel or jerky.
Squirrel Slippers – fur bits taloned by the juveniles and worn around the nest.
Squish – unidentified meal of squirrel or fish.
StarBeaks – Eagleholics favorite corporate cawfee. Most popular blends: Decorah Decaf and Mocha Mantle.
Sub-Adult - juvenile eagle.
Sun Pose – aka Sunning – the regal eagle iconic horizontal wing drop stance associated with thermoregulation and E1, D12, D13, and D14 all D18, D19 and D20 offered their own versions.
Sun Pose Sundial - all 3 eaglets simultaneously in sun pose noted 5-20-14 by D18, D19 & D20.
SED – Sweet Eagle Dreams.
Sweagle Dreams - sweet eagle dreams.
Synchronized Switching - Mom & Dad's precisely timed incubation take-overs.
Syrinx - flap between esophagus and lungs for eagles vocalization sounds.
T.H.E. – abbreviation for ‘The Eagle Way’.
T.K.O. - Technical Knock Out -- usually preceded by eaglet beak bonking.
Tail Wiggle-Waggle -  movement of the eaglets tail after they realized they had one.
Tarsus - the section of vertebrate foot between the leg and metarsus.
Teeter Totter – using a stick on the side of the nest as a see saw.
The Beakerson’s – affectionate term of endearment given to Mom & Dad during their occassional tiff's.
Three Amigos – 2011 clutch of E1, E2 (D1) and E3. (see Tree Amigos for 2012).
Tippytalon - eaglets doing the ballerina thing.
Tree Amigos – 2012 clutch of D12, D13, D14.
Treeples – Eagleholics, aka Tree People.
Trunk Tower – the Cottonwood camera trunk that D14 ascended as its main lookout point.
Trunked – a vertical jump up to the tree trunk that D14 was most famous for doing.  D18 & D20 also utilized the cam tree trunk for vertical branching in 2014.  All three of these eaglets while "trunked" at the top of the cam, stayed long enough to give us some "selfie" photos.
Tweagles -  juvenile teen eagles.
Tweed Overcoats - when woolly down replaces white natal down.
Tween Preen - eaglets in their eee-awkard phase trying to get their feathers unfurled.
Twigging – going out on a twig prior to official branching.
Twiggs - playing with branches like Lincoln logs.
Twittering - calls made by young eaglets.
U-Branch – the U-shaped branch at the uppermost right of our screen frequented by Mom & Dad.
U.F.E. – unidentified flying eagle in background.
U.F.O - unidentified food object.
U.L.O. - unidentified laying object as when a well-intentioned but misguided fan dropped off a hay bale for extra nest warmth and seen in 2014 yonder field.
Whackdown - Wingwhack Wrestling takedown
Whatta - The best way to start a sentence!
Wilson - name given to the beloved cornhusk that resembled the volleyball in the film Castaway.
Windteruption - high wind day that causes the e's to lay low.
Wingercizing - excercizing the wings.
Wingertainment – new clutch fun in experiencing the joy of those little appendages.  The EA’s of course can be Wingertained by this action.
Wingpits - self explanatory.
Wing Nuts – Eagleholics, Beak Geeks or Bird Nerds … aka devoted fans.
Wing Smackdown - exhuberent wingersizing between two or more eagles resulting in a takedown.
Wing Whack - one eaglet stretching his wing while laying down and hitting his/her nearby sibling with it.
Wonderstruck - The overwhelming feeling produced by the EEeee's.
Y-Branch - the most beloved horizontal branch in N1, the old nest.
Yellow Suede Shoes - D20’s distinctive clown feet appeared to be wearing famous footwear.
Yonder Nest – name given to the new nest constructed by Mom & Dad in Fall, 2012.  Now known as New Nest or N2.

How and Why to Donate to the Raptor Resource Project!

What does the Raptor Resource Project do? We are a 501c3 that specializes in the preservation of falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks, and owls. In addition to bringing you the Decorah Eagles, Great Spirit Bluff Falcons, and other birds of prey, we create, improve, and directly maintain over 50 nests and nest sites, provide training in nest site creation and management, and develop innovations in nest site management and viewing that bring people closer to the natural world. Our mission is to preserve and strengthen raptor populations, expand participation in raptor preservation, and help foster the next generation of preservationists. We are asking for donations today to support our work. You can donate online at PayPal by following this link, or you can mail a check to:

The Raptor Resource Project
PO Box 16
Decorah, IA 52101

As a nonprofit environmental organization, we depend on donors, research, and our other programs for our entire budget.  In the upcoming year, we plan to:

• Establish a wild Philippine eagle camera. We are waiting for a report from Cornell on how to proceed. At this point, our costs are unknown.
• Continue our collaborative raptor nest-box, trapping, and monitoring programs, including banding at all of our peregrine falcon sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. If the weather holds, this will be a banner year for us. I believe we could end up banding 70 or more falcons!
• Upgrade at least three more sites to high definition digital cameras. We would like to do more if we can! 
• Continue to provide one of the world’s largest public wildlife education programs to countless classrooms through our unequaled Ustream channels, interactive chats, facebook page, and blog.
• Hire a full-time director. Our current director is volunteering all of his time to lead the Raptor Resource Project. He’s done a wonderful job and we would like him to work for us full-time. He was selected by Bob and has been absolutely critical in carrying Bob's legacy and plans forward. 
• Explore partnerships with schools and other organizations to benefit wildlife and land preservation in the Driftless Area. At present time, we are working with Hoo’s Woods Raptor Education and Rehabilitation Center and several other partners on a kestrel poster project.  Bob had become very interested in kestrels and we are interested in re-launching that project.
• Build and deploy online tools to develop appropriate tools to easily capture and share data from our sites and other sites.

With our volunteer director, our current costs hover around $118,700…but we will need to raise more money to bring our director on full time. In 2015, our expenses looked like this:

• $55,000 for staff and contracts. In 2015, we incurred extra expenses for our N2B build and two camera installs: one at N2B and one at Decorah North Nest. These were intensive projects that required a lot of help. The N2B camera installation alone took nine people five full days of work from dawn past dusk. Five or six volunteers also showed up to help at will.
• Camera installations – a computer and peripherals, cameras and peripherals, labor and materials, high speed internet, caretaker/rental costs, and audio systems - cost $17,500 per site, for a total of $52,500 in 2015.
• Supplies – primarily cable, tools, climbing equipment, banding equipment, bands, installation hardware, maintenance equipment, and lumber – cost around $2200 annually.
• Other/Miscellaneous costs around $9,000 annually. This category includes gasoline, electricity, travel-related costs, equipment fabrication, and propane so we can heat the shed!

Our income is generated entirely by donations from viewers of our various cams, and we sincerely appreciate your generosity and support of the Raptor Resource Project mission. Would you please help us make a difference with your donation?

Thank you so much for your support and we hope you enjoy watching in 2016! Go eagles and falcons! As we celebrated D24 yesterday, I couldn't help but think of Bob, the person who started it all. A few links:

• D1's capture and Bob's happy dance! https://youtu.be/CDetJJt4V5U
• A celebration of Bob's life: https://youtu.be/QMPbzWYKdMQ

Message From The Director

Although Bob Anderson is gone, the Raptor Resource Project is committed to continuing his work. We are dedicated to preserving and strengthening raptor populations, expanding participation in raptor conservation, fostering the next generation of preservationists, and educating people around the world about raptors and their habitats.

Our board met on Saturday, August 1st, to choose a new director and add additional board members. Bob wanted John Howe to succeed him as director.  John and Bob worked together on several projects, including the falcon cam installation and HD upgrades at Great Spirit Bluff, the Decorah cams, our bald eagle cam project with the Seneca Nation of Indians, and preparation for the Philippine Eagle jungle camera.  Bob was impressed by John's leadership and technical skills, his passion for using media to fascinate and motivate people, and his dedication to our mission. John will be a wonderful addition to the Raptor Resource Project and we welcome him as our new director. He will move Bob's legacy forward.

From left to right: David Lynch, John Dingley, Dave Kester, Laura Johnson, Neil Rettig, Brett Mandernack, Director John Howe. Not pictured: Board Chair Randy Christman, board members Jim Robison and Ken Mueller.

The Raptor Resource Project also added four new board members to the original five picked by Bob. Veterinarian Laura Johnson and film-maker Neil Rettig are our leads for carrying the Philippine Eagle Project forward, Dave Kester is deeply involved in our peregrine falcon banding and monitoring program, and David Lynch has been involved in a wide variety of projects, including eagle tracking, the kestrel nest box program, and social media. All nine of our board members were friends of Bob and are deeply committed to our mission. They will continue Bob's work, assuring that his vision guides us.

Message from the Director

John Howe

With the passing of Bob Anderson, renowned raptor expert and advocate, Raptor Resource Project friends and fans around the world are experiencing a profound loss. I want to thank all that shared their sentiments by cards or postings, or who traveled to Decorah to celebrate the life of a truly amazing man!  Bob was a visionary man, a humble man, and most of all a man with purpose.  He was an intelligent scientist, an expert raptor researcher, and breeder determined to help save the Peregrine falcon after decades of DDT use brought the species to the brink of extinction. Bob spent much of his life savings on Peregrine recovery efforts.  He challenged conventional ideas and developed an innovative program to release Peregrine falcons from the river bluffs where he found success in drawing the falcons back to their original nesting habitat.  He pioneered and perfected bird cams through his work with Excel Energy and RRP.  Bob also opened an educational window of awareness into the intimate daily lives of raptors for anyone to see, making it possible by partnering with an innovative company called Ustream.  His collaborative work with cinematographer Neil Rettig led to the installation of cameras in the famous cottonwood at the fish hatchery and the world famous Decorah Eagles!

What an incredible legacy Bob Anderson leaves behind, a legacy I am honored to have been chosen to move forward.  Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is John Howe; some of you may know me as GSBDweller.  I grew up in the scenic bluffs of the Mississippi River north of La Crescent, MN along Apple Blossom Scenic Drive.  Ironically, I never saw Peregrine falcons in the area growing up.  In 2004, Bob approached my father about installing a nest box on our family property.  He drew my father in to participate in his goal of returning falcons to this cliff that they inhabited decades ago.  The nest box has attracted falcons back each year since and our family, friends, and falcon enthusiasts band the young each spring.  I can’t tell you how rewarding it has been to work with Bob over the past five years.  It all started with a discussion at a banding event in 2011.  I commented to Bob “You have a wonderful bald eagle camera broadcasting to Ustream, but your life passion has been falcons. How would you like a falcon cam out on the bluffs of the mighty Mississippi?” Bob jumped at the chance to help my son Jonathon design and complete his Eagle Scout project.  It consisted of laying 1,000 feet of conduit and cables though the woods and he and Amy Ries did the hard part of hanging across the cliff and mounting the camera and cables to the nest box.  At the time, I thought - what kind of crazy people dare do this kind of work?  Now, after their expert training, I have been hanging around with them!

Bob was clear about his plans for the future.  We are committed to bringing those plans to reality while coming to a better understanding about the unpredictability of Nature.  We did not expect to lose the current Decorah cams to lightning and we sure had no idea that a storm would topple the current bald eagle nest (N2).  It is interesting that Bob understood that unpredictability and we were already preparing for a backup Decorah cam location before that unfortunate event.

We have an aggressive and exciting agenda being put into motion and the expertise of our long time and newly appointed board members will be harnessed.  Here are the first four items of Bob’s “Top 10” project list that we are moving forward with:

1. Restoring the Decorah Eagle nest. Bob was very excited by Neil Rettig's suggestion to build a starter nest near the ruins of N2 to see if the eagles adopt it as their own. Neil will be leading this effort and it is truly a remarkable idea. Will they come if we build it? The question has implications for wildlife management far beyond the Decorah eagles.
2. Establishing a new bald eagle nest cam in Decorah.  We anticipate a September installation of cameras in a beautiful oak tree in the vicinity of one of Iowa’s treasured trout streams.  There are challenges in getting this nest instrumented and “on-air”, but everything is falling into place for an new pair of eagles to introduce.
3. Partnering with the Seneca Nation of Indians to establish a bald eagle cam at one of their active nest sites. This is a wonderful opportunity for the Seneca Nation to continue its heritage of educational outreach.  This eagle cam will be hosted on RRP’s Ustream site.
4. Establishing a live Philippine Eagle Cam at a wild nest. Bob’s initial RRP work with the Philippine Eagle foundation and Neil Rettig led to the installation and broadcasting of a captive eaglet produced as part of the PEF breeding program.  That video footage is still posted on the RRP Ustream page. RRP is collaborating with Cornell Lab of Ornithology to install nest cams in the dwindling forest habitat of the Philippine Eagle.  We are very excited about the impact this project will have in educating the Philippine people and the world about an amazing creature that is facing an uncertain future.  Just like Bob’s falcon work, this project could be the catalyst for the next great conservation success!

Wild Philippine Eagle. Photo by Neil Rettig

Thanks to all of you for your past and present support as we start on a very exciting year of raptor research, education, and monitoring!  We will keep you posted on our progress.

John Howe

Bob Anderson

I am deeply sorry to confirm that Bob Anderson passed away this morning. Out of respect for Bob and his family, we are asking that everyone respect their privacy. Official announcements will be made here and on Ustream in the days to come. Our deepest condolences to Bob's family.

Although Bob was very proud of his work with the Decorah Eagles, his heart was truly in his peregrine falcon recovery work. This video tells the story of his cliff work and was a special favorite: https://youtu.be/USQs4Bwxa18

The photo shows him on Great Spirit Bluff. It was one of his very favorites - he loved to be on rope - and is how many of us will remember him. Fly on, friend and mentor. We will never forget you.

#GivingTuesday

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, Tuesday, December 2nd, a global day dedicated to giving back! If you like the work we do, please consider making a donation. You can donate online via paypal or mail a check to the Raptor Resource Project, PO Box 16, Decorah, IA 52101.

What does the Raptor Resource Project do? We:

• Work with government agencies, private businesses, and other non-profits to monitor and band peregrine falcons at over 40 sites. Our region stretches for well over 500 miles and encompasses parts of three major rivers - the Minnesota, the St. Croix, and the Mississippi. 
• Provide one of the world’s largest public wildlife education programs to countless school kids through our live online streams, interactive chat, facebook page, and blog. Our Decorah eaglecam alone has been watched by over 302 million people worldwide since 2011. We maintain over 20 public and private cameras to monitor and learn about birds of prey.
• Build and install nest boxes to bolster bird of prey populations in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. 
• Provide information and consultation free of charge to other organizations and businesses who are interested in initiating their own nest box programs.
• Track and share data about free-living bald eagles in conjunction with Brett Mandernack at Eagle Valley.

These things all take money. As of 2014, our annual expenses were hovering around $87,000 per year:

• Staff costs a little over $42,500 annually.
• Equipment – computers, camera upgrades and maintenance, tools, encoders, software, transmitters, and so on – costs around $17,000 annually.
• Supplies – primarily cable, tools, climbing equipment, banding equipment, bands, installation hardware, maintenance equipment, and lumber – cost around $5,000 annually.
• Satellite data costs $4,225 dollars annually.
• Internet access costs $4,500 annually.
• Other/Miscellaneous costs around $9,000 annually. This category includes gasoline, electricity, travel-related costs, equipment fabrication, and a furnace and propane so we can heat the shed!
• One-time costs and special projects vary widely. In 2013, for example, we spent $19,000 in Decorah to get video cable over to N2. While that was unusually expensive, it isn't uncommon for costs to crop up given the amount of cams and equipment we have. 

We have some exciting projects coming up in 2015 and 2016, including a wild Philippine eagle cam and an expansion of our eaglecam project! Our income is generated entirely by small donations from viewers of our various cams, and we sincerely appreciate your generosity and support of the Raptor Resource Project mission. Would you please help us make a difference with your donation?

Thank you so much for your support and we hope you enjoy watching in 2015!

Your Top Thirteen Questions For SOAR and Dr. Dirks

Last week we asked Decorah watchers for their questions about the Decorah fledging that went to SOAR. Thanks to Kay and Dr. Dirks for answering them. Next week we'll ask for questions from Bob and Brett about development and fledge, so stay tuned!

Where will the eaglet be released?
This is a big leap to the end – IF he is able to be released… I think it would be an excellent idea to release him in the NE Iowa area. The exact location will depend a lot on the time of year. We will definitely be too late/too much time will have passed to expect that the Parents would take over any care or guidance. When the time comes we will do some consulting with our eagle experts (Bob and Brett) and find a spot where there is not a current eagle territory – just to avoid any conflicts there – usually the juvies are pretty safe. The big thing will be HABITAT – a good spot for scavenging and fishing. As we know from eagles with transmitters, eagles can travel long distances in short amounts of time. If he is able to be released, he will go wherever he wants to go. 

How do you determine where to release the birds you find, especially if they have been held for a while?
Again – good habitat is what we look for so the birds will not have to work too hard for food. We also look at time of year and weather. Winter is hard for everyone so we hold most birds late November through to early spring for release. Along with the quality appropriate habitat type, we look for travel corridors such as a river. If we release in a resident bird’s territory, which we try very hard not to do, the released bird can easily move to a new spot through the corridor habitat. 

What do you feed your eagles?
We need to mimic the things that they would be eating in the wild the best we can. This helps them to recognize what we are offering as food and is also completely nutritious. We try to give variety. Our eagles really seem to like carp – rough fish that most human anglers do not like to eat – so this helps us with donations of this type of fish. We salvage road killed deer – this meat is rich and dark – lots of vitamins and iron. We have a friend that provides some grown chickens and rabbits.

We start with hand-feeding our extremely ill patients. As they recover, they will eventually take food on their own.

The eaglet looks comfortable with humans. Does it try to bite or how does it react to handling?
A good question. Biting is involved when we need to handle him, so we have big gloves and we handle him carefully yet firmly. Overall comfort is an important part of our care. 
Most of the time our intensive care or ICU patients are in carry crates so we can limit movement. Like humans in ICU units, these birds have severe, often life-threatening injuries or conditions. We provide climate control and make sure that food and water bowls can be seen and are accessible. We also need to be able to easily administer medication and capture our patients to change bandages and perform other necessary tasks.  Of course as they feel better, they want out! When they are ready we have larger flight areas they move into for exercise pre-release. 

This little eaglet would not sit still in a crate. So he is in our small ICU room, which gives him a bit more room to move around. He is quite comfy there right now. 

What is the ICU and what does it look like?
Intensive Care is basically two large rooms and one smaller one that we heat and cool. Check SOAR’s web page for photos of SOAR facilities, including flight areas: www.soarraptors.org

How does the eaglet learn to fly and hunt absent parents?
If they are physically able to fly, they will fly. While skill is learned on the wing, flying and hunting are instinctual. SOAR has a 100 X 20 foot flight area for our eagles. After bone healing is complete, which could take approximately eight weeks or more, our patient will spend time in this large flight area with our other eagles. We have Spirit and Liberty, a bonded pair of non-releaseable education bald eagles that have fostered two different eagle chicks so far in their own large enclosure. He will not need to be fed, but they can model socialization, vocalizations, and eagle behavior. He is well past the age when he would imprint on humans, so we have no worries there. He is not going to like us no matter what!

It's my understanding that bald eagles can present unique challenges in housing and handling. If so, can you elaborate a little?
They are big and powerful. So housing requires large spaces. Handling requires experience and protective gear, including gloves, goggles, and a heavy coat. 

What particular challenges do you anticipate during the Decorah eaglet's rehab, both short term and long term?
We have crossed several hurdles. He survived his initial injuries. His fracture was not compound (bones sticking out of the skin) and was not too severe to surgically stabilize. He went through a successful major surgery. He’ll be on antibiotics to prevent infection and the next step is eating on his own. 

After about three weeks of healing, we will head back to Dr. Dirks for another x-ray to determine the amount of healing and whether or not we can remove the pin. If we can, he’ll have another three to four weeks of limited movement, but no flight attempts yet, since we need to make sure everything is solidly healed. After that, he’ll need physical therapy to get muscles into shape, and of course he’ll need to grow a tail back and we don’t know how long that will take. We will have to see how it goes/grows! 

What percentage of eagles make a full recovery and can be released back into the wild after an injury like this?
We don’t have an answer for that off the top of our heads.  We’ll have a better prognosis at the three week check up.

What is the gender of this eagle?
Judging by size, Dr. Dirks and I both think it is a male. 

Will P's recognize it and care for it or will it just be another eagle to them now?
He is in for a quite long recovery period. He will be with us too long for the parents to be in the mode of caregiving and he will be too old to need them. I don’t know if they will be able to recognize him or not.

How much of the hunting skills are learned vs instinct?
Instinct gets them started hunting and experience hones skill, since there are rewards for doing certain things and disappointment for doing others. 

Do you feel that the break in his/her humerus was due to the owl attack? 
This break is way up in the shoulder area – there is a lot of muscle around the bones there. Owls look big – but they are big puff balls – mostly fluffy feathers. These eaglets out-weigh owls by a lot.  There were no puncture wounds near the break area. I don’t think owls could have done this. Dr. Dirks and I discussed this a bit. This break would take quite a bit of trauma – like being hit by a car. But we just have no way to know for sure what happened. His feathers were grown in well enough to glide/fly from the nest, so it is doubtful leaving the nest would have resulted in this type of break either. [Amy's note: Bob made a similar observation after handling "Four", the fledgling formerly known as EWT. He also confirmed that the eaglets were developed enough to fly].

Kestrel Nest Box Update

The American kestrel prefers open areas with short ground vegetation such as grasslands, meadows, fields, and parks. In urbanized areas, they might be seen perched on a pole or wire overlooking open space below them. They feed primarily on small animals, including grasshoppers, mice voles, dragonflies, and small lizards. If you have suitable habitat and would like to install a kestrel nest box, click here for our plans. We'd love to hear from anyone who has installed one of our boxes, so shoot me an email and let me know: ries93@gmail.com.

Last year we began a pilot project to install kestrel nest boxes along rural gravel roads. The American kestrel (Falco sparverius) is a small falcon that is in decline throughout parts of its range. There are a number of theories about the kestrel's decline: HawkWatch International's list of factors includes development and reforestation of preferred habitats, poisoning, and the West Nile virus. We've focused on the loss of grassland in Iowa, where farms have grown larger, woodlots, fencerows, and fallow land have shrunk, and small grains and hayland have been replaced with row-cropped soybeans and corn. The Iowa DNR states:

"Between 1990 and 2010, Iowa lost 2,615 square miles of potential pheasant habitat. This habitat was a mix of small grains, hay land, and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres. To put this loss in perspective, 2,615 square miles is a strip of habitat 9 miles wide that would stretch from Omaha to Davenport!" [2012 Iowa Roadside Survey]

So why use ditches? Bob looks at the ditches and shoulders of rural roads and major highways as voleways. I don't tend to think of farmland as heavily developed, myself - it's all green, right? - but mile after mile of row-cropped corn and soybeans is not a natural environment. As grassland and pothole prairie are converted into farmland, animals and birds are forced into ditches. Water, rodents, insects, and plant life attract a wide variety of larger animals, including deer, rabbits, woodchucks, gophers, mink, muskrats, badgers, fox, raccoon, skunks, snakes, frogs, red-tailed hawks, harriers, kestrels, sparrows, mourning doves, gold finches, bobolinks, and pheasants.

A kestrel in one of our nest boxes. Photo
credit Nora Hensley.

A little back-of-the-envelope calculation. Iowa contains a total of 36,016,640 acres. Over 90%, or 32,414,976 acres, is under till. So how much of what's left is ditch? That's a hard question. The DOT manages about 175,000 acres along interstate and state highways, but that figure doesn't cover county, city, and town roads. When those are added in, the total jumps up to about 1.6 million acres, or 44% of the remaining 3.6 million acres left. Although broken and fragmented, that is a lot of potential habitat with which to create a kestrel habitat.

Last fall, we installed six nest boxes along 310th street in rural Winneshiek County [click here for google map]. We returned this spring to find that two of them were destroyed. One had tipped over and the other had been vandalized. However, four were still standing and three contained kestrels! We clearly needed to add cement to the base of the poles to keep them stabilized, but other than that, the plan worked!

Bob enlisted the help of David Lynch and his wife Anne to add concrete to the base of the poles and we returned a week or so later to band kestrels. Unfortunately, we weren't able to band - in two of the three nests, the babies were too young, and they were almost on the wing in nest #3. Still, our pilot project proved that rural ditches can provide habitat for nesting kestrels. 75% of the nest boxes left standing in the spring produced kestrels, and we can avoid tipping by stabilizing the box poles with cement. A big thanks to county engineer Lee Bjerke for giving us permission to install the boxes in Winneshiek county's right-of-way.

We will be looking to expand this program in the coming year, and we would love to hear from anyone who downloaded plans and built one of our kestrel boxes. Shoot me an email at ries93@gmail.com.

Great Spirit Bluff Falcons: Intervention, Insects, and Fosterage

Bugs. Check the video at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34496685/highlight/371827

Bob made a decision today to intervene in the situation at Great Spirit Bluff, where four young falcons fell from the front perch. Intervention is always a tough call. He decided to intervene because:

• We have never seen or heard of a situation where three (eventually four) falcons that were 30 days of age or a little younger jumped out of the nest box absent any visible stimuli such as a threat approaching them. Bob said that we might expect to see 'branching' at 35 to 37+ days of age, but 30 days was too young. Something was wrong. His exact quote: "In all of my years of working with peregrine falcons I have never seen young falcons jump or slip off to their death. I have seen falcons nest on 1,000 foot cliffs on a ledge the size of a dinner plate and they always wait until they are feathered enough to fly. I am starting to wonder if we have a unusual hatch of parasites driving the falcons crazy. The only way a young falcon at this age could survive the fall is if by some chance it was slowed down hitting leaves or small limbs. Again, in all of my years of working with peregrine falcons this is new to me. We have had cameras on nesting falcons for twenty years and not witnessed this behavior." 
• We've seen a lot of mortality this year at nest boxes. Of sites that hatched falcons, seven have experienced losses - a record for us. Per the quote, Bob theorized that insects and parasites might be causing problems following an unusually late and wet spring. This gave us a chance to save the falcons, if possible, and determine if parasitism or insects had played a role in driving the young falcons from the box. 

In short, GSBDweller let us know that young  falcons were jumping from the box. Bob decided this unusual behavior needed to be investigated and headed for the bluff. George Howe, director of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy, quickly put together a search team and found another climber to help Bob, since it isn't a good idea for one person to be out on rope alone.

George's team went up the bluff from the bottom, where they found falcon Jonathan. Bob's team waited on top, since the last young falcon was out on the perch. They didn't want to rappel and risk bumping it, since its flight feathers were too short for true flight. If the falcon fell, it might survive if it hit leaves or small branches on the way down. Or it might not. The team elected not to rappel unless the young falcon went back into the box.  However, they were able to observe clouds of insects around the young falcon and adults, once they perched. The falcons were clearly bothered by the insects that swarmed them. 

Bob and Dan had pulled back from the bluff and were packing up when the last young falcon fell. Dan rappelled down to the end of his rope but was unable to find the young falcon. The talus slope is steep and covered in thick brush, and the young falcons would probably hunker down and remain quiet in the presence of human beings and other threats, making them very hard to find. The ground search is over, since at this point we would be more likely to do harm than good. We don't want to drive the young falcons from the top of the talus slope into the brambles, where Travis and Michelle would be unable to reach them. 

So now we needed to decide what to do with Jonathan, the young falcon that was recovered. He was seemingly healthy. Did we want to put him back in the box? Bob decided against it, since he thought it was highly likely he would leap again. We looked at nests with falcons that were the roughly the same age. Red Wing Grain had two falcons only about a day apart in age. We decided to foster Jonathan because: 

• Jonathan was unharmed and should be kept in the wild if at all possible.
• All four falcons abandoned the box due to flies or gnats. Even with treatment, the problem seemed likely to happen again. Since we haven't seen as severe a problem with the falcons at Red Wing, it seemed likely that fostering or augmenting Jonathan would give him the best chance at survival.
• Fostering/augmenting is a proven technique that was commonly used in the early days of falcon recovery. Bob used augmentation a number of times in the early days of falcon recovery. Adult falcons don't count young, so as long as everyone is roughly the same age, augmentation can be used to introduce young falcons into the wild. 

Bob will most likely be fostering/augmenting Jonathan on Wednesday morning (he will keep Jonathan in his mews for a little observation prior to release). It seems likely that our pattern of disappearing and dying young falcons might be caused by insects and parasites in some combination - a "mega-hatch" caused by the late, wet spring. We'll let you know what we find out. 

We have some film clips here: 

• Young falcons and bugs: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34496685/highlight/371827
• 1st falcon falls from box: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34496685/highlight/371837
• 2nd falcon falls from box: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34497469/highlight/371841
• 3rd falcon falls from box: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34497469/highlight/371843
• 4th young falcon goes back into box (it fell later): http://youtu.be/SOu32va6oRo

Avian Parasites

On May 22, 2013, the falcon eggs at Xcel Energy's Blackdog nest box began hatching. Immature female 16/U laid four eggs and hatched three. Although both parents diligently cared for their young, they never seemed to thrive. On May 27th, a watcher reporter strange black patches on one of the young. By May 31, two of the three young were dead. We don't know how the first one was disposed of, but the parents fed the second young to the third.

In watching the box, we noticed the strange black patches. We also saw that the remaining baby didn't seem to be developing properly. It was quite small for ten days of age, spent more time under its mother than might be expected, and didn't seem to be developing feathers properly. Perhaps the young falcon had Frounce, a yeast infection of the digestive tract that interferes with food intake. We decided to go up the stack and treat it with Spartrix. This has been a very hard year on our falcons and we really didn't want to lose any more.

I called Dan, our contact at the plant, and made the necessary arrangements. The Blackdog nest isn't especially easy to get to, since it is at the 600' level of the plant's smokestack. An elevator takes you to the 300' level and ladders take you the rest of the way. All told, you need to plan on a minimum of 50 minutes to visit the box. A big thanks to Dan for taking the time out of his day!

I was really shocked when we finally got to the nest. The falcon was very small, coated with black gunk, and swarming with parasites. They were on its back, belly, under wings, and neck. We thought the black gunk might be prey remains, but it was actually scabs, dried blood, and damaged feathers. The parasites,  probably Amblycera or Hippoboscidae, were feeding by chewing soft areas of skin, causing an area of localized bleeding from which they drank.

I decided to give the young falcon Spartrix just in case (Frounce could easily kill a falcon this stressed), and then Dan held the falcon while I carefully cleaned it off.

This is a closeup of the falcon's back and neck. The parasites caused extensive damage, destroying feathers,  interfering with feather growth, and delaying development. I killed and swabbed and crushed and killed and swabbed and crushed again. Once the parasites seemed to be (mostly) dead, I checked the box for anything that might be harboring more, took a few bits out, and returned the baby falcon, along with a dead quail. Mom was back in the box before we were back in the stack, and the quail was gone by the time we reached the bottom. Despite the damage, the young falcon had a good crop and even seemed somewhat feisty, weakly footing with tiny talons. While I don't know that the falcon will survive, we increased its chances of survival.

The parents have been very busy preening the young falcon, sometimes what seemed (to human watchers) rather roughly. We now know that they were trying to remove parasites. But where did the parasites come from? Since lice are transmitted by direct contact, I'm guessing that the lice were brought in on a prey item. According to Science Direct: "With no wings and very small eyes, chewing lice are, by and large, helpless away from their host." However, they were presumably able to hop, skittle, or jump from prey on to the young birds, who lack the armoring feathers of adults and weren't yet preening themselves. We'll be watching this box closely over the next couple of days to see what happens to the young bird.

Ever feel like a tick was crawling on you? Hours later, and I can still feel the lice crawling...

The Riverside Herons, Xcel Energy, and Rob MacIntyre

The herons return. Thanks to Nora for the cap

Two years ago today, Raptor Resource Project Board President Rob MacIntyre suffered cardiac arrest while assisting his neighbors with cleanup after a tornado in north Minneapolis, MN. He was just 53 years old. The tornado also took the life of Floyd David Whitfield and damaged or destroyed 3,700 properties, including a blue heron colony located in the North Mississippi Regional Park. 

On June 6th of 2011, Xcel Energy staff at the Riverside Plant in northeast Minneapolis informed Dan Orr that blue herons had shown up on a small island owned by the plant. The island, which is sited roughly 50 feet from the east bank of the Mississippi, is believed to be man-made. It may have been built to control water flow or timber floating down the river in the 1890s, when Minneapolis was home to many saw mills. The industry faded in the early part of the 20th century, and the small island quickly became covered with trees. 

The tornado had been devastating, but the re-establishment of the heron rookery provided a lot of hope. We were thrilled with the connection to Rob, his beloved north Minneapolis, and Xcel Energy. Since the Riverside plant already had a falcon cam, adding a heron cam was easy. We also added a kestrel nest box to the plant's reclaimed coalyard, which had been turned into prairie grass. We'll be checking that and the falcon box sometime next week. 

The herons returned in 2013 for a third season on the little island. We hope you enjoy watching them. Fly high, Rob, and know that people still love and care for you. We wish you were here to see the wonderful things that have happened since 2011. 

Rob installing a falcon nestbox at Greysolon Plaza in Duluth

Barn Owls Fledging at Eaglecrest

The barn owls began fledge at Eaglecrest on 5/19/13, when the first barn owl decided it was time to leap from the nest. We wondered how fledge would work, since the nest was so tight. The internal diameter of the hole is roughly a foot and a half, yielding a total area of about 1.76 feet (A=pr²) for four to five rapidly growing owls. In general, the birds we watch spend time wingercizing and hopping before fledging, learning about their wings and building some muscle prior to their first flight. But the size of the nest cavity prohibited the young barn owls from getting wing practice in. Would the lack of wingercizing present a problem? The answer appears to be 'No'. After sticking its wing out of the hole and clambering back in, the fledgling owl stuck its feet outside the hole, looked around, lowered its head, and leaped out into the night. This video shows the owl rapidly winging away from the tree, while three or four siblings watch from the hole. Actual fledge happens at 8:35 into the video.



Over the last two nights, we have watched the young owls begin to learn the basics of flying. They hop on branches, clamber up and down the trunk, and spend time practicing on the former canada goose nest, hopping and flying from the trunk to the nest and back again. We've also seen them scanning, moving their heads back and forth as they look at and listen to the world around them. Earlier this year, I was talking to one of my children about her navigational skills. "Mom," she protested, "why would I know how to navigate?  I've lived in the same place my whole life, and I don't drive yet." I think the young owls may be having a similar experience. They've spent their entire lives to date in a small, crowded hole where their wings and directional hearing weren't really needed. They have roughly five weeks of diminishing parental care to learn  flying, pouncing, hovering, hunting, and capturing prey. While flying and hunting are instinctual, proficient flying and hunting must be learned. A few video highlights from the first couple of nights:

• First Owl Outside
• Fledged Owlet Climbs Back In
• Owl Family In The Tree
• Fledgling Owls at the Canada Goose Nestbox
• Not Quite Ready for Fledge
• Fledging Flickr Set

According to the Barn Owl Trust, the amount of food each owl receives from its parents diminishes to zero by 14 weeks. There is some disagreement about dispersal, which may or may not happen after 14 weeks. We'll see what this family does.

Not a night owl? I am freeing up video from each night on a daily basis. To watch video, go to  Eaglecrest's Ustream site. Social stream will most likely be open. Click the Video tab just left of the Social  Stream tab above SS to view video.

• http://www.ustream.tv/eaglecresthawks

Raising Mabuhay

Mabuhay is a two month-old Philippine Eagle produced at the Philippine Eagle Center near Davao City. He represents the second generation of Philippine Eagles to be produced here: his father, Pag-asa, was the first Philippine eagle ever produced in captivity. Little Mabuhay is number twenty-five. Mabuhay is a Tagalog word that means 'live', 'cheers' or 'welcome'.

In the video below, Philippine Eagle Foundation staff are feeding Mabuhay with a puppet that resembles an adult eagle. This will keep Mabuhay from imprinting on his keepers, which would make him non-releasable in the wild. Imprinting occurs during a period of time early in an animal's life, when it forms attachments and develops a self-identity. The puppet will help assure that Mabuhay imprints on Philippine eagles, not human beings. This is important, since birds imprinted on humans will seek them later in life as sexual and social partners. Properly imprinted, Mabuhay will seek other Philippine eagles.



The Philippine eagle lives in forests on eastern Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao. The world's longest bird of prey, it weighs 10 to 18 pounds and measures 2.8 to 3.3 feet in length. It has a dark face, a large bluish-grey beak, blue-grey eyes, and a distinctive nape of trailing light-brown feathers. Adults have dark brown backs with white underparts.

The Philippine eagle is so large that I thought it would spend most of its flight time soaring. While it does soar, it is also amazingly maneuverable for such a large bird. It twists, turns, and folds its wings as it flies through the forest pursuing bats, deer, lemurs, monkeys, birds, flying foxes, giant cloud rats, and snakes and lizards. While the Philippine eagle would be a formidable hunter no matter where it lived, the lack of large predators in its range makes it the dominant hunter in the Philippine forests.  Unsurprisingly, each breeding pair requires a very large home range to successfully raise a chick. A study on Mindanao Island found the nearest distance between breeding pairs to be about 8.1 miles on average, resulting in a circular plot of 51 square miles.

The Philippine Eagle is critically endangered. Only 180 to 500 are believed to survive in the wild in the Philippines. They are threatened primarily by deforestation through logging and expanding agriculture. The Raptor Resource Project has partnered with the Philippine Eagle Foundation to help them save the Philippine eagle through captive breeding and habitat conservation.

Preserving habitat takes money. Today, on Earth Day, we are asking our supporters to make a donation to the Philippine Eagle Foundation to help purchase rainforest habitat in the Philippines for this highly endangered bird. A few dedicated people snowballed into a widespread effort to bring back the Peregrine falcon and Bald eagle in the United States and Canada. We can do the same in the Philippines for the Philippine eagle. To donate to the Philippine Eagle Foundation, please click the button below:

To learn more about the Philippine Eagle Foundation, follow this link: http://www.philippineeagle.org/
To learn more about little Mabuhay, follow this link: A Chick At Last

Peregrine Survey

Young falcons at Aggie's Bluff in 2012

According to the weather forecast, 4/16/13 was the only sunny day this week. Time for a peregrine survey! Dave Kester and I set off at 6:30 AM for the Lansing Power plant cliff, where we quickly located two adult falcons.  One was sitting on a cliff nest box that we mounted several years ago to attract falcons away from a ledge that provided poor shelter and was accessible to raccoon. The ledge nest site failed to produce young, but the nest box has proven productive. Nine young have fledged from this site since 2009.

We were very pleased to find an adult female falcon on Guider’s Bluff just south of the town of Lansing, IA.  We heard one bird wailing, indicating that there was probably a second falcon on site.

We did not find any falcons on Aggie's Bluff, two miles upstream of the Lansing, IA bridge.  We decided to head upstream and return to this cliff later in the day.
 
We found two adult falcons at the Shellhorn cliff just south of Brownsville, MN.
 
We did not stop for long at the new V cliff south of Homer, MN, since I had confirmed two falcons defending the site on my last river survey.  I remember hovering over this cliff ten or more years ago in a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter and thinking that someday this cliff could attract falcons, since it looks much more falcon-friendly from the air than from the ground.
 

Dan Berger at Homer Bluff. Dan documented
the extirpation of the Peregrine from the Mississippi
in the 1950s. He is still banding birds today. 

We were very excited to find two falcons defending the Homer/P4 cliff that has not attracted nesting falcons for a few years.  We observed one falcon fly and land in a tree very close to the eyrie location.
 
We have falcons at Red Wing Grain, but needed to confirm whether we also had them at Diamond Bluff, in Diamond Bluff Wisconsin. We were pleased to find two adult falcons defending this cliff, but we don't know whether they are using a nestbox or a pothole. This cliff will need some observation. We mounted this nest box over 20 years ago, and we are very pleased with how it has held up.

We saw falcons at West Bluff and Maiden Rock, staying at Maiden long enough to confirm one falcon protesting a vulture flying to close to the eyrie. All appears well at this location!

There were no falcons at Twin Bluff in Nelson Wisconsin. This is our third visit to this cliff without finding falcons, although we found two adults on our first survey. A mystery.
 
We found one falcon on the cliff face at Maassen's bluff, and our friends who live down below indicate that all is well.  The pair is using an eyrie we improved by adding 80 pounds of pea-gravel to improve nest drainage.

I observed one falcon at Castle Rock on 4/9/13, during driving rain.  On this visit, we observed two adult falcons. However, the adult female left the cliff and flew out of sight, heading directly north. She did not return. The adult male set off in the direction of the Bay State Milling plant in Winona, MN, where our nestbox camera has confirmed four eggs.  If I recall correctly, every time we have falcons at Bay State Milling we do not have nesting falcons at the nearby Castle Rock cliff.
 
We passed by the Homer/P4 cliff again and made our way downstream to a new cliff.  The light was very poor, since we had to look into the setting sun, but we did spot one falcon perched on a limb near the cliff top. We raced back up to the Homer (P4) cliff hoping to confirm falcons were not just bouncing back and forth between the two cliffs.  We were pleased to find two adult falcons on site.
 
 By this time it was getting late in the afternoon, and we wanted to return to Aggie’s Bluff to see if a second visit would lead to finding a falcon. Despite the poor lighting conditions, we were pleased to find one falcon perched on the cliff face.
 
We returned home at 6PM, pleased to finding so many falcons defending Mississippi cliffs.  It was not that many years ago that some thought we would never have the peregrine back on these historic cliffs. It is wonderful to see them back 30 years after my first captive bred falcon was released in the river valley.
 
Bob Anderson

Peregrine Falcon Nest Box Program

Bob and falcon at Minnesota Power, Cohasset plant. 

Several of the Peregrines we watch are nesting at utilities, including Xcel Energy's Sherco, Blackdog, King, Prairie Island, and Monticello plants; Dairyland Power's Alma and Genoa plants, Minnesota Power and Light's Cohasset and Hibbard plants, Great River Energy's Elk River plant, and Alliant Energy's Cassville and Lansing plants. Our utility partners are also home to other birds, including bald eagles (Xcel Fort St. Vrain), great horned owls (Xcel Valmont), kestrels (Xcel Pawnee), and blue herons (Xcel Riverside). This isn't an accident - utilities provide an excellent home for peregrine falcons and other species of birds. A list of the sites we watch online can be found at http://www.farmyou.com/falcon_cams/index.html

The Raptor Resource Project started working with utilities in 1990, when peregrine falcon Mae was spotted at the Allen S. King plant in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota. A falconer and plant employee named Paul Simonette called Bob, who verified the sighting and asked for permission to construct and mount a nest box on a catwalk at the 400' level of the plant's stack. The site was tall, near water, inaccessible to most predators, and accessible to humans while remote from their daily activities. It was perfect!

At that time, the peregrine falcon was still highly endangered. Mae's mother MF-1 was produced by the Raptor Resource Project and released from the top of the MultiFoods building in Minneapolis in 1986. When she returned to breed in 1987, she became the first Peregrine to breed in the wild mid-continent, in the US or Canada, since the species' extirpation in the early 1960s. Mae, who hatched in 1989, was one of just 13 wild peregrines produced mid-continent that year. An awful lot of falcons have hatched since then. Here is a look at total numbers as of 2012 from the nine utility/industrial sites we watch online:

• Xcel Allen S. King plant. First year: 1990. Total young produced: 60
• Xcel Sherco. First year: 1992. Total young produced: 54
• Minnesota Power and Light, Cohasset. First year: 1993. Total young produced: 59
• Xcel Blackdog. First year: 1993. Total young produced: 56
• Dairyland Power Alma. First year: 1997. Total young produced: 55
• Dairyland Power Genoa. First year: 1998. Total young produced: 46
• Red Wing Grain. First year: 2001. Total young produced: 27
• Great River Energy. First year: 2007. Total young produced: 19
• Minnesota Power and Light, Hibbard. First year: 2008. Total young produced: 10

Xcel Energy could have said 'No'. While having a peregrine falcon on site was really cool, it was also a risk.  The company had no responsibility to provide a home for endangered species, and suppose Mae died? Any persons who bring danger or death to an endangered species can be fined up to $100,000, and the story would have been headline news. But plant manager Mike Miser said 'Yes' - he thought the peregrines were neat, plant staff were enthusiastic, and the birds provided wonderful organic pigeon control. The Utility-Peregrine Project was underway!

After the success of the Allen S. King plant, several other utilities expressed an interest in their own peregrine falcons. In addition to expanding the program at Xcel Energy, we received requests for nest boxes and or releases from Dairyland Power, Minnesota Power and Light, Wisconsin Power and Light (now Alliant Energy), MidAmerican Energy, Rochester Gas and Electric, and many more. Cargill, Red Wing Grain, and Bunge America also joined our efforts, installing nest boxes in Lake City, Minnesota, Red Wing, Minnesota, and McGregor, Iowa. A few statistics:

• The utility peregrine program has produced over 1000 young falcons in the wild. 
• At present, birds are nesting at 17 RRP/utility sites. Species include peregrine falcons, bald eagles, kestrels, great horned owls, and blue herons. An osprey pole had to be removed for bridge construction in Stillwater, Minnesota, so we are waiting to see if ospreys adopt their new pole at the Allen S. King plant. 
• I pulled a list of 473 peregrines known to have survived into adulthood. 64 of them fledged from utilities and went on to nest at other utilities, bluffs, grain elevators, bridges, and buildings.
• Peregrines have been nesting at our oldest site, the Allen S. King plant, for 23 years. 60 falcons have been produced here alone.
• Our birdcam work began in 1998, with "Mae's Internest". The cam was a sensation, and Xcel Energy's site was briefly the world's busiest corporate website according to alexa.com.

Our work with utility companies is sometimes controversial. Power lines present electrocution and collision hazards and the impact of wind turbines remains unknown. Utilities in general are not considered especially friendly to conservation. But the Utility Peregrine Program, a unique marriage of bird conservation and power production, was crucial to recovering the peregrine falcon, delisted from the Federal Endangered Species List in 1999. We've also worked with power companies on avian utility interaction issues and would like to think that our falcons are one of the reasons Xcel Energy voluntarily signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2002. Our partnership with utility companies has greatly benefited birds. 

02/06/13: Banding Birds, Part I: A Brief History

Falcon 72/N, a 2011 hatch from the Allen S. King plant .
I'll talk more about the band colors in our
next installment

We sometimes get asked why we band birds. Bird banding allows us to study the movement, survival, and behavior of the birds we band, and get life histories for at least some of the birds we watch. Bird banding has helped researchers gather information on mortality rates, dispersal patterns, migration, behavior, social structure, and seasonal and long-term population trends. It allows us to track individual peregrine falcons, giving us an intimate look at how a species behaves as it recovers, grows, and eventually reaches stasis with its environment. Without bird banding, we could not track the success of our cliff recovery program, know the history of any given site from year to year, or track the ebb and flow between urban and cliff-nesting populations. We would not know that female falcons tend to stay within 200 miles of their natal nests, that males tend to stay within 70 miles of their natal nest, and that Zeus, the male at Woodman Tower in Nebraska, was a real outlier (Zeus was released in Rochester, New York: a straight-line distance of 945 miles). The leg bands we use do not harm birds or adversely affect their survival rates.

Bird banding has a long and storied history. In 254 BC, Quintus Fabius Pictor recorded the use of birds as message carriers by the Romans. Pliny noted the use of birds as messengers in his Natural History, completed in 77 AD, and Marco Polo, writing on falconry in Asia between 1275 and 1295, stated: "Each bird belonging to the sovereign and the Barons has a tablet of silver on its feet, with its name and that of the owner inscribed so that wherever caught it can be returned to him."

Metal bird banding in Europe also began as a way for royal falconers to identify and recapture escaped or stolen birds. Recorded recaptures include a falcon owned by Henry IV, which escaped at Fontainebleau and was recovered in Malta, 1,350 miles away, and a Canary falcon owned by the Duke of Lerma, which flew from Anadalusia to the island of Teneriffe, a distance of 750 miles. At some point, royalty began banding other birds on their royal forests and hunting land, including blue birds, herons, ducks, buzzards, swifts, and storks. Methods included collars, leg rings, and plates.

Although many sovereigns and scholars were enthusiastic about marking birds, systematic bird banding as a means of studying bird populations didn't begin in Europe until 1899, when a Danish schoolteacher named Hans Christian Mortensen began putting aluminum rings on starlings, storks, ducks, and larger birds of prey, inscribing them with his name and address in the hope they would be returned. Although the practice was somewhat controversial, Mortensen received so many interesting returns that others quickly followed. By 1909, ornithologists and enthusiasts were banding birds for study in East Prussia, Ireland, England, Hungary, and France.

In addition to Cole and Audubon, other important names in early American bird banding include Dr. Paul Bartsch, who began tagging black-crowned night herons in 1902, P. A. Taverner, who furnished 200 hand-made aluminum bands to his correspondents, Jack Miner, who began banding in 1909 and tagged his 20,000 goose in 1939, and Dr. John B Watson, who conducted the first American homing experiment, also in 1909.

James Audubon is widely acknowledged as the first bird bander in the Americas, but it was ornithologist Leon J.  Cole who introduced the concept of scientific, systematic bird banding on this side of the globe. Early bird banding efforts were personal and haphazard: individuals and groups used their own private markers, IDs, and tagging methods. As Harold Wood reports in A History of Bird Banding: "A Duck Hawk (note: Peregrine falcon) was found at  Cape Canaveral, near Palm Beach, Florida, December 10, 1888, with a tin cap-box attached to its neck by a wire and bearing a message within dated October 10, 1888." An enthusiast had trapped the Peregrine and released it from the Frying Pan Shoals Lightship off Cape Fear, slightly less than 200 miles from the place where it was found. A more dramatic example was found on a mallard duck shot in North Carolina in January 1910, which read "Have Faith in God! Write Jack Miner, Kingsville, Ont." Standardized tags had yet to be developed.

Cole and other bird banders recognized the importance of organizing to better share data and compare practices. In November 1908, Cole presented a paper titled "The Tagging of Wild Birds as a Means of Studying their Movements" to the American Ornithologists Union.  In December 1909, the AOU organized the American Bird Banding Association, which consisted of President Cole and 34 charter members. The group researched banding methods in six different European organizations, eventually settling on the style of band recommended by 'Country Life' of London. The group distributed 4,173 bands to 44 persons. 800 of those bands were used on 73 species of birds. Modern bird banding had begun. A few milestones:

• In the early 1900s, concern over declining numbers of some birds, including waterfowl and passenger pigeons, lead to an international agreement to manage migratory birds. The Migratory Bird Convention was signed by Canada and the United States in 1916.
• 1920: Under the leadership of Fredrick Lincoln, the US Bureau of Biological Survey takes on overseeing the Migratory Bird Convention and coordinating banding activities in North America. The Bird Banding Laboratory (USA) and the Canadian Bird Banding Office manage permits, supply bands and keep records. Data on all birds banded in North America is kept in Washington, D.C. Between 1920 and 1946, Lincoln organized the banding office, developed numbering schemes and record keeping procedures, recruited banders, established standards, fostered international cooperation, and promoted banding as a tool in scientific research and management. 
• 1936: Mexico joins the Migratory Bird Convention.
• 2002: The 100th year of scientific bird banding is celebrated. Some species, like the passenger pigeon, are gone forever. But others, like the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, are well on their way to recovery after nearly becoming extinct in the latter half of the 20th century 
• 2011: More than 64 million birds have been banded in the United States and Canada, according to records received by the BBL. About 3.5 million of these bands have been recovered and reported back. On average, about 1.2 million birds are banded every year.

Look for the next banding blog on Tuesday, February 12. I'll talk about the specifics of what we do and how to read and report bands.

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Things that helped me research and learn a little more about bird banding:

• Bob Anderson, personal communication
• Doug Wood's excellent article on the history of bird banding: http://sora.unm.edu/node/18869
• Delta Waterfowl web page: http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/research/bios/articles/bandinghistory.php
• The bird banding lab: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/homepage/historyNew.cfm
• Leon J. Cole: http://mail.sumnercomm.net/~rmangile/Pigeons/LeonCole.html
• Wisconsin Ornithological Society: http://wsobirds.org/
• Wiki: North American Bird Banding Program: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Bird_Banding_Program
• A 1959 issue of Sports Illustrated: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1134216/2/index.htm