!!! Well this is the year of the glass balconies!! Yet another fledgling entrapped behind a glass balcony! It’s Zera!
June 30, 2010 - Toronto - King Street
Mark Nash Reports:
Yet another call from Toronto Wildlife after they received a call from Rob, an employee with Image Design who calls from his cell phone while working at job site at George and Adalide in downtown Toronto, as he watches a young banded peregrine falcon struggle to get free from yet another glass balcony enclosure.
Identified as Zera by her 18 over X black band, she was produced at the Toronto 18 King Street nest site this year, and has hopefully learned a valuable lesson today about urban living. Uninjured and very peeved off, Zera was rescued safe and sound and will be released back to her parents and the nest site at 18 King Street nest site were she was produced.
With all of the rescues so far this year, we are very thankful that all of these fledglings are banded, as it makes it very easy to both identify them, and to know exactly what nest site they are to be re-released!! Without the band identifications, terrible mistakes could be made releasing a young fledgling back to the wrong nest territory, as the residents adults would not tolerate anything other than “their young” being in their territory. The fledglings have clearly demonstrated that they don’t always come down in their own territory, (remembering that they are birds and do fly some distances away from their nest sites), and in some cases have been grounded by the other resident adults in a territory other than theirs. While these errors in judgement on behalf of the young fledgling usually results in the fledgling’s mortality as they are dispatched very quickly by the other resident territorial adults, we sometimes do get lucky when the fledgling strays from it’s home turf, and are able to retrieve them if they are unharmed. With some of our urban nest sites being so close to one another, (and the juveniles having yet learned what the invisible lines are that each parent has defined as “their protected territory”), venturing or wandering into unknown territory can be very dangerous indeed!
Peregrines, (as many other birds of prey), especially during the family rearing and fledgling time, are very territorial and overly protective of both their territory and their young, Rarely do the adults tolerate outsiders of any kind, as any outsiders are either killed or driven out of the area in very short order!
Just ask some of the building engineering staff and the window washers trying to wash the windows on other buildings in the area at this time of year!
A huge thank you you to the Aspen Ridge Homes rescue team and all of the guys that made a effort to find us, Fab, John, Rob, Greg, Joe and all of the other guys that showed that everyone can make a difference!
Photos will follow
