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One of the 15 peregrine falcons released in Downtown Evansville in 1994 amid public fanfare was found injured by a gunshot on Dec. 22 and died on New Year’s Eve, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
The agency is seeking information on the bird’s injuries. Phoenix, a female, was found injured in Floyd County near the Interstate 64 bridge in New Albany. Phoenix was taken to the Hardy Lake Raptor Rehabilitation Center that night, but she died on Dec. 31.
It was the Indiana’s Department of Natural Resource’s first contact with the bird since 1995, though Phoenix and her mate, Screech, had last been seen in Evansville in 1997. The birds were released off the roof of the six-story Centrum Building in the summer of 1994. Urban areas with tall buildings mimic the birds’ natural habitats — open river bluffs and canyons.
According to a news release from the agency, Phoenix may have been nesting in the New Albany/Louisville area, where pairs breed on tall buildings and under bridges.
“Most peregrine falcons are banded as nestlings and later identification can be made if individuals can be approached,” the release stated.
John Castrale, a nongame bird biologist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, said Phoenix was relatively old for her species.
None of the 15 released remain in the Evansville area, but Castrale said that is normal.
“They travel widely and they usually don’t stick to the site where they were released,” he said.
Male peregrine falcons have been known to travel up to 100 miles from their release sites and females as much as 200 miles, according to Castrale.
“Some have been known to go as far as 1,000 miles away,” he said.
In 2010, at least 38 adult falcons were observed nesting in Indiana, he said, including 11 sites where eggs were laid.
The location of only one other of the 15 peregrine falcons released in Evansville is currently known. Castrale said Freedom, a female, has been nesting in downtown Fort Wayne for several years.
“I’m hopeful one of these days we will see them in Downtown Evansville again,” he said.
A nesting box for peregrine falcons remains ready for them there.
Another, a male named River Ace, was confirmed to be nesting at a power plant in southwest Ohio in 2002.
The crow-sized peregrine falcons are easily confused with their smaller cousin, the American kestrel or sparrow hawk, which s also often found perched or nesting in the crevices of church steeples or tree cavities.
A distinguishing characteristic of a peregrine falcon is their long pointed wings. Adult birds are slate gray with a dark helmet and sideburns, a white throat, and finely barred breast and belly.
Peregrine falcons were removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999 but remain a state endangered species in Indiana.
“They never were really common,” Castrale said.
Up to 200 nesting pairs are known in the Midwest, he said.
Anyone with information about the shooting should call (800) 847-4367

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