Friday was banding day for the young peregrines (eyases) in the nesting box atop the Superman Building. This is a full-contact sport for the experts from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island (ASRI) and they always include urban wildlife photographer Peter Green of Providence Raptors. The peregrine parents do not enjoy this process and respond accordingly — note the helmets. Picking a favorite photograph from banding day is impossible — check out Peter’s FB photo feed to see for yourself.
Learn how they did it at the ASRI Nesting Box page:
A board will be placed across the front of the nesting box to protect the falcons. Joe Zbyrowski, our bander, will remove the back opening of the box and remove the falcons. The birds’ sex will be determined based on the size of their legs and then two bands will be placed on one leg of each bird. The bird’s legs have stopped growing at this point so the bands will never constrict their legs. The bands will help scientists identify where the birds were hatched, the year, and if they are male or female. The birds will then be placed back in the box, the front board removed and the process will be over. It takes a little over an hour to band four birds.
Adult feathers are beginning to emerge.
Check out Peter’s book “Providence Raptors: Documenting the Lives of Urban Birds of Prey” (Father’s Day gift?). It will change the way you walk through the city.
(And now I can’t get the theme song to the show “Branded” out of my head.)