FALCON BANDING CONDUCTED BEFORE A LIVE AND BROADCAST AUDIENCE
With whole world able to watch, thanks to a webcast hosted by the state Department of Environmental Protection on its website, wildlife officials from the Pennsylvania Game Commission today banded four peregrine falcons from a nest box on a ledge near the top of the Rachel Carson State Office Building.
Game Commission officials retrieved the young falcons from their nest on a ledge overlooking Market Street and took them to the auditorium where a numeric metal leg band was attached before a live audience of 35 teachers and 150 central Pennsylvania elementary, middle and high school students, and a worldwide web audience of countless falcon followers. The teachers had attended a Project WILD falcon educator workshop conducted by the Game Commission and DEP, and as part of their classroom activities, had their students follow the falcons' progress online via DEP's website (
www.dep.state.pa.us).
"The bands help to identify and track the birds when they leave the nest," explained Dr. Arthur McMorris, Game Commission peregrine falcon coordinator. "In addition, we weigh and examine the falcons to determine their sex, and check for any health issues before we return them to their nest."
Although peregrines were never really common in Pennsylvania, they historically nested at as many as 44 sites, mostly on cliffs. Some of their former nesting areas included cliffs near Dauphin, Huntingdon, Lewistown, Hyner, Palmerton and other riverside communities.
For more information, please visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency website:
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=11&Q=174359
