tags: peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, birds, urban birds, image of the day
Male peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, named Eric
who lives and breeds in a city in North America.
who replaced "Erik", the former resident on his current territory in a
city in North America.
This image is being shared with you by bird artist, John P. Baumlin, who writes;
I've been following your blog for some time and have been enjoying the bird images you posted along the way and thought you might like to see this one.
It is a male Peregrine, one of a pair that are raising a family on a building about a mile from where I live. He showed up in the spring of 2006 in full juvenile plumage, replacing the previous male who disappeared that winter, and raised four young with the resident female that first year. The second year (last season), he and his mate raised a record of five young for this site! Fertile little guy. (I should mention that the last two seasons of the previous male's tenure were barren years and they raised no young at all, although eggs were laid).
Anyway, I am a bird artist and have been watching and sketching them for the past seven years. One of my paintings (of the previous male, Eric, who originated from Montreal -- information gained when I was able read his endangered species band through my spotting scope) appeared in the February 2007 issue of American Art Collector. That same painting was featured in Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's Birds in Art in 2005 and went on their tour. A fitting tribute to a great bird that I got to know well while he was here.
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Birds of prey know they're cool (tm Gary Larson).
Just to clarify, the bird pictured is not "Eric" but the male who took his place when he (Eric) went missing in 2005.
This bird is unbanded and so his origin is and always will be a mystery. The photo was taken about a week ago.